Earlier today, I had to borrow the neighbor's pickup truck to go get something that wouldn't fit into my own car.
The neighbor has three pickup trucks, all Fords. One is a 2010 model, a second a 2004 model, and the third a 1974 model. I prefer the 1974, but am always compelled to take the 2010, in case he needs to use one of the others for some farm-and-ranch work while I'm gone.
The rich old curmudgeon who lives across the river from me (two miles, but by road, a little over six miles), allows me use of any and all of his own motor vehicles when he's gone to California, which is about 80% of the year. I take care of his property when he's gone; the free use of his vehicles is part of our "deal." He also has three pickup trucks and a 2009 sports utility vehicle.
And then there's all these expeditions with the senior business partner, one of whose sidelines is that of an automobile salesman, meaning that any time we excurse around the Upper Great Plains, we always use a different vehicle. Excepting if we're hauling horses (another sideline of his; our partnership is based upon forensic accounting), we have to use a pickup truck, and as already told elsewhere here, we share the driving 50-50, because neither of us cares much, really, for driving.
Now, I realize driving conditions vary considerably all over the United States, but here in Nebraska, the peculiarity is the always-blowing wind. The wind never stops.
It's for this reason I've always preferred low-riding vehicles (an old MGB would be ideal, but--); my own motor vehicle sits pretty low, pretty close to the ground. This, despite my height (6'3").
The first--and only--time I used an SUV, I was greatly perturbed at how little "control" the driver has over the vehicle, when driving in wind. I used that vehicle (owned by a convenience-store clerk) for 22 miles on a "reasonably calm" day out here, and then and there decided no more.
It seems to me the closer one's hugging the road, the more control one has.
But oddly, out here (or up here), others seem to prefer high-riding vehicles.
Don't get me wrong; I can handle any vehicle with skill and adeptness (my car insurance rates, based upon my driving record, prove that; one would be hard-pressed to find anyone paying lower insurance premiums than franksolich), but I really don't care to drive vehicles too far above the road.
