Hatchbacks are the way to go. 

I'll be 57 this summer, so driving roughly 40 years, and at some point every vehicle I have ever owned carried my upright bass.

I've had;

'77 VW Rabbit
'79 VW Golf
'59 VW Beetle Dlx Sedan (pleasure car)
'77 Dodge Charger (yeah...)
'77 Dodge Tradesman van
'88 Ford Aerostar minivan
'87 Dodge Daytona Shelby
'88 Ford Bronco (pleasure/rv)
'86 Honda Civic Wagovan
'04 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
'03 Mitsubishi Outlander
'07 Dodge Caliber
'19 Mitsubishi Outlander

Quote from: lbpesq on May 22, 2026, 02:14:38 PMI've done a few gigs using my Porsche 968 Cabriolet when my SUV wasn't available, (like a couple of weeks ago when it took me two days to install new headlight units.  I had to drop the front bumper just to get at them.  Great design ... not).  Squeezing all my gear into the Porsche is kind of like playing a giant game of Tetris!

Bill, tgo

The struggle is real. 

Also, I feel you on that headlight replacement.  I've got the replacement headlights for my Tacoma sitting in the garage and I've been waiting for a day when I can make it happen.  It's an overly involved process that may require stupid things (like dropping the bumper, or lifting the entire front end and taking tires off.  you know.  because they can't be f#cked to design headlights are aren't horrible to deal with.

Quote from: briant on May 23, 2026, 10:44:23 AM

Quote from: lbpesq on May 22, 2026, 02:14:38 PMI've done a few gigs using my Porsche 968 Cabriolet when my SUV wasn't available, (like a couple of weeks ago when it took me two days to install new headlight units.  I had to drop the front bumper just to get at them.  Great design ... not).  Squeezing all my gear into the Porsche is kind of like playing a giant game of Tetris!

Bill, tgo

The struggle is real. 

Also, I feel you on that headlight replacement.  I've got the replacement headlights for my Tacoma sitting in the garage and I've been waiting for a day when I can make it happen.  It's an overly involved process that may require stupid things (like dropping the bumper, or lifting the entire front end and taking tires off.  you know.  because they can't be f#cked to design headlights are aren't horrible to deal with.

y'all got me started....
Modern headlight design infuriates me.... No lumen dampening laws, I have flashed my hi-beams at individuals only to truly be blinded when they flashed back.   I can't quantify headlights that shine so bright in an urban/ suburban environment.   Rural?  Sure.

Now get off my lawn!

Similar pondering... I had a 72 IH Scout with a slant 4 engine.  It was a V8 that they cut one-side off of.  I could literally sit on the quarter panel with my feet in the engine compartment and work on things.  Everything was there, everything was affixed with standard fasteners, simple design and user friendly for repairs.   I miss the old days.

I miss the days when I could work on just about anything on my car, like on my old Austin-Healy Bugeye Sprite, or Triumph TR3A.   Nowadays, I open the hood and it's like cracking open a stereo, not that anyone cracks open a stereo anymore, either!

Bill, tgo

My dad had a '70 Chrysler station wagon that you had go underneath to change the plugs.  My Spitfire had a big long hood (oops, sorry - bonnet), and a way small engine; not only the best legroom of any car I've ever driven, but once you lift the bonnet, there was a ton of room; every singe component was easily assessable. 
 
Except the oil filter.

That sucker was stuck betwixt the engine and a frame member.......

I had a headlight go out on my Volvo S80.  Looked it up; great; a standard H17.  Ran to NAPA & grabbed one - and spent an hour trying to figure out how to do it.

Finally gave up & took  it to my mechanic.  To change a headlight.  Humiliating.
He looked at it, and informed me that I had the new and improved HID headlights.
Back to NAPA; they gave me the HID bulb, I gave them the $5 H17 - and another $120.

Next time I asked my close personal friend YouTube, gave NAPA another $125, and did it myself.  Remove multiple hoses & wires, then undo, IIRC, 8 bolts - in a space too small to get 1/4 turn on the wrench.

3rd time (and final) I went on Amazon & got 2 of them for $17...........

Peter

Since we're into gig-mobile stories... that Dodge Tradesman van. Great truck. I don't know the shows I went to in that thing, but it had its quirks. Like most Mopars, only the owner/operator could successfully set the choke and start the engine without flooding the carb. If any of the guys ever tried to start it, it would take me an extra 10 minutes to get us going. One of its other tricks... the alternator would wear out a set of brushes every few months and strand me somewhere. Eventually I learned to carry a couple extra sets, (they were dirt-cheep) AND the slate washers to mount them, AND the correct size nut driver. It took a while to realize having the little replacement brushes was useless without any way to install them. The tricky part was you had to lift the cowl offa' the motor, tilt it back between the seats, and crawl in the passenger side floorboard to reach the alternator with your left hand.

Good times, I tell ya'.

The first band I did sound for (for free beer & making out with their wives & girlfriends on the dance floor; Elvis imitator, so set it & forget it), the lead player was a friend & the one who brought me in, so I always rode with him in his VW van.  

It had a manual clutch.  

No, I didn't mean "manual transmission".  He'd push the clutch in, shift, then reach down & pull the pedal back up by hand.  The sliding door didn't slide; you lifted off, loaded the gear, then hang it back on.

Until the time it wouldn't hang, & went home in the drummer's trunk.

So, there we are, in February, with a huge hole in the right side where the door was gone, on Appalachian back roads, half drunk & passing joints, Tom pulling the pedal up after every shift, and every time the road curved left, I had to reach back and grab the drums to keep inside the vehicle.

And yes, of course I loved every minute of it........

Peter

My main gigging is a Smart for Four just like this one. 950cc three cylinder. The back seats fold flat si usuallyI get whatever I need for most gigs in there, plus passenger. Probably fits in the back seat of Wolf's car.😂