If you follow this site, you won’t be surprised to learn that our staffers have their hands in many different automotive projects—some glamorous, some not, and certainly more than we have time to write about in a given week! We always keep each other up to date on Slack, and one of the most recent events we celebrated was the return of a rather magnificent Buick to the garage of our managing editor, Eddy Eckart. He recently inherited the car from a family member, has been working on it himself, and enlisted the help of a shop to help get it over the finish line. Stay tuned for a more detailed story on the Centurion, but here’s what makes the car special in his own words:
“I think the Centurion showed up at the right time—I’m not sure I’d have been ready for it earlier in my life. Until now, I liked the idea of personal luxury coupes and convertibles—for others. Maybe it’s the family ties, or that I’m more open to the fact that steering feel and a crisp chassis aren’t the be-all end-all. There’s no rush in this car, and that’s the joy—look out over that long hood, crank the tunes, and just be in the moment.”
It didn’t take long for the rest of us to start imagining the road trips we would take if we had something as magnificently comfortable as Eddy’s Buick, so we decided to make our musings the subject of this week’s staff list. Our discussion started with ’70s personal luxury and meandered into many different approaches to the general theme of luxurious motoring. Take a gander at our choices, and feel free to add your favorite personal luxury coupe (or convertible) in the comments below!
1970 Chevrolet Impala
There is something about the Impalas of the late 1960s and early 1970s that has always captured me and it’s forever been on the top of my list for a trip with three friends. Just start somewhere warm and go somewhere else warm and never put the top up. Cruise back roads, switch out drivers, and do our best to move at 55mph or slower whenever possible. If there was a car for the journey and not the destination, to me that’s a 1970 Impala convertible. — Kyle Smith
1955–59 Bentley Continental by Mulliner
I know the personal luxury car is often understood to be an American thing, but for this dream cruise, you’d find me luxuriating like a boss behind the wheel of a 1955–59 Bentley Continental with fastback coachwork by H.J. Mulliner. They are gorgeous cars from any angle, and equipped with a 4.9-liter six that purrs along at modern speeds, power windows, air conditioning, an adjustable suspension, gorgeous wood veneers, and some plush leather seating, they certainly make a strong case as the pinnacle of 1950s luxury. — Stefan Lombard
1993–98 Lincoln Mark VIII
As an owner of multiple personal luxury coupes (PLCs) and American land yachts in general, I hate to say it, but I need the models from the tail end of the era for a road trip.
Here’s my issue: older PLCs have lost their once-unassailable levels of comfort on modern roads at modern speeds. Time has passed them by. I could lament this handing of the torch all day, but the biggest concern for me is the need constant course correction at the speeds I drive in Texas (i.e. 70mph or more).
All that course correction is not relaxing, not to mention acceleration and braking isn’t terribly great in those conditions either. PLCs from the good old days weren’t designed for these parameters. But the second-to-last holdout of the genre nailed it: the 1993-98 Lincoln Mark VIII.
Everything that a PLC from their zenith could do is done better in a Mark VIII. Highway speeds are a snap with a long bullet nose and a 32-valve engine that accelerates with gusto and verve that can’t be touched by a big block with PLC-worthy gearing or an imported luxury coupe of the era (looking at you Lexus SC 400). Speed-sensitive steering means you set it and forget it, muscles can and will relax. Computer engineering of everything from the rear-wheel drive chassis to the braking system and the fully independent air suspension means its essentially impossible to get a better ride anywhere else. The Mark VIII has many of the technological benefits we appreciate in new vehicles but in a slick, not-CUV package that hugs the road like a true PLC.
An honorable mention must go to the V8 or Supercharged Thunderbird whence the Mark VIII came…but don’t take my word for it, as their marketing tagline said “Drive Everything Else First.” — Sajeev Mehta
1973 Plymouth Road Runner
I suspect I’m expected to pick one of the cars I’ve test-driven over the years, but I won’t. I’d like to have back my 1973 Plymouth Road Runner, 400-cubic-inch V-8 with a so-thirsty Thermoquad carb and a Hurst pistol-grip four-speed and DeeCee, the One Who Got Away, on the other side of the blue vinyl bench seat. Was it really as good a road-trip car as I remember, or am I influenced by the trip we took where she said she loved me? Don’t care, and that’s my answer. — Steven Cole Smith
Lexus SC 400
I’m a sucker for 1990s Japanese machinery, and although I haven’t ever given much thought to the idea of a personal luxury coupe, the Lexus SC 400 would be my pick, hands down.
I absolutely adore the 4.0-liter 1UZ-FE V-8 that the SC came with. That motor is an engineering masterpiece. I had one in a 1997 Lexus LS 400, and to this day, it’s the only car that I’ve ever owned that I would take back in a heartbeat, and possibly at an upcharge.
I’d get the benefit of that dead-reliable engine and the competence of a young, hungry Lexus brand that was laser-focused on nailing every little detail of a luxury car. It would be stylish, swift, and uneventful for years at a time. What’s more luxurious than peace of mind? — Nate Petroelje
1977–90 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
I’m going to follow the lead of Stefan and go the European route for my luxurious cruise-mobile. My criteria of luxury are simple: A richly powerful V-8 complemented by oodles of luscious-smelling leather and wood. Unlike Nate, I will set practicality and reliability aside and choose with my heart: The first V-8-powered Vantage built by Aston Martin (1977–1990). I’ve always thought these cars are incredibly handsome, and I’d love the chance to answer the question: Would I love them as much as I do now after doing a road trip in one? — Grace Houghton
