Whats the best " Tube Mobile " .....

had an early 2door LWD jackaroo wagon.. used to love that beasty with a gemini engine in it ;) though ground clearance was always an issue.. big tyre ruts would cause it some issues.. now use a GQ patrol.

Always been a Toyota kinda guy. Loved the Troop Carriers when the first came out; now it seems the Prados are the best option (especially with a small family).

However as real 4WDing is such a rare event, I'd love to get back to my glory days on the road when I had a Mazda 1800 van (on LPG in the mid 90's - 18c per litre - Glenelg to Victor and back for four bucks!). Got a couple of mates with VW Transporters these days, with custom split levels in the back (boards underneath, mattress on top).. that is the ultimate surf wagon for Australia I reckon.

little bro has an old ford van.. decked out quite nicely. on gas as well ben, reckon we used 15$ to victor and back from the city couple weeks back.. ive considered going down the van way again.. but all my other pursuits benefit from the 4wd options offered in the Patrol.

First surf-mobile, 4WD single cab Hilux ute. Bit under powered with the 1.8 but good car non the less. Couple of sedans not worth mentioning, tails of my boards sticking out the rear window.

Had a brilliant Pajero for years, go anywhere and super reliable, bit thirsty though.

Bought a new Subaru Outback recently. Comfy, plenty or room, decent ground clearance and good on fuel. In addition, by far the best snow car for your $.

My Bro loves his diesel Hi-lux dual cab but wants a Troopie though because of the sleeping room.

I think if you're travelling for waves these days, fuel is a big consideration.

i cross the Nulla twice a month for work.. Fuels at $2 a litre out there every day. so for those heading FW for a session.. its def a consideration. though penongs still pretty good!

Land Cruiser, rip all the back seats out. Room for camping gear in the rear foot well, boards down one side, swag down the other for when it rains or the mozzies are out of control.
145L of petrol and 70 litres of gas gets you most places,and they are pretty hard to beat if you break anything in a remote place, as just about every station / farm has a few toyota wrecks to scavenge which have surprisingly common parts running through the years.
Pretty good towing capacity if you are going to drag any toys with you.

Toyota Camry, 4 cylinder, front wheel drive.

I wouldn't recommend it as a surf mobile but years ago I had one of these and it served me extremely well. Despite never going near a mechanic during 5 years of ownership it never missed a beat. I used to bounce into the Potholes carpark (back when it was strictly 4wd only) and people'd turn heads to see my front wheel drive number pulling up. Plus, the front wheel drive was great fun for doing reverse donuts in dusty, uninhabited carparks. Not that I advocate such behaviour.

Yeah, Camry's are alright.

Zenagain,

I once had a Peruvian friend visit me and he saw his first 'Pajero' on the road. That cross-cultural stuff up made his trip.

Stu, I loved my Mitsubishi 'Wanker'. I bequeathed it to my nephew, still going strong.

I love the cross cultural stuff too. One of the most popular soft drinks here is called 'Calpis' (pronounced Cow-piss), makes me smile every time.

I had a Camry company car a few years back, the personification of boring, twas reliable though.

I'm loving my Outback right now, great car.

Zen,

The kicker came when my mate saw a Mitsubishi Prado - that was his surname! After seeing a 'Wanker' and his namesake on the road he was checking the spare type cover or boot of each car trying to find more funny names.

Travel expands the mind, eh?

These days it doesn't really matter, but when i was a grom i lived in tassie for a few years 4WD Subaru wagons were the go, as cheap to buy and run, but could still take them on the beach and get to all the nooks and crannys down the west coast, man i miss that coast.

I've driven Ford, Holden and Toyota sedans, wagons and vans but for me nothing beats the VW Kombi, old school all they up to T5.Fuel wise the T5 TDI is outstanding.

I can't beleive no-one has actually mentioned the ultimate tube mobile of australian surf culture, the bloody HZ Kingswood Panno was and still is the ultimate tube mobile. 5.0 Liter V8 with the shagpile in the back, tear up and down any bush track and easy as to fix and bloody Australian as well.
It was the ultimate surf/party mobile and petrol was only 42c a liter back then.

77 Cortina TD wagon...the steering wheel reminded one of a cabin cruiser of the same vintage...or of those 2 cent cabin cruiser rides down the local Foodland. Ship Ahoy! The ignition key could also work in every other cortina...um, which coulda been handy, I guess...erm...in emergencies or summat