I've had a 2002 Acura 1.7 EL since December after freelancing without a vehicle for a few years. Definitely not a powerful car, but I managed to put a camera, tripod, 50-pound light kit, sound package and sandbags in the trunk and could have had 4 more people in the car with me. 30mpg in the city, 40 on the highway.

Most of my shoots are done with company vehicles. We have a 2006 and a 2007 Dodge Calibre. They can hold a lot of gear but the overly thick segments around the windows make it really hard to see what's around you. The rear view mirror is like looking through a tunnel! I'm not sure what it's rated at but I don't think it's very good on gas.

'74 Mizutani
 

Excellent mileage, lockable, waterproof, cargo capacity: 250 lbs. Carries gear to locations motor vehicles can't go or are not allowed. This is going to be very handy this year in Eugene at the Olympic Trials.

A 2003 Chevy Suburban! Z71! Love it, had a 2001 Tahoe but it was a little small for all our stuff. Use it for road trips with 4 guys and hunting gear and camera gear. Some trips we have to use a car toper as well.

I drive a 2007 Mini Cooper S Type with JCW tuning kit. I love it although it is hard to get a ton of equipment in it.With everything in pelican boxes, I can get my full kit in there pretty snug. You have to take the back seats out of course but it makes a pretty cool light production vehicle.

I have driven "Nigel" since 1997. It has 250K miles now and still runs good. It is built like a brick outhouse and has plenty of storage. It has carried me and gear to Central America three times, all over the US and Canada over the years. The roof rack provides extra storage, sleeping and once a refuge from a bull buffalo. Extra battery feeds an inverter, winch, and HF SSB communication . I will drive it until I die.

Jon Haskell
Rivers of the World
www.row.org

Mr. Haskell....YOU my friend have the most awesome rig on here yet. that thing is SWEET!

'94 Acura Integra Hatchback. With the back seats down, I can carry a heckuva lot of stuff. In addition to the shooting thing, I play and teach drums and, believe it or not, I can fit 2 complete drumsets in this car in the back alone (again, with seats down). With the seats up, there's not much room for any normal-sized human anyway, so I don't feel bad sacrificing the seats. This ride is enough for a full lighting, camera, and sound package, with a sound guy/gal too. And I can still see out of the back.

~~Dave

'94 Jeep Grand Cherokee (140,000k miles). The V8's doing nothing for the environment or my wallet for that matter. Rear seats are almost always down to allow for either the dog or camera and lighting package. Plenty of room for a Porta Brace 'Coffin' (wheeled production case) and the rest. Had a great run but I'm afraid my romance with Jeep products is over.

Chevy Suburban
 

My production vehicle is a second owner 1990 Chevrolet Suburban. I built a slide out tray with high sides to hang my tripods, ladder, boom pole, etc. with velcro straps. Misc items go in heavy plastic crates, cameras and light in their cases. Dolly, track and crane all fit just fine.

1988 Toyota Camry AWD. (Important in Alaska) It just keeps running!
1992 Suburban K2500 (Alaskan sports car)
1999 Suburban K1500 (Alaskan luxury sedan)

So we spend more than $100 a week for gas, there's always room for everything and everybody.

1999 Jeep Cherokee 2Dr
 

I'm on my second Cherokee. I buy them with the 4.0 litre inline 6 cylinder with the 5 speed. I use about 9 litres per 100 kilometres when she's running right, 13 litres when she's not.

I can take all my shooting gear nearly anywhere with it in relative comfort. Unfortunately, since Jeep came out with the Liberty, I have no idea what my next vehicle will be. Possibly a Subaru Outback or Forester. I NEED 4WD or AWD as we can have snow and ice at least 6 months of the year in a bad year.

Jeepsters
 

We're Grand Cherokee folks, too. We came really close to buying the Element, but we haul our boom from time to time and opted for the longer cabin. It's been great for us.

Mazda 5 sport
Mazda MX5
Mercedes 1991 Sl300 24valve

2006 - Mazda 6 with AC/DC Inverter in the glove box. Mac Based Mobile edit system to check and download P2 content at the scene so the producers walk with the footage at the end of the day. Great gas mileage for the buck.

A 2003 Chevy Suburban Z-71! I LOVE IT!! Except the gas! 19mpg highway.

A 1986 BMW 525e most of the time. Nice and economical (I think it's badged as the 528e in the US). And a 93 Jag XJ6, 3.2s, nowhere near as economical. I bought it to do up and sell on but have occasionally used it when it was needed in a film, as it was similar to one which had been used in some earlier filming.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...capture26b.jpg

2005 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi 4-door.

It can haul a LOT of stuff. 6-passenger max. I'd like to get a camper shell for it so that I can toss everything in the back. As it is, I only put stuff in the back when I have to and I lock it down with bike locks and tydowns, etc.

I'd like to get something new but my husband says No way. That may change with the gas prices though, since my truck gets something like 13mpg in the city. I've been looking at the hybrid suv from ford (?). Definately need more power than the Prius can deliver.

A 2002 Chrysler T&C All Wheel Drive mini van. I bought it one year old with 20 K miles on it. It now has 122,000 on it. It has been as far east as Virginia and it has seen the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. I got the soccer mom car and my wife got the Audi A4. How did that happen?

The car is loaded (Limited). It is extremely comfortable for long distance travel. As stupid as they seem.....the electric doors and tailgate are great when you approach the van with your hands full. Tinted rear windows and furniture pads cover everyting from prying eyes. The All Wheel Drive is a pleasure in any kind of weather. I pull the seats when necessary.

Unfortunately, they quit making AWD versions of the Dodge and T&C in 2004 when the "stow and go" seating used the space that the drive shaft took.

Besides using it for work it also tows 2 motorcycles to Colorado every summer for our annual participation in the Colorado 500 Charity Motorcycle ride.

Highway mileage is usually in the 20.5 to 22 MPG range. Towing the motorcycles (open flat trailer) about 16.5 for the trip to Colorado.

It has been a great van and almost trouble free. I upgraded the brakes to slotted/cross drilled rotors with EBC Greenstuff pads because of the trailer hauling. I am on my second set of Michlein Hydroedge tires that are good all year round and absouletly amazing in the wet.

I like the exterior design of the car and I find the new ones butt ugly. Too slab sided. Too much Jeep and Mercedes G Wagon for my taste.

I drive a 2006 Kia Sorento 4wd SUV, which costars in my weekly show on local TV, "Rapid Ralph Runs the Roads" ('We take you to places you don't even know are places') in which I travel the mountain roads of Western North Carolina.

I haul all my stuff around in a 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser. All of the back seats fold up allowing plenty of room for gear. Also, it's an extremely competent four-wheel drive so getting to almost any shoot is generally a breeze, no matter where it is or what the environmental conditions are like.

Couple other points: lots of room for passengers (seats 7), legendary reliability (I've got almost 150K miles and it runs like new), you can film moving shots straight out the back or by rigging up a jib.

Cheers,

2004 Ford F150 FX4 Supercab - work
1999 Mercury Cougar - fun

I drive old school - 1988 VW cabriolet. My VW mechanic swears by these cars and said I got a deal at $500. I've maybe put another $400 so far to get it mechanically sound, but the thing gets mid 30 mpg on the highway and close to 30mpg in the city. Gas prices have me smiling at how little I have to put gas in it. I drive only when I have to. Local errand running around town is either the car or my custom single speed commuter bicycle when I have less than a couple miles to travel for errands.

I drive a 4 door soft-top H1 Hummer. I have the wagon extension for the soft top when I need to carry lots of gear. It allows me to carry all the gear I need, but I am limited to 4 people max (including myself). We are thinking about buying a couple year old Ford Excursion to use for the company so we can carry talent and gear. Being located in Las Vegas we tend to go out and shoot in the desert a lot and an SUV is perfect for that.

If we are not going off road I have a Kenworth with living quarters. It is not ideal because it is designed for carrying my car, but it gives us more than enough room in the back for gear and a nice air-conditioned living area with a kitchen and bathroom/shower. This really helps when we are trying to shoot in the summer heat. (Of course I could never justify this expense for the company at this point, but I have the truck from my hobby so we get double use out of it - more info at www.CureCFracing.com )

If it is just me and a single model running around town for solo content we tend to use my daily driver which is an 01 Viper.

P.S. Yea I love my life :-)

Thanks!

Bill

heh at the other end of the spectrum from the Hummer, I have a Vauxhall (gm) corsa with a huge! 1.3 litre cdti engine. Its great for hills and narrow windy roads, perfect for holidays and 70mpg. With fuel costing a fortune these days the economy rocks. I'd love an f150 (again), and a toyota hilux for when the f150 breaks (often as its a ford). Fuel prices in Europe are insane, £1.30 a litre for diesel right now, for an imperial gallon thats £5.85 or $11-$12 an imperial gallon.
It alledgedly does 72mpg but 65mpg is more realistic.

Yea fuel costs certainly hurt now-a-days. H1 ~ 12mpg; Viper ~ 10mpg; Kenworth ~ 5.5mpg My daughter drives a mini-cooper and it is amazing how far it goes on a tank of gas. Certainly makes me jealous.

Bill

I think your figures will be in US gallons which is 3.8 liters, whereas an imperial gallon is 4.5 liters so I think that makes the corsa about 50mpg instead of 65mpg.
I cant wait for the next fuel to get mainstream. As soon as we get off our asses with fusion stations we will have enough clean energy to go large scale with hydrogen. I would imagine that would leave certain oil producing countries unhappy.

I have such car envy, I drive a Porsche twin turbo, and on order for a Spyker 12 cylinder, neither of which is large enough to hold me and even a point and shoot :(

One of these days I will get a truck, but I like minivans so much better, I just cannot bring myself to buy one. Rent or borrow, no problem, but actually be a minivan owner that will make me feel like I am getting older and more practical. thats so not me :(

Ah Stephen,

You can certainly get a point and shoot in the car with you. You just have to have your talent hold it on her lap :-)

The Viper actually has a decent amount of space in the rear hatch area. I can carry my porta-brace with video set up and a seperate smaller porta-brace for my still set-up. I have to be shooting natural light though. No room to bring any lights along.

The girls love it when I pick them up in the car though. It is way more popular with them than the Hummer. Surprisingly they all seem to love the Kenworth too though.

What is your Twin? I c-drove a C4 I believe is the model reference in a recent endurance race. Interesting driving an all wheel drive when I am used to racing rear wheel drive. It was an amazing car for being almost completely stock! Porsche has really refined the design over the years!

Bill

911 turbo, 480 stock HP, I have twin bosch superchargers pumping it up to about 600 :/

And all wheel drive is strange coming from the 928's and older muscle cars, and even different from the rear wheel drive 911's its more stable through turns though, it pushes and pulls

I used to have a Chevy S-10, 4 dr, 4wd until it died. I am currently using a 97 Chevy Camaro Z-28 which gets decent mileage (25 mpg hwy). I have refined my packing and I can get 2 large light kits with a total of 9 lights/stands/light controls etc., plus a 4 tube Kino-Flo, 2 tripods, audio package, 13" monitor, full BetaCam package, batteries, power supplies, back-up camera (Sony HVR-V1U), stingers, dimmers, black wrap, galf tape, slate, back drops and probably some things I don't remember inside the Camaro. And I still have some room left over.

1973 VW bus named Dante the Hellrider. Locking camera case bolted under the bench seat that locks also. Lots of room for chargers, tripods, odds and ends. I setup the table in the back for editing and hook the laptop right into the vehicles stereo. You can cook, eat, sleep and even use it as a blind for nature photography. Although critters might find a bright, orange vehicle to be a bit out of place. It's worked great for me but then again, I'm editing a VWcentric travel doc right now too. ;)

I recently got a Scion XB, and it works out very well as a gas-efficient light production vehicle. It's short, so real long stuff (crane, 2x4s, etc) is a bit tough, but the gas mileage is awesome and it's a fun car to drive too.

That's the twin of my wife's car. I like them.

I do the offroad thing from time to time with my daily driver as well:

It's an '85 4Runner sensibly modified for occasional offroad use, including +4" springs, 35" MTR's, a wider '89 rear axle with 4.88 gears and lockers in front and rear diffs, intake, header, port n' polish work, 9000lb winch, a bunch of square tube steel poorly fabricated into bumpers and rocker guards, hand throttle, removable cup holder, relocated ECU, trimmed wheel wells, dual TC reduction units, Mike Huckabee bumper sticker, CB, onboard air compressor and welder, and front round headlights and grille stolen from an '80 pickup. Frightens Al Gore, hauls much cargo, yet still gets a sensible 22mpg.

The guy standing in front of it is a real jerk, by the way.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...etsept0718.jpg

LOL! I love it. And I love the picture, too. Thanks for making my night, Kevin. :)

I had a 2005 VW GTI but sold it because it started to get to small, and bought a 1988 Jeep Cherokee with 130,000 miles on the OD. So now I have tons of room, 4x4, large roof rack and poor mileage :) haha.

heres a photo with the roof rack loaded and the entire back full, after that trip i rebuilt the rear springs.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/...f3e2ab2685.jpg

Actually here is a better photo.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/...2e0fdf6415.jpg

.
 

I drive a 2005 Nissan Terrano (called Terrance)

and a 1972 Series 3 Landrover (called Big Ron)

and a 1979 Mini Clubman Estate (called Missy)

and a 1989 Mini Saloon (called Mervyn)

It's a nice balance between them, 55 mpg from the Clubman Estate, speed from the Mini Saloon, real off road and bad weather work from the Landy and long distance comfort with lot's of gear in the Nissan.

The great thing is the 3 classic cars are rising in value, are cheap to insure, cheap for me to mend and the Landrover even is free of car tax in the UK :-)

2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee with only 58k. i want to see how long i can keep it, besides I don't see anythingout there i would just LOVE to have.

You could swap that Viper for a Corvette Z06 and double your gas mileage and triple your cargo space... :)

what???
 

Did I hear someone say Z06? Yum!!! :)

With everything in my large backpack I ride either my Kawasaki Vulcan 500, or my Sonic 50cc scooter. Not only do I get great mpg (90mpg for the scooter), but I can park almost anywhere and fit through the gaps in a traffic jam to get to my destination on time. :-)