Epic Road Trip in Matt Farah's Million Mile Lexus
Hi, we're Ana & Anton. We plan to drive Matt's million mile LS400 across the USA this summer and we need your help to plan the journey!
HOW ALL THIS CAME ABOUT...
We are still not exactly sure how we managed to sweet talk
Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire into lending us his famous
Million Mile Lexus LS400 for an epic road trip around the continental USA, but here we are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime! Everything started with a quick comment we left on Matt's Instagram asking him what the current mileage on the Lexus was. From there, one thing lead to another and before we had time to realise what we were getting ourselves into Matt had offered us the keys. How could we say no to the man who has filled our headphones and mobile phone screens with automotive goodness for so many years!? The funny thing is that when Anton went on a similar, albeit much shorter, road trip across the USA in 2009 he was considering the LS400 platform as an option for a comfortable and fun road trip machine. However, after much deliberation on E46Fanatics.com, which Anton was an active member of many moons ago, his choice was swayed by the BMW fanboys and he bought a well used E39 530i with 175k miles on the clock from a friend of a friend. Thankfully, the idea of touring the USA in a LS400 never died in his mind and after all these years we have now come full circle and even I have caught the Million Mile Lexus bug.
"MATT'S IDEA WAS TO TRY TO GET THE CAR UP TO A MILLION MILES. WHY? FOR THE SAME REASON ANY MALE DOES ANYTHING. BECAUSE." - AARON GOLD
Images: villavisuals.com
MATT'S 1996 LEXUS LS400
According to the latest report, the Lexus has approximately 970,000 miles on the odometer and is purring along nicely. If you haven't heard of Matt's Lexus or you want to read up on what it has been up to lately we recommend you start here. We will not dwell on the mechanics in this post as it is a topic that is well covered and which we will surely address once we set of on the long drive. Suffice to say we are confident in the car's ability and the owner's commitment to maintenance.
THE PLAN
To celebrate the achievement of this particular LS400 (and quite frankly for our own narcissistic pleasure) we intend to drive approximately 14-15,000 miles in three months (June to August 2018). Some would argue that this is a big pain rather than any sort of pleasure, but for us it is the perfect opportunity to get behind the wheel of a car full of character and see the beautiful American wilderness, as well as to visit many major automotive events along the way. Let the adventure begin!
You will always see the most up-to-date version of the plan by clicking this link. It will change over time as we add stops and plan the timing of each stage, but in general the idea is to drive from California to Texas in June (spend 4th July with good friends in Houston), go from Texas to Chicago in July, and the rest of the trip back west throughout August. Below is a list of automotive events that we definitely intend to go to. Feel free to add to our list by posting your recommendations in the comments below.
BUCKET LIST: AUTOMOTIVE EVENTS, MUSEUMS, AND DRIVES
Shelby Museum, Las Vegas
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (June 24th)
NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (July 7th)
Blue Ridge / Tail of the Dragon
Formula E in NYC (July 14-15)
Owls Head Transportation Museum, Maine
Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI - (Model T assembly workshop)
The Lingenfelter Collection, Brighton, MI
Gilmore Car Museum, Hickory Corners, MI
Bonnaville Speed Week (August 11-16th)
Pacific Coast Highway
Academy of Art University Automobile Museum, SF, CA
Drag Races at Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, CA
Canepa Classic and Collector Cars, Scotts Valley, CA
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and Historic Racing (August 23-25th)
Neptune's Net Seafood Restaurant, CA (Fast n Furious diner)
Petersen Automotive Museum, LA, CA
THE WAYS YOU GUYS CAN HELP US PLAN
Give us recommendations for places to see and stay along the way (we would love recommendations to hidden gems like picturesque wood or lake cabins and other off the beaten path destinations).
Recommend additional automotive events and stops (car shows, races, festivals, museums, etc.), which we might have missed in our list.
Share any cool ideas you think might be interesting to attempt in the #MillionMileLexus.
Help us with our packing list (we will have a tent and camping gear as well as a lot of photography and videography equipment). What tools, gadgets, or safety equipment do you guys recommend?
Maybe someone can tell us whether foreigners can sign up with the AAA for brakedown assistance? If not, we will get off our lazy butts and research it :P
Any other recommendations welcome (ex. hot air ballon festivals, rafting tour, monster truck driving school :D, rodeos competitions, etc)!
A BIT ABOUT US...
We are Anton and Ana, husband and wife, travel duo, and adventure vloggers with a passion for everything automotive! Last year, we started a YouTube channel, which we called Adventureholix, in order to share our travel experiences with the world. This year we are taking it up a notch and quitting our day jobs to embark on a number of crazy journeys around the world. Road trips are definitely our forte and we have some exciting ideas in the works (Hint: overlanding South America or driving the Asian Rally in our Lada 2105 are both on the table).
Cheers guys,
Ana & Anton
P.S. Big thank you goes out to Everyday Driver,
Villa Visuals, and Tavarish for providing the footage to make this video and post possible!