For straightforward, joyful motoring in the open air, few cars can match the pure spirit of the great roadster of all time, the Mazda Miata MX-5, now in its fourth generation. This is my personal favorite Miata since the first-gen, a car that I owned and took on several road trips.
Yes, your luggage will be limited. But you wanted to travel light anyway. And yes, you'll be limited to one passenger. But didn't you want only the best company?
If a drop-top coupé Miata is more your speed, the MX-5 RF is just as much fun.
Obviously, we're working through red convertibles here. The EcoBoost Mustang ragtop is tremendous fun and should be available in rental fleets. But don't let that stigma put you off this four-banger — it's all pony car.
Enough with the red! I took this Avorio (means "ivory") Ferrari cabrio on a jaunt to Lime Rock Park to watch a bit of racing. It's the ultimate cruising vehicle from Maranello — but this horse can do more than prance, powered by a 660-horsepower twin-turbo V8.
The 'Stang has a back seat, sort of. The MINI Cooper S drop-top does a bit better. Four adults could undertake a short journey in relative comfort. I took one of these in a run to Jersey Shore a few summers back and it was brilliant.
This is a 911 with a rectangle roof that folds away, mechanically. It has always been my favorite Porsche, probably always will be. As with other rides on our list, the Targa was my chariot on a run to Lime Rock Park, a racetrack in Connecticut.
The Grand Sport is the greatest Vette ever, and the convertible option simply pushes it over the edge into rhapsody.
The wild edges of Lambos of old have been sanded off with the Huracán, which is more of an everyman's supercar.
Throw in the Spyder option, however, and the domesticated beast put the wind back in your hair.
This drop-top German muscle car was the ticket for a dash from Manhattan to the East End of Long Island a few years back.
A very provocative and pleasurable take on the ultimate driving machine, with room for four in its 2+2 configuration.
Priced at $129,000 and all Porsche, the 450-horsepower 911 GTS is the road-tripper I'd choose if I wanted to rip up some road.
Business Insider's Ben Zhang spent a few days with BMW's hybrid supercar, taking it in a 750-miles road trip through scenic New England.
"During my journey, I subjected the i8 to everything from gridlock city traffic and highway cruising to spirited jaunts through twisty country roads," he reported. "The BMW tackled every situation with poise and more than a little flair."
The latest-generation of the Great Hybrid Ever was a car I checked out in 2016. I own an example of the previous gen and would take this sub-$30,000 fuel-sipper just about anywhere.
The i3 isn't purely electric. It has a range-extender gas motor that kicks in after the battery is drained. The total range is about 15o miles. But you don't have to recharge if it's inconvenient. You can instead just stop every 50 miles and splash in some more gas.
The Model S is a different story. It can achieve over 300 miles on a charge, depending on battery-pack configuration.
Tesla's widespread Supercharger network also makes a coast-to-coast all-electric road trip a possibility.
And the Model S has so much cargo capacity that you can use it almost like and SUV.
Of course, if you must have an all-electric SUV for your summer road trip, Tesla has you covered with the Model X.
It can easily carry up to seven people and all their gear (the third row might be a bit snug for two passengers).
If you'd prefer your Tesla to be more stripped down, then seek out the far more rudimentary Roadster. The original is no longer on sale, but you can pick one up used. And a new Roadster will arrive in the next few years.
The Raptor is the baddest pickup in all the land. It's optimized by Ford's Performance Division for maximum offroad enjoyment, but I took it on a 400-mile round-trip run to New York's Catskills and thought it was remarkably pleasant.
The Envision is made-in-China, but it's become a bestselling for Buick. I drove it all the way to Detroit and back from my home base in the New York area.
Of note is the Envisions superb infotainment system, among the easiest to use in the auto industry.
The CT6 is Caddy's flagship sedan and for now the only vehicle in the lineup that has the hand-free freeway driving feature, Super Cruise.
I Super Cruised from New York to Washington, DC and was extremely impressed by the system.
Not the coolest ride in the world. But when I had to pick up four kids and all their gear after two weeks at summer camp, I was grateful for how much carrying capacity the Sienna had.
The redesign of the original luxury SUV is flying off dealer's lots.
If you want to road trip with a big crew of folks, the Navigator will enable you to do it in style.
If you'd like to take a road trip in the most beautiful SUV ever made by human hands on planet Earth, the glorious F-PACE is you're set of wheels.
The title of finest luxury SUV on Earth has to go to the magnificent, technologically advanced Audi Q7.
The Porsche Panamera was our Business Insider 2017 Car of the Year. But it wasn't a wagon!
Now we have one: the Sport Turismo gives you just a little more party in the back, with all the awesome performance the Panamera is known for.
The outstanding Stinger is the best Kia ever — and our personal favorite among all the cars we've driven so far this year.
I spent several days driving this amazing sports sedan around the Bay Area and was blown away.
The Wrangler is old school, but in a good way. If you want to rough it on your summer road trip, there are few better choices.
If you absolutely, positively do not want to rough it, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is the most expensive car we've ever tested ($500,000 plus, if you were wondering).
Business Insider's Ben Zhang took this $328,000, 700-horsepower grand-touring beast on a lovely jaunt through Northern California wine country.
"The car I drove was dripping with soul and certainly echoed the style and performance," he concluded.
A high-performance coupé that's also good for the environment? Say hello to the remarkable Lexus LC 500h, a hybrid version of the LC 500.
Possibly the most fun-to-drive hybrid on the road — a Prius turned up to 11.
Finally, if your summer road trip might take you through the zombie apocalypse, the legendary G-Wagon will make sure that you can get to the other side.
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