Moss Blog Page - Top 10 Road Trip Personalities

By Beth Judd
July 25, 2017

Top 10 Road Trip Personalities ...to travel Route 66 with!

We asked the staff at Moss Europe to give us their ideal companion (alive or dead, fictional or real) for a fantasy road trip across America’s Route 66. From here we have put together a list of 10 ideal personalities and a celebrity who perfectly encompasses this trait that we would just love to have sat next to us for a long road trip down the iconic route 66.

1. The Photographer – Ansel Adams

Credit: Image By photo by J. Malcolm Greany - http://lh4.ggpht.com/lilaliss/R94SlxUi88I/AAAAAAAAEKs/HDllKVaKHho/AD001443.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9481644 By Ansel Adams - http://www.archives.gov/media_desk/press_kits/picturing_the_century_photo_gallery/tetons_snake_river.jpg (hi-res)This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 519904.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required., https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118192

If you are going on a once in a life time journey like this, then surely you want some amazing photographs to remember it by. Why not take along one of America’s/history’s greatest landscape photographers so you always have some spectacular photos to look back on.

2. The Adventurer – Ewan McGregor

Credit: Image By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19748631 Image https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19076921

Okay so we all know he is an actor but did you know that this guy also loves a hard-core road trip? Back in 2004 he and fellow actor Charley Boorman embarked on an epic journey, navigating a trip around the world! Although they completed their trip on motorbikes, you know Ewan would throw himself into this adventure. Best of all, he also seems like a nice guy who would be good for a laugh along the way.

3. The Car Expert – Jenson Button / Tanner Foust

Credit: Image By Ryan Bayona - Jenson Button, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19270327 Image By Eddi Laumanns aka RX-Guru - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16187352

Who better to take the wheel than someone who drives professionally for a living and isn’t afraid to put their foot down or navigate some difficult terrain? It would be the perfect excuse for you to chill out in the passenger seat without having to worry about the driver not knowing what they were doing. Plus, as a fellow car enthusiast, think of all the advice and lessons they could pass on...

4. The Icon – Steve McQueen

Credit: Image By CBS Television - eBay itemPhoto frontPress release, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19270327 Image By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9756784

No one has ever quite matched a level of cool quite like Steve McQueen, and we don’t think anyone ever will. He was the epitome of style and remains an icon to many, not just to those of his generation, but to younger generations today. If you had him as a companion, obviously you would need the Mustang GT350 from Bullitt as the motor.

5. The Historical Figure – Abraham Lincoln

Credit: Image By unidentified - Christie's, LotFinder: entry 5176324, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25164348
Tinasuzanne - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28732073

As one of America greatest leaders and a symbol for liberty & Equal rights, he has been immortalised in famous locations across America such as Mt Rushmore and The Lincoln Memorial, so who better to see the country with! You would learn so much about the history of America, possibly find out if the Illuminati are real, and hear countless stories of true events from history, and find out what he would make of Donald Trump as president.

6. The Comedian – James Corden

Credit: Image By iDominick - http://www.flickr.com/photos/82924988@N05/16364434933/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39358813 Image By Ibsan73 - James Corden at the TV Baftas 2014, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38433778

Long hours in a small car can take its toll on even the greatest of drivers but having some light hearted conversation can really lift spirits and make it go a lot faster. No one could lift spirits better than James Corden, with his experience driving celebrities around every week in carpool karaoke we’ve already seen how much fun he can be on a road trip.

7. The Storyteller – Hunter S. Thompson

Credit: Film Poster By Universal Pictures - movieposter.com, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9890980 Image By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19447489

Although most people on this list will no doubt have some incredible stories to tell, for this journey we decided to pick the author of one of the most iconic & craziest American road trip novels ever written. We chose Hunter S. Thompson, the man behind ‘Fear and loathing in Las Vegas’. Who better to take you on a legendary, hedonistic American road trip down a long and dusty trail in Bat Country.

8. The Activist – John Lennon

Credit: Image By Apple Records - Billboard 18 September 1971, page 36, Public Domain, , https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17501400 Image By John_Lennon_1964_001.png: VARAderivative work: GabeMc (talk) - John_Lennon_1964_001.png (originally Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs), CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11866647

John Lennon died when he had so much more to give, We’d love to her what he had left to offer the world before his untimely death in 1980, the songs he would have sung and what he would make of the world today.

9. The Voice – Joanna Lumley

Credit: Image By See Li from London, UK - 2014-10-11 Joanna Lumley joins hundreds in protest against animal slaughtering, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38162293 Image By [1] from bbc.co.uk., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40752819

The sultry tones of Joanna Lumley would be the perfect companion by your side on a long road trip. In fact, her voice would work wonders as a sat-nav to defuse road rage and calm us all down! Her experience as a travel documentary presenter would make even the most deserted, baron landscapes appear interesting. She could read a drive-thru menu to you and it would sound like a Shakespearean sonnet.

10. The Singer – Mat Monro

Credit: Film poster by: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31608138 Image By Capitol Records - Billboard, page 35, 20 August 1966, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26927856

Just in case the radio signal drops out on your journey it would be a good idea to make sure you bring along a companion who is a half decent singer. Nothing makes a road trip more fun than having a sing along with nothing but a long open stretch of road in front of you. We had many singers suggested to us but we felt we had to go with the legend who sung ‘On Days Like These’ over the opening credits of The Italian Job. He is also known for other classics such as ‘Born Free’ ‘From Russia with Love’ and a rendition of ‘The Impossible Dream’ that gives Sinatra a run for his money.

The Wildcard – Thelma & Louise

Credit: Film poster by https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17143518 Image by Tim White, Moss Europe Ltd, 2016.

The most epic road trip/car chase in cinema history was carried out by this ill-fated feminist duo. The movie ended on an iconic scene of the two women speeding off the edge of the Grand Canyon in their 1966 Ford Thunderbird Convertible. We’d hope our trip with them wouldn’t end in the same way. That being said a road trip with them certainty wouldn’t be boring and you would get to see the best views of the Grand Canyon! We couldn’t find a decent image of their thunderbird, but we do have a nice image of a hardtop 1962 Thunderbird taken last year at the Big Sky Rally (2016).