{"id":7276,"date":"2017-08-25T12:05:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T19:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/?p=7276"},"modified":"2025-10-08T06:35:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:35:04","slug":"ask-a-gearhead-alex-roy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/gearheads\/ask-a-gearhead-alex-roy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask a gearhead: Alex Roy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to this month\u2019s edition of\u00a0Ask a Gearhead<\/a>, our Q&A series with enthusiasts and influencers in the automotive space. Last month we spoke with Purist Group founder Sean Lee<\/a>, and this month we are pleased to feature Alex Roy!<\/p>\n

Alex is a journalist, speaker, and Editor-at-Large for The Drive.<\/a>\u00a0He holds multiple endurance race records, including in the transcontinental Cannonball Run Rally. In 2006, Alex drove a 2000 BMW M5 from New York to the Santa Monica Pier in 31 hours and four minutes, a record that stood for seven years. He chronicled this feat in his book “The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World.” You can check out Alex’s website<\/a> or his pages on Instagram and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WHAT WAS YOUR FAMILY CAR GROWING UP?<\/h4>\n

We had a 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. It was silver with a black vinyl top.<\/p>\n

WORST THING YOU\u2019VE EVER DRIVEN?<\/h4>\n

I don’t know… maybe I’ve lucked out. I think a Renault 21. Terrible car, I think it was sold in the US as the Eagle Medallion. A friend had one and I was just curious. I’ve always loved French cars, but that generation of French cars was absolutely terrible.<\/p>\n

IF YOU COULD OWN JUST ONE CAR FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?<\/h4>\n

Easy. Morgan 3 Wheeler. Of course<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FAVORITE ROAD TRIP? (DESTINATION, JOURNEY, OR ROAD TO DRIVE)<\/h4>\n

Key West to Seattle non-stop is the best way to see America. It really is. You should do it with no less than two friends, so you get three people in a car, and you will get to know people like you would not believe. We did it in about 45 hours, and we saw three seasons, a hurricane, and a snowstorm. I recommend everyone do that once before they die. We had a Volvo S90, and we decided to make a video of what was the longest cannonball record in America, and that was it. 3,500 miles, let’s go.<\/p>\n

SAY YOU\u2019RE DIRECTING FAST & FURIOUS 9, WHAT\u2019S THE HERO CAR?<\/h4>\n

I’d like to see a performance hybrid, something bonkers. A Fisker Karma with an LS1 motor swap. Absolutely. It’s got everything you want. I can’t imagine what’s cooler than that.<\/p>\n

WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST ANIMAL TO RIDE IF IT WERE SCALED UP TO THE SIZE OF A HORSE?<\/h4>\n

The cheetah, because it’s the fastest land animal. They can do 70 mph, so scale that up to a horse, and you’re talking real speed. An animal that can do more than 100 mph, are you kidding me? What’s the zero to 60 for a cheetah? …it’s three seconds. So yeah, that’s amazing.<\/p>\n

IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO WEAR FLIP FLOPS WHILE DRIVING? WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED DRIVING FOOTWEAR?<\/h4>\n

No. What’s the second half of the question? I generally wear Piloti or Huntziker driving shoes. Huntziker does cool stuff, I have two pairs and I love’em. I should also say that if you’re in a Morgan, you should wear fake-fur lined rain boots. For the water, for the temperature, it’s terrible.<\/p>\n

WHAT DO YOU KEEP IN YOUR CAR AT ALL TIMES?<\/h4>\n

I carry a Valentine V1 radar detector and an Escort Max 360. A professional phone mount with a spare phone running the Chffr app. It’s like a dashcam that’s hooked up to the comma.ai cloud to help develop self-driving ai.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S YOUR MARIO KART CHARACTER?<\/h4>\n

I do not have one, because I’ve gone cold turkey on video games. When I played driving games, I played mostly Forza and Pole Position.<\/p>\n

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE BIOPIC OF YOUR LIFE? AND WHAT IS IT CALLED?<\/h4>\n

The French guy from the Artist. Jean Dujardin. He’s got my sense of humor and he’s great with all the disguises and accents.<\/p>\n

IF YOU HAD AN ICE CREAM TRUCK, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU PLAY FROM THE SPEAKER?<\/h4>\n

Bohemian Rhapsody.<\/p>\n

WHAT’S THE SINGLE LAST CAR YOU RENTED, ON ANY PLATFORM?<\/h4>\n

I think it was a Fiat 500e on Turo. I loved it. I wish it had more range, very convenient for driving in LA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to this month\u2019s edition of\u00a0Ask a Gearhead, our Q&A series with enthusiasts and influencers in the automotive space. Last month we spoke with Purist Group founder Sean Lee, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[177],"class_list":["post-7276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gearheads","tag-ask-a-gearhead"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t