The AMG longroof has proven itself to be a phenomenal mile muncher but after rain stopped play for us at the start of the trip, I was still itching to take some twistier turns to get home. I was determined to get home from Phoenix in one day but that didn’t mean I had to take the most direct route.
Two of my favourite routes just happen to be on Los Angeles’ doorstep. I had ruled out taking 101 to go back because that would have eaten up my additional drive time for the day. The same time constraints prevented me from doing any of the canyons and I think the wet winter complicated matters as some of the more fun roads like the Snake were still closed thanks to mudslides and fire damage.
First up was the Angeles Crest Highway, it is a mountain pass and it still tripped me out seeing snow on the ground in Los Angeles but it was there all the same. Unfortunately the road was still closed I suspect for winter but I got a few miles in and also came across some BMW engineers with some mildly camouflaged LCI 7 series.
Once they realised I wasn’t going all Brenda Priddy on them they were super approachable. It is not well understood but when an engineer ends up with the prototype they are in charge of in the pages of Car Magazine or on Twitter, they get into quite a lot of trouble and I respect that about their job.
We had a nice chat, they ogled my wagon and shared my disappointment that their paymasters had abandoned the longroof market in favour of wobbly bloated minivans and SUVs. I took off at pace with my exhaust warbling and got thumbs up from my new friends and plotted a course to the other Angeles Highway of note.
The Angeles Forest Highway is more of a summer road, it covers a lot of elevation in Tujunga Canyon and is a maze of fast sweeping to tight technical corners. There are camber changes, elevation changes and lots of nice big straightaways. There are also plenty of passing points so in the likely event you get stuck behind a Chevy Express van who refuses to get over for you to pass, your frustration will be short lived.
Next stop, San Francisco.
The Short Way Across 