Honoring The Perfect Combination of Sun and Sand

Vehicles don’t do very well on sand but it hasn’t stopped millions of people from piloting their machines onto the beach. From speed record runs to ill-advised promotional footage, beaches and deserts around the world have seen their fair share of motorized fun.

We begin with the opening to On Any Sunday…

On Any Sunday is one of our favourite films and should be one of yours, too. With a number of scenes that take place on sandy, desert courses, On Any Sunday somehow made having sand in your teeth look fun. Having a Mr. McQueen present certainly helped. Red Bull recently helped to bring a modern version of that film to life—and it’s also a great watch.

Is there a better way to spend a day on the beach than horsing around with a companion and Citroën 2CV Charleston? We don’t think so.

Desert racing in the form of a motorcycle hare scramble? How do you know it’ll be good? It’s from 1964 and begins with a Volkswagen Type-2 that’s been loaded with lime. The announcer even jokes that they may be hiding a body…

Beaches have long been used for speed trials, and as these films show, there’s something quite serene about watching drivers push the limit of their machines on such a loose surface…as part of an often idyllic scene. These three show Sir Malcolm Campbell record attempts years apart; first in Britain at Pendine Sands and then at Daytona Beach, Florida.

Why not run a Red Bull Formula 1 car on a beach in the Dominican Republic? Well, as engineers explain, there are plenty of reasons to not. 

“We call it ‘Cheap and Ugly’” is all you really need to know about this actual promotional footage from Subaru. Lots of it shows the company’s little 360 microcar on the beach. Why? No idea. Equally ineffective, for different reasons entirely, is Pontiac’s attempt at a modern beach car, the Stinger concept. It included a garden hose!