South America

South America is the most passionate motorsport continent on earth — a region where racing isn't a niche, it's mainstream culture. Brazil built F1 heroes in Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Nelson Piquet, and runs Interlagos as one of the most atmospheric weekends on the F1 calendar. Argentina produced Juan Manuel Fangio, the five-time world champion who set the template for what F1 greatness meant. Chile and Paraguay have both joined the WRC calendar in recent years. And the continent's classic car culture — particularly around Argentina and Uruguay — holds some of the best-preserved 1950s and 60s American iron found anywhere outside the US.

The wider scene reflects the continent's deep relationship with cars as both daily transport and cultural expression. The modified import scenes in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago run hard on locally-built and imported Japanese platforms. The classic VW Beetle and Combi culture is significant — Brazil built the Beetle until 1996. The lowrider and custom culture in Colombia and Venezuela reflects American influence interpreted locally. And the rally and off-road culture across the Andes is among the most serious anywhere on earth.

The driving country is genuine scale and variety. The Carretera Austral in Chilean Patagonia. The drive from Salta to the Atacama. The coastal road from Rio de Janeiro down to Florianópolis. The climb through the Andes from Argentina into Chile. These are drives that change how people think about road trips.