Day seven: the final day takes you up the San Francisco peninsula through rolling hills and small country towns, past orchards and windswept beaches. At Half Moon Bay, you can swap the car for a horse for a couple of hours. Sea Horse Ranch and Friendly Acres Horses and Rentals (00 1 650 726 9903, www.horserentals.com) both offer gallops along the beach.

A number of roads cross the Santa Cruz Mountains to interstate 280, which will whisk you into central San Francisco without trailing through suburbs. The best is probably Highway 84, which climbs up through the redwoods in a series of sweeping curves. It is a great end to a great drive. At the top of the pass, you will find Alice’s Restaurant, a classic diner. A couple of hours later, you are in town, and it is time to ditch the car. San Francisco is a liberal, eco-conscious sort of place. You wouldn’t want to be caught dead here in a gas-guzzling convertible.

If you could hire any car... in America, you are what you drive. There is a bewildering array of motoring identities — low-riding Latinos, pumped-up pick-ups, SUV urban chariots.

On the Pacific Coast Highway, however, setting of fashion shoots and film noir twists, it’s got to be a convertible. It’s a wind-in-your-hair, sun-on-your-face, lover-in-your-lap kind of drive. For men in the throes of a midlife crisis, there is another option — a Harley-Davidson. The PCH is made for oceanfront Easy Riders.

Get my motor running: British Airways Holidays (0870 243 3407, www.ba.com/holidays) offers flights from Heathrow to LA and back from San Francisco from £369. It has a week’s fully inclusive car hire, picking up in LA and dropping off in San Francisco, from £164.

The dream car comes in a little dearer: a sleek, sexy Chevrolet Camaro convertible costs £247 for the week. For that Harley, try www.eaglerider.com; from £430 per week, plus taxes and one-way charges.

Stanley Stewart

Page 2: Lake Garda and the Dolomites

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Lake Garda and the Dolomites

FROM LAKE GARDA’S Olive Riviera to the dazzling pinnacles of the Dolomites, this three-day loop from Verona is so gut-wrenchingly beautiful that driving is torture — be prepared to take turns behind the wheel, or go nuts.