Being a New Yorker since the late 1980s, I love the beauty of snow but have always hated driving in it — especially because I've been blessed with rear‑wheel‑drive European high‑performance cars.
Snowy roads, regular high‑speed tyres, and a V12 engine are a white‑knuckle combination on sloping roads. And after spending most of the last dozen years in Florida, driving in snow wasn't even a passing thought.
Over the years I've had several nearly fatal highway incidents. Once, my Benz spun three full times on an interstate in Maryland during a blizzard around 1995-1996 after a careless driver lost control, forcing me to gently swerve — which then sent me sliding across two lanes, barely missing a speeding 18‑wheeler. A miracle.
It's mind-boggling how drivers of AWD vehicles think the laws of physics and loss of friction don't apply to them. In 1997, an oncoming SUV speeding through snow lost control, forcing me to swerve again — and somehow recover without hitting anything.
And then there was the time after the snow had supposedly "gone," when the roads were dry and I let my guard down. Around 1999, I was taking the on‑ramp from Nichols Road in Suffolk County onto the Long Island Expressway service lane.
At the sharpest part of the turn, the "dry" road suddenly revealed a massive slab of snow — almost certainly dropped from the roof of some lazy b*stard who couldn't be bothered to clear their car before leaving home.
One moment I had perfect Pirelli grip on dry asphalt; the next, all four wheels hit that hidden blanket of snow and I was instantly spun. Not through any skill — purely by miracle — I rotated off the ramp and across the two main lanes of the service road without touching a single car, curb, or going over the railing on the elevated section over Nichols Road.
Every one of these moments taught me priceless lessons I keep in mind. And each of them also gets added to my autobiography-in-memory… The Miracles Of My Life.
So even though the SUV in this photo is obviously all‑wheel‑drive — as are many newer vehicles — I still wanted to retain my touch-and-feel for driving in snow. Sunday night was perfect: almost no one on the roads in Eastern Suffolk County near my blessed home.
So I went for a spin… thankfully without getting into a spin.
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