How do you move that thing? It’s a common question I field as I pack up my instrument after a gig. In a harpmobile, of course! My slightly sarcastic reply is meant to satisfy the onlooker so I can make a beeline for the door. But occasionally some particularly curious audience member will press me with more questions about my harpmobile, unaware to the Pandora’s Box they have just opened. 

If anyone knows where the carmakers keep their suggestion boxes, please let me know—I have a few notes for them.

Before they know it, I’ve delivered a 20-minute monologue on the evolution of the harpmobile in the United States from 1993–2025, and their eyes have completely glazed over. I could talk for days about harp-toting vehicles. I’m not an expert on much, but I know my stuff when it comes to harpmobiles. By my count, the harpmobile review that appears in this issue of Harp Column (see Hit the Road) is the fifth one I’ve been a part of—that’s close to 200 minivans, crossovers, coupes, wagons, SUVs, and even one micro-bus I’ve tried out. 

Before you turn green with envy reading about my harpmobile experiences, let me assure you it’s not all glitz and glamour out there in those car dealership showrooms. But each time, I learn a few things and make some observations through this back-breaking—or at least back-straining—work that I can share with Harp Column readers.

Big harps can fit in small cars. We use a full-size concert grand pedal harp in our harpmobile testing because if we can fit that harp in a vehicle, then the car can hold any model harp. Every year, there are a couple of vehicles that surprise me—at first glance it looks like there is no way a harp will fit. But that’s why we play the game! Move a few seats around, wiggle the crown forward, angle the base as far as possible, and voila! Another harpmobile is born! This year the award for tightest fit goes to the Toyota Corolla Cross. It’s classified as a “subcompact” crossover vehicle—one of four subcompacts that made the cut. This is, by far, the most subcompact models our review has ever tested, proving bigger is not always better when it comes to harpmobiles.

Car classifications are confusing. If anyone knows where the carmakers keep their suggestion boxes, please let me know—I have a few notes for them. First, can we please stop naming car models with only letters and numbers? (I’m looking at you BMW, Mazda, and Mercedes.)  It’s royally confusing and completely unmemorable. Take a page out of Nissan’s book and pick fun names like Quest and Rogue rather than GLE or CX-50. Next, can we get some clear guidance on where the lines are that separate wagons, coupes, crossovers, and SUVs? Trying to classify these harpmobiles for our review, my head was spinning as I read descriptions like “a subcompact crossover SUV with coupe styling.” What? I know car companies are trying to be all things to all people, but this person would just like to know what I’m looking at. 

Car salespeople are your friends. We’ve all familiar with the car salesman stereotype (I’ve only encountered  one or two saleswomen in all my reviews). But I’m here to tell you these folks have gone above and beyond to help this harpist on many occasions. From holding doors to folding seats to rattling off every feature on a vehicle, the salespeople I dealt with were generous with their time, expertise, and sometimes their opinions about how I was doing things. And they were generous despite knowing that I wouldn’t be buying a car from them. Hat tip to their professionalism.

And the winner is… Each harpmobile review usually includes editor’s picks—the reviewers select their favorites from the year’s crop of contenders. This year I reviewed the harpmobiles on my own, so there is only one winner. And the crown goes to … my 2005 Honda Odyssey. I’ve tried every harpmobile under the sun in the last 20 years. I also own a shiny 2018 Odyssey with all the bells and whistles. But my favorite is still my old faithful with rust, broken sliding doors, no A/C, and an odometer north of 316,000 miles. That’s probably the ultimate lesson from more than two decades of harpmobile testing—the best harpmobile is the one that can hold a harp and gets you to the gig, time and time again. Everything else is just extra cupholders. •