I had an ICOM 730 installed in my VW Rabbit diesel, back in the early 90’s, with an Spider antenna attached to the bumper...My best QSL was Pitcairn Island.
I had an old Standard crystal controlled HT on 2m with a rubber duck antenna. One evening I managed a chat between San Diego and Santa Barbara (over the water path). The guy in Santa Barbara had a 22 element stacked beam.
I was much amused when a bunch of ham/astronauts flew over northern CA and chatted with hams on the ground. I just monitored sitting in my rental car with HT. The event was really staged to impress school kids in the SF area.