Coolest Reading Places In UniformJohn R. Williams, serving in Afghanistan, writes:"Here's how this picture came to be. We were on a patrol in an undisclosed city in Afghanistan when our patrol route took us on a dirt road that ran next to a river. Well, needless to say there was a lot of mud left over after three days of rain. We made a pass through to finish our route and quickly turned around again to get some more mud on the tires. We wrapped it up after the fourth pass because both our machine gun and gunner were covered in mud, as you can tell."
In the photo, from left to right, bottom to top: Lance Cpl. Beckman, "Shoe" Interpreter, Doc Williams, Lance Cpl. Combs, Lance Cpl. Poziviak, Lance Cpl. Perez aka The Dirty Gunner, Lance Cpl. Holt, Lance Cpl. Sharp, and Lance Cpl. Duhon.
Anyone remember the Blackwood? Ford is probably hoping that you don't (or that you remember it fondly) as it takes another shot at adding a pickup truck to its Lincoln line. Called the Mark LT, this F-150-based truck will go on sale early this year as an '06 model.
Why a Lincoln pickup? "This is a Lincoln designed for two different types of customers," explained Darryl Hazel, Lincoln Mercury president. "First, it's for people who need a truck, but want all of the trappings of a luxury vehicle. Second, it's for those who don't necessarily need a truck, but need to make a bold statement that can only be made by a few unique vehicles in today's market."
In other words, Lincoln is trying to win back some of those sports and music stars that defected from the Navigator to the H2.
Mechanically the Mark LT and F-150 are very similar: 5.4L Triton V-8 power; 4x2 and 4x4 models, both using an independent front suspension with coilover shocks; Super Crew body with four fullsize doors and 5.5-foot bed; and a towing capacity of up to 8,900 pounds.
Design details, however, are very different. The LT's body is accented by hefty doses of chrome, not just in the "waterfall" grille but also in a chrome band that wraps around the entire truck. Plush interior appointments include premium Nudo leather upholstery (with "French-styled pleating," whatever that is) and real ebony wood accents.
On paper, anyway, the Mark LT seems like more of a "real truck" than the Blackwood ever was-remember that the Blackwood was a 2WD-only model with a carpeted bed and hard tonneau cover that rendered the cargo area usable for little more than golf clubs. It has one other thing going for it: price. According to a report in Automotive News, the Mark LT will retail in the low to mid $40K range, which sounds spendy until you compare it to the $54,000 Cadillac Escalade EXT, the only other vehicle on the market that's even remotely close to a luxury pickup.
Texas TitanNissan is working hard to prove that its Titan fullsize truck is, in every way, a true American-style pick-'em-up. And what better way to do that than to produce a Titan aimed squarely at the heart of truck country: Texas.
Yep. The State Fair of Texas Auto Show in Dallas was the setting for the introduction of the "Texas Titan," a special edition with "additional features Texans say they want in a truck, while at the same time giving them a great value on something special," said John Spoon, regional vice president of Nissan North America's South Central Region. Those features include chrome 18-inch wheels, chrome step rails, foglamps, special dashboard accents, floor mats featuring the Texas Lone Star, and "Texas Titan" badges.
According to Nissan, the Texas Titan will go on sale at Texas dealerships in early 2005 and will be available with a special offer for Texas residents to be determined later.
Special Jeep Jamborees Announced For '05Jeep Jamboree USA has a busy year planned for 2005. There are nearly 40 trail rides on the JJUSA calendar, including several new events. The year kicks off with a springtime Ouachita ride in Arkansas March 11-13 and a Big Bend ride near El Paso, Texas, March 18-20. New events later in the spring include a Tennessee Mountains run in Oak Ridge April 8-10 and a Snowshoe Mountain run in West Virginia June 17-19.
And then there are the specialty events. There will be two Mark A. Smith Rubicon Trail Adventure tours (the all-inclusive Rubicon trip-covered in this issue-in which all necessary gear and the use of a Jeep are provided) July 15-17 and August 26-28. JJUSA is also offering an Advanced Off-Road Training Program, which includes hands-on Special Forces-like training in addition to coached driving on the Rubicon Trail, to be held July 19-21 and August 19-21. Finally, there will be a Women-Only Lake Tahoe Adventure Sept. 9-11 that encompasses off-roading, kayaking, hiking, and training sessions covering outdoor and automotive survival basics. "And yes, we're serious. No men are allowed to register for this trip," said JJUSA's Pearse Umlauf.
For more information on the 2005 Jamborees, contact Jeep Jamboree USA at 530.333.4777 or www.jeepjamboreeusa.com.
Sema Launches New Off-Road ShowRecognizing the 4x4 industry as a "booming niche," the Specialty Equipment Market Association (what we lovingly refer to as SEMA) is launching a show exclusively for off-road equipment.
Called SEMA Offroad, the show will be held along with SEMA's Spring Expo on February 4-5 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Unlike the famous trade-only SEMA Show in Las Vegas, SEMA Offroad will be open to the trade and to consumers. According to the association, the show will include the latest products in sand sports, rockcrawling, mud bogging, desert racing, and other 4WD categories. In addition, tons of dirt and boulders will be used to construct an indoor proving ground, where companies can demonstrate the capabilities of their latest products. The proving ground will also be open for attendees to test "the latest off-road vehicles fitted with SEMA member equipment," said the association. For more information on the new show, contact SEMA at 909.396.0289 or visit www.semaoffroad.com.
Can't Touch This JeepAs we were poking around the DaimlerChrysler media Web site one day, we stumbled across some press releases from the Paris Motor Show regarding European versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. We've long known that most automakers offer models outside of the U.S. that are different from their American siblings, and here's a peek into what's available on the other side of the Atlantic.
The Euros get two special edition Grands, the Black Pearl Series (shown here) and the Vision Series. Based on the Overland model, the Black Pearl gets distinctive "platinum finish" alloy wheels, chrome bars in the front grille, and matte black rock rails. The Vision, based on the Limited model, receives silver-painted 17-inch alloy rims, silver rock rails, and powdercoated silver roof-rack bars.
The U.S. and Euro Grands are fitted with similar drive systems-Selec-Trac, Quadra-Trac II, or Quadra-Drive transfer cases, depending on model-and familiar engine options in the 4.7L V-8 and 4.0L I-6. Europeans can also have their Grands with a 2.7L common-rail-diesel, which, if it performs like the diesel we sampled in the Liberty for our 4x4 of the Year test, is a torquey little beast.