Anything with Wheels
OK, what happens when you and your buddies are too blotto to drive a car, but maybe not that lawnmower over there?
VEHICLE: '88 Lawnmower
OWNER: Greg Lewin, Placerville, CA
TIRES: Small ones
SUSPENSION: None
FUNNIEST WHEELING INCIDENT: [The pic says enough--Ed.]
Amputee
Perry tells us he's won two "Ugly Truck" competitions. No kidding! Whatever happened to this poor Jeep, we just hope that Perry made this heinous mutant to save the Jeep's life. Perhaps the back was run over by a train before. We can only hope.
VEHICLE: '73 Jeep Wagoneer
OWNER: Perry Burdic, Riddle, OR
TIRES: 36-inch Buckshots
WHEELS: Steel wheels
SUSPENSION: Homemade 3-inch lift
DRIVETRAIN: AMC 360ci, TH400 tranny
PERFORMANCE MODS: RV cam, shift kit
OTHER DOODADS: Rollbar, homemade onboard welder, air compressor, 8,000-pound Warn winch, bucket seats
BEST MOD: Onboard welder
WORST MOD: Air shocks
I Love Trars
Ah, the trar (half truck, half car). Why they're built, we'll never know. The trar has a strong, loyal, but small cult following that hopefully doesn't have any idea where our office is. It looks like Uncle Jesse and Cooter have been in the garage drinkin' 'shine and working with power tools again. Oh well, at least they didn't put a number on the side of this one. And we bet it'll jump a lot better than the General Lee, though we might soon have some hate mail disputing that claim. We'll never quite understand the fascination with trars, but if you gotta have one, you might as well build a bad jammer like this Chevy Laguna.
VEHICLE: '74 Chevy Laguna
OWNER: Pete Vega, Albuquerque, NM
TIRES: 44-inch Ground Hawgs
WHEELS: 15x14 Bart wheels
SUSPENSION: 12-inch Superlift
DRIVETRAIN: 350ci, Dana 44 front, 14-bolt rear, 4.11 gears
PERFORMANCE MODS: Crane cam, Holley 650-cfm double-pumper carburetor
OTHER DOODADS: 3/4-ton frame
Mad Maxed
This thing is just crazy looking. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the Thunderdome just behind the trees. Lance obviously has been pillaging movie sets, a little at a time, to build himself a purpose-built rig. Crazy lookin', but we bet it works pretty good off-road.
VEHICLE: '78 Chevy 3/4-Ton
OWNER: Lance Michaletz, Watertown, WI
TIRES: 44-inch Ground Hawgs
WHEELS: 15x10 spoke
SUSPENSION: 8-inch BDS lift, custom shackles
DRIVETRAIN: 454ci, four-speed tranny, NP205 transfer case, Dana 60 front, 14-bolt (Lincoln Locked) rear
PERFORMANCE MODS: Moroso water pump, K&N air filter, Dynomax mufflers
OTHER DOODADS: Four seats, cup holders
BEST MOD: Cup holders fabbed onto diamond-plate floor
WORST MOD: Stock steering
Submission Information
All submissions to Readers' Rides must include an address or telephone number so sender can be verified and include a complete list of all modifications made to the vehicle. Unfortunately, if we can make out faces of people in the photos, we cannot use them. Also, letters must be signed by the vehicle's owner. Due to the large volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot return photos. Digital photos must measure no less than 1600 x 1200 pixels (or two megapixels) and be saved as a TIFF, EPS, or a maximum-quality JPEG file.
Write to:
Readers' Rides 4-Wheel & Off-Road
6420 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048-5515
fax 323.782.2704
E-mail to:
rides@4wheeloffroad.com