Knight Rider
Our omnipresent spy photographer was on hand when Kitt tried to take on Bear Foot and Little Bear Foot during the filming of Knight Rider on a southern California road. There was a crash for the on-screen sequence, but we were told that was handled with models.
4-Wheel & Off-Road staff, Jan. '85
Border Crossing Gone Bad
I do my four-wheeling in Utah. Unfortunately, a lot of drivers such as this one also use the area. I snapped this photo near the Wyoming border in the northwest part of the state. I've heard of people trying to avoid Wyoming, but this is ridiculous.
John Miles, Vernal, UT, Jan. '87
Tank'd
These two firemen are not in the army but through a friend got their hands on a tank. This picture proves that tank tracks don't always help!
Ken, June '88
More Like Underwater View, Arkansas
The scene was Mountain View, Arkansas, at a local four-wheeling spot. The temptation was to make a U-turn in the creek at about 50 mph. The '79 F-250 Ford driven by a friend almost made it. The truck was winched over and driven home.
Terry M. Stewart,
Mountain View, AR, Apr. '87
Dirty Words: River Bottom
My friends and I drove to the Brazos River bottom to do some four-wheeling, and since my truck was the lightest, I led the way. First, I buried it to the axles. My friend has a Blazer equipped with an 8,000-pound-capacity winch, so we tried to pull my Toyota out. Big mistake! The shale underneath the waist-deep gumbo slanted down toward the river at about a 30-degree angle, and as the winch pulled straight back, my truck slid down the slope into the river. When we stopped winching, the truck kept sliding. We quickly chained my Toyota's rear axle to the frame of my friend's older Toyota to keep my truck from sliding into the river. It took five hours of digging and winching with two snatch blocks to get the rear end out, then another hour of pulling with the old Toyota to get my truck onto hard ground. By that time, we had burned up the winch after getting the Blazer stuck once and the old Toyota stuck twice. This river bottom is a bogger's dream!
Shannon Seaback, College Station, TX, Sept. '91
Government-Issued Whoops!
Beginning September 1, 1984, manufacturers will have to place a permanent sticker or label on the windshield, frame, dashboard or some other prominent location of the vehicle to alert operators to the handling differences between utility vehicles and passenger cars. The sticker will inform owners that the design characteristics of utility vehicles can cause them to operate differently than passenger cars under certain driving conditions. Sharp turns or abrupt maneuvers in such vehicles could result in loss of vehicle control or rollover, both on paved roads and in off-road use.
NHTSA Regulation 49 CRF Part 575, July '86
What a Drag(ster)
This big-time double Whoops! occurred in the A/FD finals at Sandblast '87, which was staged in November outside of Indio, California. Larry Mann's blown V-6 sand dragster broke a wheelie bar just as he shifted into high, sending the front end up. The engine torque helped twist the rail over on its left side. Since it was going 120 mph at the time, Mann's dragster had enough momentum to airmail itself over the finish line. Then Bud Martin's dragster came into the picture. He overcorrected while trying to avoid Mann, then barrel rolled through the lights. There was no collision but both sandrails were totaled. Martin was declared the winner since Mann crossed the center line. Both dragsters hold the national speed record for their class at just over 121 mph.
4-Wheel & Off-Road staff, Mar. '88
Best Breakage
Trying to fly don't work.
Jay Shoemaker, Garden City, MI, Apr. '88
Ohhh, Now I Get It
After much explaining, I finally convinced my friend Alan Cason that the idea was to launch the boat into deep water, not the truck.
Steve Parmer, Bossier City, LA, Apr. '91
I Caught One This Big
Some friends and I were out four-wheeling at the Verde River, and a few of us had already crossed the river when a guy in his Toyota 4x4 pickup came along. He hesitated at crossing, but when a Suzuki Samurai made it, he decided that he could too. Well, something went wrong and the engine stopped, bringing the Toyota to a halt mid-river. Whoops, he didn't make it!
Blake Savage, Peoria, AZ, Aug. '91