I mentioned in the last post how Billy Ray and I have more or less decided that the "best buy" in a used beach truck is going to be a 1990's Trooper. I also mentioned that if a decent deal came along on a 4wd van we'd certainly consider that. As our warchest builds, so do our candidates. Mrs. El Fisho has long desired a 4wd vehicle for deep trips into deserted beach territory to replace the Jeep Wrangler she had, and if possible one we could throw the dogs in since many of the places we stay allow dogs.
So if a great deal on a lightly used but older 4wd van, Mrs. El Fisho would grant her seal of approval.
I saw another contender for a beach surf ride today: an old Toyota Van equipped with actual 4wd and not AWD. It had lockable hubs but unfortunately had been chopped up with the horribly done "pop up top" addition from a VW Westfalia van. You could see where the bad welds were leaking into the passenger compartment, and the rest of the vehicle was no charmer either.
I had completely forgotten about these vans. In 1988 or 1989, I did a gig with an excellent band called The Slashers, featuring John Ziegler on guitar and David Foster on bass. Foster had one of these vans, in 4wd as I recall, and although not overly powerful in the get up and go speedwise department, they had a lot of torque and would do fine on the beach.
It's another possible to keep on the list. A low miles version that had a couple of owners who maintained the ride is not impossible, as we've seen with several Troopers lately. We're keeping our eyes out for a bargain that will be a bargain now in terms of purchase price as well as a bargain in terms of maintenance cost.
I remember in the 1970's when lots of folks converted cars to 4WD's by putting the car chassis on a truck frame. I thought those were cool too. For awhile, in it's dying gasp as an auto company, AMC put out something called the Eagle that was also a 4WD car, but reliability issues plagued these as well.
Back in the 1970's, although I drove hot rod cars, I did want a Chevy Stepside 4wd. I saw one today, parked in front of a house down the street. It looked pretty good, and made me think of times I had in friends who had trucks like that. Again, great fishing trucks and great beach trucks when fitted with auto transmissions.
A few blocks over from me is a fellow that has an early 70's convertible Blazer in what appears to be a complete restoration. It looks cherry. Even if he wanted to sell it, I couldn't afford it. But it's nice to look at and I'll often detour down his street to peek at it in his carport when running to the neighborhood store. It's blue with the white painted insets, just like a friend in high school in Houston had. My high school friend also had a removeable hardtop for it.
While down in Port A last week, I saw an ultra cool Power Wagon from what had to be the late 60's or early 70's. It was green, looked to be in great external condition and was looking great.
Down the street from me at a car repair business, there's an old 50's Chevy 4WD pickup on blocks. I know it ran several years ago because I used to see it running around the area. It has a lift kit and huge tires, and an extended work-style stepside bed, and the entire truck is huge as heck. It is a faded black color, and again I wish I had the time and money to take that project on. It looks to have some sort of driveshaft problem, or maybe an axle problem, but it sure would be a great beach trucking machine if it were running well and had a nice paint job.
Finally, I saw some Subarus from both modern times and from the 90's that had been fitted with the shocks and springs from a Forester apparently, with some modification, that gave them about a 2" lift. I've was yanked from being stuck in the sand in a 2WD Ford truck back in the late 70's by a Subaru wagon with a lift kit, the wagon version of the Brat.
Other very cool and competent beach trucks, like the Toyota Landcruiser, fetch premium prices in the used collector market, as does the venerable Jeep J10 truck. I've kicked myself in the rear numerous times for not buying one or both of those back in the 80's. I could have bought the Jeep J10 instead of the Chevy truck I got in 1981, and in 1984 when I got a Toyota Supra, I very nearly waffled at the last minute to go with a nice new white FJ60 they had on the lot. If I knew then what I knew now, I'd have hung onto those vehicles.
Such is the wisdom of hindsight.
So if a great deal on a lightly used but older 4wd van, Mrs. El Fisho would grant her seal of approval.
I saw another contender for a beach surf ride today: an old Toyota Van equipped with actual 4wd and not AWD. It had lockable hubs but unfortunately had been chopped up with the horribly done "pop up top" addition from a VW Westfalia van. You could see where the bad welds were leaking into the passenger compartment, and the rest of the vehicle was no charmer either.
I had completely forgotten about these vans. In 1988 or 1989, I did a gig with an excellent band called The Slashers, featuring John Ziegler on guitar and David Foster on bass. Foster had one of these vans, in 4wd as I recall, and although not overly powerful in the get up and go speedwise department, they had a lot of torque and would do fine on the beach.
It's another possible to keep on the list. A low miles version that had a couple of owners who maintained the ride is not impossible, as we've seen with several Troopers lately. We're keeping our eyes out for a bargain that will be a bargain now in terms of purchase price as well as a bargain in terms of maintenance cost.
I remember in the 1970's when lots of folks converted cars to 4WD's by putting the car chassis on a truck frame. I thought those were cool too. For awhile, in it's dying gasp as an auto company, AMC put out something called the Eagle that was also a 4WD car, but reliability issues plagued these as well.
Back in the 1970's, although I drove hot rod cars, I did want a Chevy Stepside 4wd. I saw one today, parked in front of a house down the street. It looked pretty good, and made me think of times I had in friends who had trucks like that. Again, great fishing trucks and great beach trucks when fitted with auto transmissions.
A few blocks over from me is a fellow that has an early 70's convertible Blazer in what appears to be a complete restoration. It looks cherry. Even if he wanted to sell it, I couldn't afford it. But it's nice to look at and I'll often detour down his street to peek at it in his carport when running to the neighborhood store. It's blue with the white painted insets, just like a friend in high school in Houston had. My high school friend also had a removeable hardtop for it.
While down in Port A last week, I saw an ultra cool Power Wagon from what had to be the late 60's or early 70's. It was green, looked to be in great external condition and was looking great.
Down the street from me at a car repair business, there's an old 50's Chevy 4WD pickup on blocks. I know it ran several years ago because I used to see it running around the area. It has a lift kit and huge tires, and an extended work-style stepside bed, and the entire truck is huge as heck. It is a faded black color, and again I wish I had the time and money to take that project on. It looks to have some sort of driveshaft problem, or maybe an axle problem, but it sure would be a great beach trucking machine if it were running well and had a nice paint job.
Finally, I saw some Subarus from both modern times and from the 90's that had been fitted with the shocks and springs from a Forester apparently, with some modification, that gave them about a 2" lift. I've was yanked from being stuck in the sand in a 2WD Ford truck back in the late 70's by a Subaru wagon with a lift kit, the wagon version of the Brat.
Other very cool and competent beach trucks, like the Toyota Landcruiser, fetch premium prices in the used collector market, as does the venerable Jeep J10 truck. I've kicked myself in the rear numerous times for not buying one or both of those back in the 80's. I could have bought the Jeep J10 instead of the Chevy truck I got in 1981, and in 1984 when I got a Toyota Supra, I very nearly waffled at the last minute to go with a nice new white FJ60 they had on the lot. If I knew then what I knew now, I'd have hung onto those vehicles.
Such is the wisdom of hindsight.
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