It’s always good to get out of town in the winter, and not just to see fresh cars, although this chopped and cut Xb isn’t exactly typical Eugene fare. Son Ed invited us up to Portland for a fabulous birthday weekend, and on Sunday morning we were heading up to Mt. Hood for skiing when this thing came by us with staccato peals from its fart can. Now that’s a sight for slightly sore eyes at this early hour; yowzaa! But given that spectacular Mt. Hood was straight ahead in this shot, totally engulfed in clouds dumping welcome fresh powder, I was having a hard time imagining it making it up on its wide tires.
Here’s a better shot. We soon lost sight of it, but I suspect that’s because he had another destination in mind. Higher up, the snow was packed on the road and the ODOT truck was spreading volcanic cinders, the standard fare around here that’s quite effective (for traction as well as cracking windshields). Sadly, I didn’t get any shots, but at the chain-mounting pull-off I saw a Honda Accord coupe with chains put on its back wheels, and a Jeep Cherokee with its driver putting chains on its front wheels (as if it needed any). Meanwhile, the seasoned drivers with regular old cars shod in half-way decent tires were doing just fine…
The snow was excellent; just enough powder to cut some fresh tracks, but not enough to overwhelm my aging thighs. And at the end of the day, instead of riding down back to Government Camp in the car, we left the ski area and took a back-country route down the mountain (Ed’s GF drove down to pick us up). The sign here doesn’t exactly mince its words, eh?
GAAAAH!
To each their own of course, but wow is that… thing… awful.
+1!
Yes, if you had to point out ‘gruesome’ in a textbook, that might just be the page you land on.
As an aside, from what I’ve observed living in the vicinity of the Four Corners, I’m not at all surprised that vehicle has Arizona tags.
How do you drive that thing with such a severe chop? I’m also interested in 1) if it has windshield wipers and 2) if they actually work on such a short windshield.
Here’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the first pic:
We never saw the front, but it was raining, so I assume that some provision must have been made; little tiny stumps of wipers?
I’m imagining several headlight wipers from a Saab 900 or W126 hot-glued to the window frame.
Of course; perfect solution!
Rain-X, the wiper alternative. I once drove about 200 miles through a downpour with just Rain-X. I think it was because I’d just spent about all my money on the car I was picking up, so I didn’t feel inclined to spend another $15 putting wiper blades on it.
Rain X works pretty well. The right wiper on my Dodge quit about 8 years ago, and the left quit a couple ago. I got caught in the rain a month or so ago, and Rain X worked adequately. But the experience was enough to get me to buy the little plastic bushings that broke, and in the Spring, I will be repairing the wipers.
Oh, my aching back.
Or, the rear wipers from a MINI Clubman, which are sufficiently stubby.
By the late ’60s, the MGB was made with triple wipers. Should fit that windshield. Not sure how much (if any) trouble the positive/negative ground issues would cause, though any intermittent timer shouldn’t be electronic.
AMAZING — I thought “Checker” too!
JB,
That picture was from a photochop I did a few months ago: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/what-if-2012-checker-marathon/
Good luck trading that thing in!
Well, it’s hideous. But I have to respect ANYBODY who can and will genuinely (bolting on aftermarket crap doesn’t count) modifiy a vehicle to their own tastes, and use it. This is ultimately no different than the Cheromanche from last week.
Which one, the one with the wood bulkhead? Cause this isn’t an overly good job with the plastic back window held on by sheet metal screws and fender washers.
You could drive the professionally-built Cheromanche to any car dealership without embarrassment or fear of being laughed off the showroom floor by the used car manager. This, not so much.
When I sold cars, a young kid wanted to trade his ’88 Hyundai Excel lowrider towards a new Geo Tracker. Primer “paint,” cabriolet fabric top, dents all over, new Daytons.
My manager hit his trade at $50. “But the rims are worth $2000!”
“Fine, take them off, but leave the Hyundai at home.”
What would happen if the driver of this car had an accident that triggered one or more airbags? Would it be an issue for the passengers trying to coexist in the same space as the inflated bags at the moment of impact?
Doubtful they put any side curtain airbags back in, surely
Wow. You rarely see those sorts of modifications on such a new vehicle that had some worth before the conversion.
Hardly worse than the original