The second most influential 4WD ever

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gwagensteve
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The second most influential 4WD ever

Post by gwagensteve »

Soni Honneger's Flatfender...
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Built in the Early 90's - I have a feature article on it from a 4WD&Sport Utility Magazine of 1993(?) This car, for me, totally redefined what a cool 4WD could be - A car didn't have to have shiny bolt ons to be cool. At this stage, Petersen's were still putting chromed-out show trucks on the cover, and Four Wheeler's top truck challenge had a hilux with pink paint and a 26 speaker stereo and a crew cab dually competing... That gives you some idea how this car was just in a league of its own.

It's still deadly cool - 18 years later - perhaps even more so because it has such a lovely patina.

As you can see it's coil converted but it also runs Carbon Fibre Marsh Racing Wheels beadlocks, a 4.3 litre Chev V6, and a hydraulic converted warn high mount - but everything (except the drilled, ventilated disks) looks like it's straight from 1943.

Someone recently spotted it in New Mexico (I think) and posted the photos on the Willys page of Pirate4X4

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In case you were wondering, this guy does military cool like nobody else. The Scorpion Mk1, his tube chassis car, designed in 1995, looks like this:

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Which is the most influential 4WD ever.

Steve.
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
dank
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Re: The second most influential 4WD ever

Post by dank »

nice find steve. thanks for sharing.

i think everyone deep down would love to own a hardcore willys like that one. Would hate to be in a rollover in it though.
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gwagensteve
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Re: The second most influential 4WD ever

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In every other photo of it I've seen, it's had a very neat 6 point rollcage in it (that fits under the stock canvas roof.

Looks like there was more giong on under there than is apparent from the photos:

http://img2.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215560

and a photo from about 1999(?) at an early rockcrawling comp.

Note the cage:
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Oh - this is Soni Honegger's tow rig :shock: :

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Whilst I'm on the subject of cool/influential cars - here's another -

Rick Pewe's GPW

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It might have officially passed away by now, but there's alot of character wrapped up in that car.

Ran a 455 Buick Big small block - 370HP (!)
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
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gwagensteve
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Re: The second most influential 4WD ever

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So I included a photo of Pewe's GPW in the last post.

Here is how is sits today:

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Rick is on the left. The dude on the right is a guy from Chile with a cool LS1 flatty - Here: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=777868

Here's Pewe's flatty in its heyday, tyre testing the Bogger with Fourwheeler magazine in about 1995:

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And shortly after, welding a broken chassis back together in the desert:

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I guess I'm posting this stuff, even though it's not Suzuki related, to reinforce that our sport has roots, just like hotrodding or any other sport. Knowing where our sport came from is a nice way of referencing where it's going.

This stuff is an interesting counterpoint to the "controversy" that's going on about VSB14 and ESP etc. One day I will own something old enough to have no applicable ADR's. Swampers? No problem. Tyres out of the guards? No problem. Pollution control? Meh.
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
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gwagensteve
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Re: The second most influential 4WD ever

Post by gwagensteve »

Actually, when I posted this:

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I kind of missed the coolness.

The early bronco is Pat Gremillion's.

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He Runs Premier Power Welder/Pull Pall.

He got his panties in a twist that he couldn't attend jeep events in a bronco even though he sponsored the events, so he built a "jeep":

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That's 4 wheel indipendent suspension with Hummer portal boxes and a ford driveline :D

The Jeep in the background is Dave Freiburger's ( now the editor-in-cheif of Hot Rod)

and it last looked like this:

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Any idea why I am now drawn to rough looking, old school, drab painted cars?

Golly - one of my favourite road cars of all time is the RUF NATO Built in 1986. Who says that matt paint it s "fad" :D

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Anway...enough rambling for now :D

Steve.
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
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