I have about $20,000 in mine and I still have a carburetor...runs awful smooth right now...and the 74 doesn't have much if any smog crap...no cat either...
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
A modern day K5?
- Thread starter ZombieBlazer
- Start date
ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
Now you just sound like a Democrat....
.... Or an ObamaCare advocate.
-G
haha I knew someone would go there..
We don't need socialism... just a bit more unity. It seems to me that the government and truck industry has completely divided, conquered and bamboozled us...
They seem to have bamboozled the military too... look how much a Humvee costs compared to the old jeeps and even Blazers.
Speaking of communism... talk about a funny coincidence.. I swear I am not communist.. lol I am a huge Ayn Rand fan... here is another video I found interesting that seemed to apply to all this to me.. it's about the Cubans and how they had no access to the technology from the US because of the trade restrictions.. so they had to be really creative..they would tear down everything they could and use the parts for different purposes. They looked beyond the intended uses and limitations of the technology that we have fed to us by the people selling us stuff..
Hopefully we could do better than the Cubans but this is the key to the whole thing to me - breaking out of the mentality that has been forced on us or ingrained in us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-XS4aueDUg
Also, here is the general idea I was thinking of going for but couldn't remember what they called these things - they are "open source projects". So we could work on a open source 4x4... we just need some kind of consensus on what it should be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_car
Last edited:
ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
Check this out.. I just found this on that link I posted above about open source autos and there is this thing called a Rally Fighter car where they collectively designed a car through a competition and then the people who buy the cars - the customers - build them in the manufacturing plant.
Here is a video on this by Jay Leno interviewing the guy who started it..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OetiD8rL1KU
Here is a video on this by Jay Leno interviewing the guy who started it..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OetiD8rL1KU
$99,000... ?
Not exactly chump change, is it?
I wouldn't agree that the customer is helping "build" the car.....bolting on the parts that have already been manufactured, painted and prepped is more of what I'd call "assembling"... The shop foreman hands you a shock or a-arm, some bolts and a wrench and shows you what to do. Not my cup of tea. I certainly wouldn't pay a premium to be treated like a VIP for a day in some manufacturing plant.
The underpinnings of that car all look pretty conventional to me. I don't see much in the way of "new technology" there.....GM crate motor, long travel suspension, Ford 9"... Etc.
They have a nice marketing story, but ultimately you are paying someone $100 grand for something pretty ordinary in the 4x4 world. It's no more serviceable than most of the stuff we build here on CK5...
I still feel like you are getting hung up on semantics. Whether its an "open source" design project or a group of enthusiasts on CK5, the result is the same... At some point SOMEBODY needs to personally make the commitment to build it. And if it's going to be a budget-friendly effort it's got to be YOU personally. Otherwise you are just paying a shop to build your dream, and THAT is never cheap.
If you want a truck that's easy to service, then presumably you want to eventually get your hands dirty. Might as well start now...
-G
Not exactly chump change, is it?
I wouldn't agree that the customer is helping "build" the car.....bolting on the parts that have already been manufactured, painted and prepped is more of what I'd call "assembling"... The shop foreman hands you a shock or a-arm, some bolts and a wrench and shows you what to do. Not my cup of tea. I certainly wouldn't pay a premium to be treated like a VIP for a day in some manufacturing plant.
The underpinnings of that car all look pretty conventional to me. I don't see much in the way of "new technology" there.....GM crate motor, long travel suspension, Ford 9"... Etc.
They have a nice marketing story, but ultimately you are paying someone $100 grand for something pretty ordinary in the 4x4 world. It's no more serviceable than most of the stuff we build here on CK5...
I still feel like you are getting hung up on semantics. Whether its an "open source" design project or a group of enthusiasts on CK5, the result is the same... At some point SOMEBODY needs to personally make the commitment to build it. And if it's going to be a budget-friendly effort it's got to be YOU personally. Otherwise you are just paying a shop to build your dream, and THAT is never cheap.
If you want a truck that's easy to service, then presumably you want to eventually get your hands dirty. Might as well start now...
-G
I might even say that the community here has, in a way, designed a vehicle and there are millions of posts and people here to help. The design is a square body K5 with a TBI conversion using newer model GM tech, 1-tons from a CUCV or similar, a 4-6" leaf spring lift and enough fender trimming to fit 35-40 inch tires, a few new bumpers and a winch. I'm sure I missed some stuff, but that's the basic formula I think. Of course there are all kinds of variations, including fancier suspension setups, but it doesn't get much simpler. And for most guys of moderate ability and limited time, you can spend years getting it right if you do all your own work. 
Carcinogen
1/2 ton status
I might even say that the community here has, in a way, designed a vehicle and there are millions of posts and people here to help. The design is a square body K5 with a TBI conversion using newer model GM tech, 1-tons from a CUCV or similar, a 4-6" leaf spring lift and enough fender trimming to fit 35-40 inch tires, a few new bumpers and a winch. I'm sure I missed some stuff, but that's the basic formula I think. Of course there are all kinds of variations, including fancier suspension setups, but it doesn't get much simpler. And for most guys of moderate ability and limited time, you can spend years getting it right if you do all your own work.
This is what i kept thinking... A community where people can come together and share ideas and help, where have I seen that before?
ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
This is what i kept thinking... A community where people can come together and share ideas and help, where have I seen that before?
Sure... technically we fall into that category.. I am just saying if we pushed what we are doing here to the extreme it could be really beneficial to what we are trying to do.
Also, the Rally Fighter car above is just an example of concepts that could be used.... they are like Icon - geared more toward the high end market. Ultimately it's another example of keeping up with the jonses's to me. But the key is how they used creative ideas to achieve what they couldn't have otherwise.... They used the kit car rules to help them work around legal limitations.
If you look at the off road truck world it reminds me of how before Henry Ford came along cars were custom and super expensive... I feel we need a new model T or VW bug of off road SUVs for the masses but the car makers won't do it... and people seem to not realize the benefits of something like this. But maybe I'm the only one that really wants it? Super high performance is not something I care about. I want utility, durability, efficiency and low cost.
You can kind of get that by buying old vehicles like we have... but you are also limited by expensive replacement parts from the manufacturer or what we can scrounge from junk yards or if you are really knowledgeable or want to spend a lot of time you can recondition old parts. It just seems like there should be an easier way.
Last edited:
Why does it need to be "for the masses"??? Do you really think there is this HUGE pent-up demand in America for offroad trucks?
There isn't. And thank goodness for that; can you imagine 300-million people trying to share OHV trails and resources? I foresee a lot of empty beer cans, trash and broken down vehicles littering the landscape. No thanks! If a 4x4 was cheap enough that almost anyone could buy it spontaneously (like that impulse candy bar purchase in the checkout line) we'd ultimately all be very unhappy.
Also, this isn't Cuba where parts are hard to find and labor is cheap. In the US it's just the opposite.... why would you spend hundreds of hours trying to make a stronger axle for the Blazer out of old washing machines and toaster parts, when you can go buy a rear 14BFF in most junkyards for around $150? Remember, even in Cuba it's not like someone is being entrepreneurial and creating a new business to manufacture "Food Tray TV Antennas" for everyone else... their whole culture focuses on self-reliance and self-sufficiency. They build things out of necessity, and their time has very little value....
I'm not sure that same thing applies here at all. Part of any design process is the decision about which parts you "build" and which parts you "buy". That's true whether it's an automobile or a new piece of computer technology... if you can't think of a compelling reason to build some sub-assembly yourself, then you should probably just buy it from an existing source. Why waste your own effort and time and money... those are precious and limited resources that should be focused in areas where something truly innovative is needed.
-G
ps. Haven't seen the term "bamboozled" in these forums, I get a kick of out that.... it would be good to incorporate some "flummoxed" or "heretofore" as well when the opportunity presents itself.
MrSchaeferPants
1/2 ton status
It's been done, decades ago, popular mechanics magazines used to have articles all the time on how to build and modify vehicles and equipment for this or that. Turning old cars/trucks into tractors, etc. Full how to's, in-depth specific listings of parts, part numbers. What model this bolts onto that. They did it for all sorts of things. Now the magazine is full of things to buy that's cool to read but that's it.
CK5 is open source 4x4. How to's, what parts, etc.
They do make super cheap vehicles (not 4x4), KIA
A brand new Rio or whatever used to be like $6k. No one makes cheap 4x4s, that's what quads are for, and our hobby. I do share some sentiment though, I wish some company decided to buy fleets of old K5s, do a 100% stock restoration, and sell em for $20k with warranty and finance them There aren't anymore brand new vehicles that'll last 30+ years.Or if the Army DRMO got together, rebuilt all the CUCVs by a section of 63Bs and sold those off
Free labor, but their parts cost too much.ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
I think more people would be into it if it wasn't so expensive and so difficult to do...
That Jonathan Ward of Icon made a good point in a interview I saw him do. He said off roaders are more in tune with the environment than the people who drive Toyota Prius... because the off roaders are actually in nature.
But like I have been sayin all along this is how I feel.. I could be alone on this. I am just expressing my views... These are just things I wonder about.
You are taking the Cuban video too literally... It's the concept of defying the way we are taught to do things that I find so important in that video. I feel that the reason we think of off roading the way we do is because many have been sold on these ideas of being hardcore radical off roaders... because that is what makes many of these people money - custom high-end parts.. extreme custom show vehicles that are super high performance...
I think there is a place for that.. and it's cool and fun but I think there could be another side too..
Because vehicles we have been conditioned to buy are not built for longevity... that is why I find what we all do with them so strange and frustrating. We are trying to defy the system... but not in an efficient way IMO.
We are trying to salvage these old vehicles and most are failing... because it is nearly an impossible task unless you are someone with a ton of money.. OR you happen to be someone who has devoted your life to working on cars... OR you just accept that you are going to drive an unreliable piece of junk and deal with it breaking down constantly and dumping money and time into it.
I'm not saying these alternatives are the worst things in the world... I just think it could be better. We could save ourselves huge headaches and have more fun if we did things differently..
But when I say "we" I mean if there's anyone else that sees things the same way I do. There might not be... I am just trying to see if there are.. I'm wondering if I am the only one who sees it this way...
lol I guess I am a strange person.. haha I might throw a "dingus" in there at some point to.. be forewarned...
I like weird words...
I'm starting to get the impression that you have spent much time really 4-wheeling or trying to understand how this hobby works.... that's not a criticism, just an observation based on the way you talk about things.
Sure there are some high-dollar trucks out there. Pick any hobby you like and there will always be some people who spend WAY more than everyone else on parts and mods, etc. The temptation is to criticize them, but in reality those are the guys who are financing the real "innovation" that happens in our sport. Initially, it is expensive but that technology eventually "trickles down" like it always does as manufacturers develop the market and develop economies of scale to build parts in high-volume and reduce costs.
The reality is that most of the guys on CK5 are building with very modest budgets, and believe me they are looking for deals, tricks and money-saving techniques to improve their trucks. If it isn't cost-effective it's not going to get done...
To that end, do you commonly see a lot of 10-year old production trucks out 4-wheeling? What about 20-year old trucks? Not really....right? The reason you see Chevys from the 70s & 80s out there wheeling is because they actually DO last a long time... and the factory made them with a pretty darn good mix of parts right from the start. AND....there were LOTS of them, so junkyard scrounging is pretty easy to do. Go to your local Pick-N-Pull looking for Land Rover parts sometime.
I don't know what kind of budget you consider to be "reasonable" but I'll bet you that almost any enthusiast here willing to study the forums and do a little legwork could find a nice, rust-free (or at least minimal rust) 80's era Blazer.... do all of the necessary safety and maintenance items to make sure it was running properly, safely and reliably and even get a few select "upgrades" to address the weak spots that GM didn't get quite right.... for maybe $10K total.
That's not some blingy, chrome-plated show truck. It's would be more of a true "Bug out" or "Zombie Apocalypse" type truck. No frills, strong, big enough to load up with supplies, and with enough offroad capability to get FAR away from the rest of the world.
Some people make this hobby expensive for themselves, but if you can avoid "upgrade fever" it's completely possible to build yourself a VERY capable and reliable 4x4 for reasonable money.-G
ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
No.. I haven't done much wheeling... Because my idea of wheeling isn't conventional I don't think. If it was I think others would understand why I feel the way I do.
The kind of wheeling I want to do is more solitary... it's extreme freedom and self sufficiency I am looking for. I want a communally built vehicle so I can wheel on my own. From what I have seen of the off road world it seems to work the opposite... you build your vehicle pretty much yourself then go wheeling with other wheelers.
But the reason I feel this way is maybe because my friends weren't into wheeling. It's always just been my own thing..
This was what I was getting at about how offroading is like the era before Henry Ford and the model T. It was the same thing you are talking about with the rich fueling the industry.
I included that group though.. I am saying you have to choose between one of those options -
1. blow money
or
2. Devote your life to doing the work yourself
or
3. Deal with having a kind of crappy vehicle and deal with the headaches of it
Sure.. you can do it.. as I said in my post. BUT I think you have to deal with a lot of headaches in the process.... and it can cost a lot more than it should especially for what you get. But these vehicles are getting rarer and rarer too... It's difficult to find the parts you need at the right price. Not to mention all the learning you have to do to do the work yourself. And then if something breaks and you need it fixed then what? You have to buy a whole new transmission or engine or differential.
And the body work on these vehicles can be repaired... but to do it properly is very expensive and time consuming. This is one of the biggest aspects I was talking about as not being built for longevity or repair.
It's a lot of dedication and headaches and hindrances along the way.
But is it as ideal as it could be for off roading? What happens when you go off roading that weekend and your rear quarter panel gets crushed? Or your window frame??
If you want to do any real wheeling it's going to have to be with something not road worthy and that is all cut up... or you are going to have to just deal with the damage especially if it's your daily driver.
This gets to the real issue.. and why building vehicles that are optimized for our purposes could be far superior if done right IMO.
Maybe for someone like yourself that isn't that difficult.. but all I know is where I am coming from it's been a real struggle and 10,000 is a lot of money really.. especially for a vehicle you are taking out to likely break.
And yes you are going to be taking that risk in any situation with off road vehicles... but as I said above I don't think these vehicles are ideally suited to this purpose.. sure if you are a little fortunate you can make it work... but I think there is a reason you don't see many people doing expeditions driving long distances... especially on their own like the people on the turtle expedition who have sponsors -
http://turtleexpedition.com/
Or they have a lot of money and experience.
If I knew how to work with molds I would punch out my own fenders and panels...then I would just replace whatever I crushed...
ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
Chief... you are the perfect example here.. I can't possibly imagine you taking all that beautiful work you did out wheeling with it! That thing is an antique show truck you have there!
But the key to this though is why do we need vehicles that need "molds"?
This is why I think we have been "bamboozled"...
A good analogy to me is how a drug dealer gives you the first drugs for free to get you hooked... then once they got you they own you.. haha That relates to the Cuban video I showed as well.
I think we have all been convinced we need these beautiful show trucks... and the economics the car companies use allows them to stamp these out. But it really isn't realistic to use these vehicles to wheel in. I think the Land Rover defenders are at least a bit more practical in this way. They have a riveted body that is easier to repair and patch up. And simpler body panels.
But I think this concept could be expanded on much more and we could design vehicles that are much more practical affordable and in the end more useful and fun...
I keep going back to it but the ideal to me are volkswagens... I love how utilitarian the old VW buses and bugs and Things are... the Kubelwagen.
I think with the materials now you could take that to even more of an extreme...
I have another video to contemplate...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQVpSFoROg4
This is the Icon derelict.. I just saw this last night. In the video he talks about how this is the most fun car he has.. it's this old rotted jalopy body on a new vehicle chassis and drivetrain.
Jay Leno is driving it and realizes this might be the best way to go rather than driving show cars around and being afraid to scratch them.
This is the essence of what I am talking about.. though the Icon derelict has a hot rod vehicle inside it.. I think we could go even more derelict than that.. all we need is a Bantam/Willys Jeep in a much more utilitarian body for wheeling.. but something you could drive on the street as a daily driver even...
the more things change the more they stay the same....you will end up with a cookie cutter vehicle like Lego blocks.
The people love SUV's....the 1969 Blazer was the first attempt to "commercialize" what was a farm and field vehicle...
Nothing has changed...people still love SUV's...it's just that they are now marketed to a people who no longer work in the field or on the farm...they are made to appeal to soccer moms and office workers...the SUV's are definitely becoming "feminized"...
I'm not building mine to go destroy it on the rocks...mine is built to make me feel like I went to the Chevy Dealer and bought it off the 1974 showroom floor...I like it...I like what GM engineers designed and built. Unlike Jay Leno, I intend to drive mine.
It was the Chevy look in 1974....today it is different...it looks different than what anybody can go out and buy...everyone isn't driving one of these around.
The only problem I see in all of this is the fact that the parts for our trucks are no longer made in the United States and readily available and cost cheap and good quality. That's the problem. If you could get body panels for the K5 that actually fit at a local store, what more could you ask for?
The people love SUV's....the 1969 Blazer was the first attempt to "commercialize" what was a farm and field vehicle...
Nothing has changed...people still love SUV's...it's just that they are now marketed to a people who no longer work in the field or on the farm...they are made to appeal to soccer moms and office workers...the SUV's are definitely becoming "feminized"...
I'm not building mine to go destroy it on the rocks...mine is built to make me feel like I went to the Chevy Dealer and bought it off the 1974 showroom floor...I like it...I like what GM engineers designed and built. Unlike Jay Leno, I intend to drive mine.
It was the Chevy look in 1974....today it is different...it looks different than what anybody can go out and buy...everyone isn't driving one of these around.
The only problem I see in all of this is the fact that the parts for our trucks are no longer made in the United States and readily available and cost cheap and good quality. That's the problem. If you could get body panels for the K5 that actually fit at a local store, what more could you ask for?
ZombieBlazer
1/2 ton status
But what if it was cheap and ultra durable... and parts were much more plentiful because many more people were using the same vehicle... and the body was designed so that anyone could easily repair it.
The old jeeps and VWs were designed so anyone could easily do work on them. And I think they could have gone even further with that... I think the whole concept has been untapped for the past 60 years.
But maybe I just have an over active imagination?
Even the old Blazers weren't really designed for the purposes most here use their vehicles for. I think the Defender is a bit closer.. but I just imagine something more extreme. Think of super super budget Hummer.. wouldn't they fly off the show room floor?
That's a great way of explaining it.. but also remember they are designed to make money too... for the dealership.. maintenance.. parts repair etc... Even most utilitarian vehicles are styled a lot and not made to be easily repaired or manufactured - but stamped out.
I can't think of any vehicles that are made to go off road without endangering destroying them though. Modern Jeeps are close I guess... but they seem flimsy to me and very expensive and still not very easy to repair if they are damaged cosmetically.
Rust too... with the old vehicles we need to make this work it's a huge problem.
I really think that if we put our minds to it we could make something that is incredibly easy to build AND looks cool too. I don't know about the economics though.
Your argument is getting more and more contradictory....
If you want to build a truck so that you can drive off into nature all by yourself (expedition style) then you absolutely need to be a good mechanic and know how to fix almost every part of your truck yourself. That style of wheeling is not for the "checkbook crowd"... You break down in the middle of nowhere, you could actually die out there before anyone finds you. If you think you (or your open source community) can design a vehicle that won't ever break out on the trail you are sorely mistaken....perhaps fatally, if you choose to stay ignorant about the intricacies of auto repair.
I believe that much of the appeal of offroading is the idea that something MIGHT break. A talented offroader can not only conquer the trails, but can also overcome the adversity of any breakage that occurs.... That is true self-sufficiency. Real wheelers pack spares and tools in the truck. It is essential.
Chevy parts are rare? REALLY?
There are something like 50 million small block Chevy engines in existence, TH350 and TH400 transmissions are everywhere.... not that wheeling spontaneously breaks your engine or transmission. I think you need to spend some more time studying what type of breakage really happens on a trail. HINT: it's u-joints, stub shafts, maybe locking hubs or a driveshaft.... Not an engine or transmission failure.Body damage is optional. Seriously. If you don't have the stomach for body damage, build a truck with body armor or an exocage... Or stay out of the boulder fields. Some guys like the challenge of bashing their way through every tight spot they can find on the trail. Other guys use finesse and pick careful lines to get through dent-free.
My point is that if you want to go 4-wheeling, you'd better get a LOT more hands-on than you appear to be with respect to mechanics and repairs. Nobody is going to fix your broken truck on a trailhead for you... and if you are blocking the trail, you can be sure things are going to get tense when the next group of 4x4s shows up.
If you want to wheel in extreme locations, you will probably have some breakage... Broken parts cost money. Make peace with that sooner rather than later. The dream of building an "unbreakable" wheeling rig (at ANY price) is an impossibility.
-G
Last edited:
MrSchaeferPants
1/2 ton status
From what I'm gathering, you want a uber cheap tank. There's no such thing as a vehicle that won't get dented, unless you fab your body out of 1/4" plate. There's three options, don't wheel or tread lightly, accept body damage, or build an exo cage.
Now, there is some vehicle, I don't remember a model of range/land rover or something, my buddy is always talking about it. That literally the entire body unbolts. You could zip it down to the chassis/floor pans/firewall in minutes.
You talk about old jeeps and VWs. Yes, especially the vw 'the people's car' was designed for ease, and cheap, and reliable. Designed by F. Porsche by Hitler. But the masses worked on their own vehicles back then, it made sense. Also today people want cushy comfortable vehicles = more complex. How many people do you know who don't even change their own oil anymore.
Here's the main thing, there's no demand. I don't mean the 5-10 people here on CK5 who would like something like that, or the hundreds or thousands of people on these automotive forums, or the 10s of thousands in this country. You need MILLIONS in order to make it worth the manufacturer's time/money.
Here's an example of the bug:
Q. How many Beetles were produced?
On February 17, 1972, Volkswagen overtook the Ford Model T as the most produced single model car with over 15 million made. On May 15, 1981, the 20 millionth Beetle rolled off the assembly line in South America. When production ceased in July 2003 in Mexico, over 22 million Beetles had been made.
That encompassed 44 years of nearly the same exact model vehicle, if you discount supers, which are pretty much the same.
The masses don't want that, they want a reliable comfortable gas saving cookie cutter throw away car with park assist, back up cameras, heated leather eats and 50mpg. That is what we now have. Instead of buying 1-2 vehicles that last your lifetime like our grandfather's did, they want to forever be in car payment debt, getting the latest and greatest thing every 5-7 years. And now the manufacturer even changes your oil for free.
What you're describing does exist, like that rally fighter or whatever. But it's a rich people's play toy, that's all it is, that's why they're $99k. And that's why us regular people buy tough old trucks and work on them. IF people still wanted a cheap, reliable, easy to fix vehicle, the original bug would still be made today.
Well I take reliable back, even brand new bugs required constant maintenance. Oil changes and valve lash adjustments every 1000 miles. Even here on CK5, I bet there's a ton of people who've never done that, since our SBCs don't need it Which is exactly my point, things change, HEI, hydaulic tappet. People don't want to do the work anymore.
Hell park assist! They don't even want to drive their own damn car. Find a new vehicle with a manual transmission, unless it's a sports car or euro you rarely see them.
Now, there is some vehicle, I don't remember a model of range/land rover or something, my buddy is always talking about it. That literally the entire body unbolts. You could zip it down to the chassis/floor pans/firewall in minutes.
You talk about old jeeps and VWs. Yes, especially the vw 'the people's car' was designed for ease, and cheap, and reliable. Designed by F. Porsche by Hitler. But the masses worked on their own vehicles back then, it made sense. Also today people want cushy comfortable vehicles = more complex. How many people do you know who don't even change their own oil anymore.
Here's the main thing, there's no demand. I don't mean the 5-10 people here on CK5 who would like something like that, or the hundreds or thousands of people on these automotive forums, or the 10s of thousands in this country. You need MILLIONS in order to make it worth the manufacturer's time/money.
Here's an example of the bug:
Q. How many Beetles were produced?
On February 17, 1972, Volkswagen overtook the Ford Model T as the most produced single model car with over 15 million made. On May 15, 1981, the 20 millionth Beetle rolled off the assembly line in South America. When production ceased in July 2003 in Mexico, over 22 million Beetles had been made.
That encompassed 44 years of nearly the same exact model vehicle, if you discount supers, which are pretty much the same.
The masses don't want that, they want a reliable comfortable gas saving cookie cutter throw away car with park assist, back up cameras, heated leather eats and 50mpg. That is what we now have. Instead of buying 1-2 vehicles that last your lifetime like our grandfather's did, they want to forever be in car payment debt, getting the latest and greatest thing every 5-7 years. And now the manufacturer even changes your oil for free.
What you're describing does exist, like that rally fighter or whatever. But it's a rich people's play toy, that's all it is, that's why they're $99k. And that's why us regular people buy tough old trucks and work on them. IF people still wanted a cheap, reliable, easy to fix vehicle, the original bug would still be made today.
Well I take reliable back, even brand new bugs required constant maintenance. Oil changes and valve lash adjustments every 1000 miles. Even here on CK5, I bet there's a ton of people who've never done that, since our SBCs don't need it
Which is exactly my point, things change, HEI, hydaulic tappet. People don't want to do the work anymore.Hell park assist!
They don't even want to drive their own damn car. Find a new vehicle with a manual transmission, unless it's a sports car or euro you rarely see them.
Last edited:
