• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    3621 days ago

    I am no expert, but I think that it’s more off road than most of the M’rican tanks (especially the Cybertruck)

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      20
      edit-2
      21 days ago

      Murican trucks are pavement princess short-bed towtrucks rather than haulers and offroaders now, sadly. I’d love an affordable open-bed hauler with some modern creature comforts (good AC, heated steering wheel, defrosting windshield/rear-window, ventilated seats, android auto, relatively low bed-height for easy loading)

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet
        link
        fedilink
        English
        3
        edit-2
        21 days ago

        Depends on the model. The Colorado and Ranger are both excellent off-road vehicles. The Colorado won truck of the year last year, even beating out the Toyota Tacoma. It’s a 4x4 with great off-road handling, but it still drives nice on the road, and it can pull 7000 lbs. It’s a really nice all around truck, for people who want a truck to do truck stuff with.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          320 days ago

          The Colorado is a mid sized truck in name only.

          It shares its L3B engine with the full-size Silverado.

          Despite being a mid-size, in some dimensions it is somewhat bigger than the full-size Silverado, being built around the same chassis and frame while sharing the same L3B engine.

      • metaStatic
        link
        fedilink
        321 days ago

        real pity GM killed off Holden. not really in the know but the last utes should be quite recent if expensive for a Murican to get hold of in left hand drive.

        • Noxy
          link
          fedilink
          English
          521 days ago

          gotta be 25 years old or older to register an imported car here sadly

          tho 25 years ago is a lot more recent than it feels to my ancient ass

          • metaStatic
            link
            fedilink
            221 days ago

            because they’re just chevys you can do a conversion to side step that. I think I saw a youtube video about it once

            • Noxy
              link
              fedilink
              English
              121 days ago

              Yah, lpoks like that’s a thing.

              Fucking coooool. An EV swap in one of those would be rad as fuck too.

          • metaStatic
            link
            fedilink
            121 days ago

            Jebuz, down here 20 years is considered a classic and qualifies for Historic registration

            • Noxy
              link
              fedilink
              English
              121 days ago

              It’s crazy to me that 2004 was 20 years ago. The numbers add up but feel wrong

              • metaStatic
                link
                fedilink
                221 days ago

                if back to the future was made today Marty would go back to 1994 and play Smells like teen spirit at the dance

                you know, I’ve been making that joke for so long the timeline doesn’t line up properly anymore, wasn’t Kurt already dead? who was big in the LATE 90s … Limp Bizkit?

                • @[email protected]
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  120 days ago

                  Yeah but the guitar solo in the movie was more 70s/80s metal. I can’t really think of a good equivalent in terms of what people in early 90s wouldn’t understand. Maybe something like mumble rap.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          221 days ago

          Between the Ford Maverick and especially the Hyundai Santa Cruz, the US market is closer to having utes than it has been in a long time. I shopped them both, but ultimately decided I would replace my 10 year old Subaru Outback with a needlessly upgraded Subaru Outback in the “Wilderness” trim. I tell my wife I had the most boring mid-life crisis ever.

        • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod
          link
          fedilink
          English
          120 days ago

          If GM had brought back just one Ute and called it the new El Camino they would have made bank.

          Or probably not because I want one and nobody buys cars I like.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    3021 days ago

    There’s a mini cooper on my local Craigslist that is modded like this and I think it rocks

    • lime!
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1721 days ago

      this one makes me sad, because the DS is so mechanically clever and sleek looking… they’ve ripped out the neat innards and offset all the panels :(

  • nifty
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1520 days ago

    I like the concept, it’s hilarious. I say go bigger

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      320 days ago

      One of my neighbors jacked up an old school VW bug. The thing is the same height as my sprinter van, or 96" / 8’ tall. It’s totally ridiculous and awesome at the same time. He normally has it parked at his shop, since he built it as an advertisement of what he can do, so I can’t provide a picture right now, but I will try to remember to post a pic when I can.

      • nifty
        link
        fedilink
        English
        420 days ago

        As long as they’re safe, outrageous car mods are awesome

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2
      edit-2
      19 days ago

      keep the suspension but put low profile wheels and tires on it so that it looks like it is up on its tippy toes

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1
      edit-2
      19 days ago

      You think these proportions are hilarious?

      I think they’re super fitting. The Miata’s proportions, not the Monsterlada.

  • Noxy
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1421 days ago

    That Miata absolutely fucks.

    Were I a dragon I would take it in a dragonsfuckingcars-ly fashion

  • atocci
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1221 days ago

    Man, how do you accomplish something like this? And how much would it cost?

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1721 days ago

      There’s two ways: Modify a Miata; Make something look like a Miata.

      Most would think it’s easier to modify a Miata. That’s sorta true. One could relatively easily replace the suspension, rims, and tires to make it look like the OP. But, the first time it’s off-road it’ll likely bend the frame.

      The frame needs to be reinforced to function off road. That’s generally a huge pain in the ass. It’s much easier to shorten the frame of an existing SUV or light truck then attach the Miata’s body and panels to it. It’s much easier to make a truck look like a Miata than make a Miata into a truck.

      But, this particular vehicle is very lightweight. Frame reinforcement might be much easier. A Miata hobbyist or Mazda mechanic would know because there’s likely only one way that makes good sense for this specific model. My best guess is that because the Miata frame needed very little it was chosen for this purpose. I’d guess it’s a modified Miata.

      Next time ask the owner anything. Everyone who owns something like this is dying to tell others all about it.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          3
          edit-2
          21 days ago

          I’ve enough expertise to be certain that would do the trick. That bypasses the frame modification for not even $1k.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            321 days ago

            I mean, the “full roll cage” part would definitely put the total well over $1k. But I suppose you might be able to get away with just the butterfly brace alone if your goal was solely to stop it folding in half when it hit big bumps and not, you know, being safe or good in general.

            (Also if you didn’t have a roll cage then you probably really ought to have at least a hardtop – for both rigidity and safety reasons – and I believe that alone is over $1k at this point, too.)

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              021 days ago

              No one’s roll caging a lightweight, underpowered toy. If it was on the track or was an actual Jeep, then sure.

    • @[email protected]OP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      721 days ago

      I do not know. I was at Silver Lake State Park sand dunes in MI and there were a TON of crazy homemade and custom vehicles flying around the dunes.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      621 days ago

      When there’s a drill there’s a way.

      And between “my buddy cleetus PAID me to take trash off his hands and I turned it in to a sick off-road Miata” and “I have mortgaged my home twice, my wife left me, and I owe 350,000 dollars to some shady Iranians on top of that”

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      121 days ago

      The “easy” way is to take a truck chassis, and swap the body. The hard way is to swap the rear axle with a live axle, put lift spindles on the front, adjust just about everything so it’s remotely drivable, all the little bits and bobs associated with it

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    620 days ago

    I don’t know if folks still do it, but when Miatas first came along, some people dropped v8 engines into them (the nickname for those cars was “monster Miatas”)

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    620 days ago

    Anyone interested in this should check out superfastmatt (YouTube) he has a video series where he converts a Dodge Viper for offroading.

    Not bolting a viper body onto a dune buggy frame.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2
      edit-2
      19 days ago

      It’s such an incredibly scuffed build, though. Matt is a madman.

      He shoved a ham sandwich and a bunch of other shit in a carbon fiber mold to make a point about arbitrary it is what you put in them (and I think he was running low on chopped carbon tow), then he had to dig out the sandwich later and fix it because that one was too much.

      That wasn’t for the Dodge, though. That was for a custom built salt flats speeder. Fucking wild dude.

  • @[email protected]
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    English
    520 days ago

    Is there a Lemmy equivalent to /r/Battlecars, because if there is they’d love this.