Four Wheeler March 2019

A few years ago, my wife and I were invited to dinner at a four-star restaurant located in a beautifully restored 1880s building. The ambience was luxurious and tranquil, and the food was impeccable. The first course was scallops with almond couscous, romesco, and black olive. Round two was butternut ravioli with prosciutto, apple brandy sauce, maitake mushrooms, and parsnip puree. The third go-round was golden beets with blue cheese, pistachio, sherry gastrique, fennel chips, and arugula. Plate four had short ribs with a white ale mustard sauce, asiago polenta, capers, and fried brussels sprouts. Concluding the meal was a triple dessert of almond raspberry cheesecake, chocolate lavender truffles, and a hazelnut brûlée. No question about it—the meal was gastric nirvana. “THAT PIPING HOT, WOODSMOKE-SATURATED, TUBULAR HUNK OF MAGIC MYSTERY MEAT…

PACER PICKUP LIVES! I am writing in response to Jered Korfhage’s September 2018 Four Wheeler article regarding the ’77 AMC hatchback that was transformed into a 4x4 pickup. In July 2017, my family and I did a Route 66 road trip. My 16-year-old son (David Chavira) is a devout car/four-wheeler enthusiast. We stopped at Darryl Starbird’s National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum located north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. We were pleasantly surprised to see numerous beautiful, custom-built vehicles including the custom ’77 AMC 4x4 Pacer. Unfortunately, it seems the Pacer seemed to have not seen dirt in years because we saw it in person and it is preserved in immaculate condition at the museum. I highly recommend seeing the Pacer, along with several unique custom vehicles, at the museum if you are…

THAT’S INTERESTING Nissan started the Calling All Titans campaign to find people who use their pickup to do good deeds for their community and beyond. As part of that, the spokesperson became a one-of-a-kind Ultimate Service Titan, a collab with American Red Cross, to be donated to Red Cross South Florida. It’s a mobile command center and first aid center for assisting first responders. Also Nissan: ’19 Titan and Titan XD pricing has arrived—Titan 4x4s start at $40,180 (the Platinum Crew Cab sets you back $57,390). On the XD side, gas-model pricing starts at $39,870 (the Platinum Crew Cab sets you back $59,600). XD diesel? 4x4s start at $44,910 (the Platinum starts at $64,900). If you’re the type of shopper who wants a good warranty, then check out Chevy and GMC’s new optional…

DIRT NAV Alpine Electronics now offers the X209-WRA-OR, a 9-inch touchscreen system with off-road features for the ’11-’18 Jeep Wrangler JK. The X209-WRA-OR is an AM/FM/CD/DVD receiver with Bluetooth wireless technology and embedded navigation on a 9-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen with a matching Wrangler-fitted dash bezel. To protect against the elements when off-roading, the entire system has a weather-resistant rating of IP53 for protection against dust with limited ingress and vertical freshwater spray up to 60 degrees. Off-Road Mode records information about trails, which can be shared with friends. A navigation database includes points of interest for popular vehicular recreational areas, FunTreks trailheads, and campsites across the U.S. It can be used with a variety of rear and/or front Alpine cameras. Infotainment features include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto with the Google…

DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU LIVE, FINDING A PLACE TO KICK IT INTO FOUR-WHEEL drive could be as simple as heading to the back half of the property behind the barn. For others, the nearest escape from pavement could be an hour or more away. No matter what your situation, we are taking some of the guesswork out of finding the next place to get the rig dirty. From coast to coast, between the interstates and county lines, lie sometimes-hidden wheeling gems—private off-road parks. Some offer a handful of acres with mild-to-wild trails, and others let you retire to on-site cabins and concerts when the dust has settled for the day. Obviously, there are more parks, but for this story we whittled the list down to 11 epic off-road parks from…

WE CAN THANK JAMES W. MARSHALL, a sawmill operator in Coloma, California, for most of the off-road trails in the American West. It was Marshall’s discovery of gold in 1848 that prompted the flood of people across the Great Plains and over the Rockies to seek their fortunes. In the process, they forged mule and wagon tracks along nearly every canyon and waterway in the Sierra Nevada. As the gold rush waned and the economy ebbed and flowed during the following century, Mother Nature reclaimed most of these byways until all but faint memories of their existence had been erased. It was such a recollection from Jack Enal, the 80-year-old son of a butcher, that became the catalyst for one of the region’s most iconic four-wheel-drive venues. In the 1890s, Jack’s…