Four Wheeler December 2016

One of the stories in last month’sissue was a fascinating look atFour Wheeler Technical EditorVerne Simons’ ’49 Willys CJ-3A(“She’s a Keeper,” Nov. ’16).One of the cool things about the rig is that hehas owned it for 17 years. That’s an impressivelength of time. I’ve seen Verne in that4x4 more than any other rig, and the result isthat when I think of Verne, I think of that CJ-3A. They go together like a nut and bolt. He’s not the only person that I immediately associate with a specific rig. When I thinkof 4-Wheel & Off-Road Editor Christian Hazel, I think of his ’53 Willys DJ-3A. Christian has owned that rig for over 16 years, and it seems weird to see him in any other 4x4. When he was editor of Four Wheeler,…

KEN.BRUBAKER@FOURWHEELER.COM KING GRANVILLE Wow! Was really glad to see the words from Granville King in your Aug. ’16 issue’s Trail’s End department. Granville was a great writer in my opinion. Perhaps you could reprint his stories—like one per issue— just like in the old days? Please? CARL STROUP VIA EMAIL Was really great seeing the piece on Granville in Trail’s End in the Aug. ’16 issue. I hope it may have been in some part due to my earlier suggestions about reprinting “From the Backcountry.” In 1986, I had just bought my ’66 Suburban, and now properly equipped with a real 4WD, my wife and I set off to drive the “Three Sisters” below Puertecitos on Highway 5 in Baja before the government improved the road for passenger car use. The truck had been making ominous…

EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM THAT’S INTERESTING Take a gander at the Nissan Pathfinder—it looks different for 2017, including under the hood, wherein rests a new 3.5L V-6 that makes 284 horses. Towing capacity jumps to 6,000 pounds. What’s so 2015? Mazda and Ford. What’s so 2016? Mazda and Isuzu. It’ll likely result in a pickup for Mazda based on an Isuzu model. To be clear, the upcoming Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be their own vehicles, not trim levels of the Grand Cherokee. They will be built off the Grand platform, but not be Grands. The newest inductees into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame are a couple names you probably know and a couple you know more about from their work. They are racer Larry Ragland, off-road photographer Jim Ober, racerBud Feldkamp, land-use advocate Don Amador,…

EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM MUD GRABBING General Tire has introduced the new Grabber X3 into the mud-terrain tire segment. The Grabber X3 program included more than three years of development, 16 tread patterns, more than 500 hours of off-road testing, more than 1,000 tires built and tested, and more than 2,000,000 million miles of testing in a variety of extreme conditions. The new tire features a high-void pattern design, evacuation channels and alternating shoulder scoops for mud, block chamfers, traction notches and stone bumpers for dirt, and multi-angle gripping edges, deflection ribs and pads, and sidewall lugs for rock. The sidewall is a three-ply construction in all sizes. The siped tread is said to improve wet and winter performance. The Grabber X3 is available in 29 sizes up to 37 inches in diameter for 15-…

editor@fourwheeler.com It doesn’t get much closer to the base Bronco DNA that this preproduction Bronco shot in February 1965. It’s one of many preproduction U15 Wagons and wears the number 524 on the front and rear glass. We don’t know how these numbers were issued or what they mean, but another development rig has been seen wearing “091.” There is nothing in particular to visually differentiate this rig from the production units, which started rolling out in the beginning of August. The prototype bodies were built by Budd, who also built the early production bodies into mid-October 1966. IT’S BEEN 50 YEARS SINCE FORD INTRODUCED the Bronco and 30 years since they last used the nameplate on a production 4x4. It’s nowhere close to being a forgotten model. Just the opposite! The…

editor@fourwheeler.com BRONCO FANATICS DON’T NEED MUCH encouragement to celebrate their shared passion, but with 2016 being the 50th anniversary for that four-wheeling legend, they had extra incentive. There were celebratory events occurring all over the country, and one we were able to attend happened in Townsend, Tennessee. It was Bronco Driver’s Bronco Super Celebration, and not too surprisingly, this anniversary set an attendance record of 512 Broncos for the event, which has a decade-long history. They came from 40 states and Canada, the farthest from California. The breakdown included a very high percentage of early Broncos, ’66-’77, but every era was represented. Some very historic Broncos were there as well, including Bill Stroppe’s Balloon Chase Bronco and the earliest surviving Bronco, the 36th one built in August 1965. The record was broken…