Driving with eighties turbocharged technology across the disintegrating concrete expanses of the greater Los Angeles area was all fine and good for the likes of the Starion. New England is a different story. After the 2011 Snowpocalypse and subsequent summer flood fest of a hurricane and tropical storm, it became clear a different sort of automobile was required for the frost heaved paved and narrow washboarded dirt roads. Something with pontoons, wheels, and four low.
While the ongoing search for the immaculate Mitsubishi Delica Super Exceed Star Wagon continues, a similarly equipped machine has been added to the Clunkbucket Collection. This 1989 Mitsubishi Montero will serve for the immediate future, and ideally into the somewhat distant future. Please stand by while we source another steel tin full of Diaqueen LSD oil to keep the limited slip rear differential in harmony with the road. Note to automakers: every automobile should have a built in inclinometer, so the occupants can know definitively when they are upside down.
A special thanks to Davey G. Johnson for coining the word Vermontero.
Oh. Ma. Gawd. HE’S BACK.
A pair of Galant VR4s for tarmac & gravel might be well & good, but after a day spent trundling over boulders and crag in a friend’s Jeep, change was in the crisp, Sedona air.
Picked up my 89 Raider on St. Patrick’s Day this year. SWB 3-door, 2.6 carby, 5-speed, 31s, Aussie crawler gears in 4L, and a Starion LSD out back. LOVE IT.
Sofa King glad to see you back, sir. RETURN OF CLUNKBUCKET FTW.
Decided to check out the ol’ Clunkbucket on a whim, just to see if I should delete my bookmark… lo & behold, it lives! Excellent!
So other than the Montero & (early?) 4Runner, what other rigs came with factory inclinometers?
Good question. Toyota Tercel 4×4 wagons!