Bush Basher: 1989 Cushman Truckster

Growing up, I remember hearing the phrase “Real rednecks don’t have hunting trucks, they have hunting Luminas”. Applying that logic, this Cushman went from killing peoples afternoons with parking tickets to killing critters in the woods of North Carolina via some redneck’s creative direction. Rest assured that if you’re hunting out of a 2WD Cushman, you’ll cull all of the lamest, deafest deer out of the heard.  Find this 1989 Cushman Pickup for sale in Monroe, NC for $2,500 via craigslist.

As ubiquitous and disposable as the tattered tarp under which it was parked, Cushmans were typically driven into the ground by people of low to intermediate levels of authority while having little attention paid to maintenance. When their day finally came, the municipality would load them up with old lockers and the expired refrigerators from teacher’s lounges and pile them high at the dump. Luckily, this Truckster has managed to survive in some form or another.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that these used the flat twin Kohler also sold in Wheel Horses and the like. Unlike a Wheel Horse, I do believe that you can powershift this three-speed while on the move which was endlessly helpful for racing people back to their cars after the red meter flag popped up.

As you may expect, the interior resembles a sketchy ride at the fair, however, in this case you get some degree of control. It’s worth noting that this model has the steering wheel connected to two wheels instead of one, leaving you far less likely to end up on your side with a dead deer carcass next to you. 

See a better one-way trip into the woods? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com

Matt, a self-proclaimed bottom-feeder of the classic car market, spends half of his time buying cars, half of his time retrieving them, and the remaining third on keeping them on the road.