Modern trucks are too darn nice. Leather massaging seats, automatic self canceling blinkers, navigation, quad-cab, and 13-speed slushboxes have made trucks measurably better, but less of an experience. What you need in a truck is a big 6-cylinder engine, vinyl bench seat, and some row-your-own gears. That’s about it. Everything else is just something to […]
This next car popped up on my radar as a big pinging target for a few reasons — first it is an F150 in a color, not black or some boring shade of grey. Next it has a manual gearbox — check out the size of that shifter, it looks like someone stuck a Swiffer […]
The 11th generation of Ford’s world recording selling F150 pickup truck was released for the 2004 model year and it was another instant hit. Available engines include a 4.2 liter Essex V6, 4.6 liter or 5.4 liter modular V8, but it wasn’t a performance automobile, it was a junk hauler. But todays F150 has been given an overhaul by the guys at Roush (Roosh or Roash…I dunno how it’s supposed to be pronounced) and given a supercharger and lowered suspension. Find this 2005 Ford F150 Roush FX4 offered for $18,000 in Wayzata, MN via craigslist.
When do you supposed the last 4-speed manual gearbox equipped car left an American assembly line — if you said 1998, I wouldn’t be surprised, but according to Murilee “Phil” Martin at Autoweek it was 1996 with the Toyota Tercel for cars, but the Ford F150 was available with a 4-on-the-floor for a few more years. Find this 1998 Ford F150 XL offered for $3995 in Albuquerque, NM via craigslist.
I always imagined that Steve Saleen was some kind of a magician with the way he could build and sell cars. Not that his recipe for success was magic (take a basic car, add some scoops, more horsepower, racy name, boom). No, his spellcasting was reserved for what he could convince buyers to pay for his pimped out Ford/Saleen machines. Let’s take the Saleen S331 Sport Truck for instance: It starts with a 2007 $19k Ford F150, add a supercharger, those scoops, some head rests, big brake kit and $55k MSRP…yikes! With mark ups like that it’s no surprise the Chinese government is currently embroiled in some kinda kerfuffle with Saleen involving a failed business venture in Shanghai — but that is a story for another time and we’ve got a good deal on a well depreciated F150 Saleen thing. Find this 2007 Saleen S331 Sport Truck offered for $16,500 in Rochelle Park, NJ via craigslist.
The RX-8 was Mazda’s replacement for the out of production RX-7, introduced as a last chance attempt at saving the rotary engine. The RX-8 was built starting in 2003 and ending in 2011 when the lights went out on production of Felix Wankel’s spinning machine…for now. Anyway, the RX-8 rapidly gained the a similar reputation […]
When the Ford SVT Raptor hit the showrooms in late 2009, I said to myself: “Self, this is going to be an AWESOME DT car once the frames have been bent, odometers rolled, and the magic wand of depreciation has driven prices low…can’t take more than 5 years.” Well…amazingly enough, these beasts maintained high resale […]
You know what is a good deal? A running/driving plus sized extended cab pickup truck that can purchased for less than a cost of a new iPhone X. From the seller, Art: I have a spare truck I’m selling, perfect for someone who needs a winter beater!! Throw some shqows on the back, 300lbs of sand […]
There are places around the world where having a lifted 4X4 is functional, useful, and downright essential for daily driving during monsoon season, winter, or Black Friday. Los Angeles, California is not one of those places…so, naturally, I’m going to focus my search for lifted junk in the city of Angels. Let’s kick things off […]
Hurricane Matthew tore some stuff up around here, no doubt. It leveled my .05 acre banana plantation and dropped a huge branch across the Baja Bug but in general, nothing too dramatic. It did not, however, drop a white oak across my pair of F-150s like this poor seller, deforming them so badly they resemble […]