Danville Street Sighting - 1968 Kaiser Jeep Jeepster Commando C101

Each year on the 4th of July I like to feature a vehicle from an independent American manufacturer. That means nothing from Ford, General Motors or Chrysler. I call it Independent's Day. So why did I pick a Jeep? Because once upon a time, decades before it became one more brand in the FiatChrysler Automobiles stable, Jeep was a plucky little independent. And it's an interesting story.

Rental Car Review - 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT AWD

It's been years since I did one of these. That's mainly because I rarely rent vehicles. This year I rented a few different cars for road trips, because my cars are all old and don't run as well as they used to. Everything I've rented has been perfectly adequate for the task. I always used to deride base models as "rental cars", but rental companies have really stepped up their game. Today let's look at this 2019 Chevrolet Equinox.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1972 Jeep Wagoneer

Alright, alright, I know. This is Independents' Week. So why a Jeep? Jeep is part of Chrysler, hardly an independent automaker. (One could argue that Chrysler is pretty darn dependent nowadays, seeing as Fiat's calling the shots, but that's another story.) Well, Jeep used to be independent or at least was produced by a series of independent companies.

Danville Street Sighting - 1982 Jeep Cherokee Laredo

I think few auto manufacturers have gotten as much mileage from one vehicle platform as Jeep did with the Wagoneer. The proto-SUV made its debut as a 1963 model based on the J-Series Gladiator pickup truck, and served a long and distinguished career as a go-anywhere station wagon with four doors or two, a utilitarian panel truck and perhaps the first "luxury" SUV (Super Wagoneer/Wagoneer Limited/Grand Wagoneer). The SJ Wagoneer lasted until 1991, with the name appearing again periodically on special models of the compact Cherokee (XJ) and midsize Grand Cherokee (ZJ) through 1993. The two-door Wagoneer was always a slow seller, and only lasted from 1963-68. American Motors purchased Kaiser Jeep in 1970 and in '74 a two-door variant of the Wagoneer was back, now called Cherokee and sporting new side windows and standard four-wheel-drive.

Los Gatos Street Sighting - 1961 International Harvester Scout 80

I get a little tired of the joke that a rusted International Scout is its natural state. Maybe it's the result of living in California my entire life, but in my experience the Scout and other Internationals are still alive and kicking in decent numbers. On the other hand, in many other parts of the country the vintage International Harvester is nearly extinct. Scouts were tough trucks in their time but unfortunately quite rust-prone. If we're honest, though, most cars and trucks built in the past weren't rustproofed or sealed well and began to corrode after a short time, particularly in climate zones with salt air or harsh winters and road salt. Even an owner's washing habits and paint maintenance made a huge difference in an older vehicle's survival. Internationals were trucks and off-road vehicles, likely put away dirty and wet and having to work out in the elements year-round.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1972 Jeep Commando

A few years ago we looked at a 1972 Jeep Commando, hurriedly photographed on a rainy day in San Francisco. It was almost all factory stock and in very good condition, but I didn't have the time to do it justice. For this one, I had better weather and more time.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1992 GMC Typhoon

All-wheel-drive. Six cylinders. Boxy wagon styling. Turbocharged.
By that description alone it sounds like some kind of mythical Volvo. But it's actually a GMC Typhoon, and twenty years ago an SUV based on the Chevy S-10 pickup was one of the fastest performance vehicles on the market.

Danville Street Sighting - 1971 Ford Bronco Sport

The Ford Bronco is one of history's great off-roaders. It came from humble beginnings as a small, six-cylinder truck with just enough amenities to make it more civilized and conventional than your average Jeep CJ. The beauty of it was its customizability and simplicity. It used F-100 and Falcon technology, basic construction and offered an extensive options list. Whatever didn't come from the factory could be added or modified. A V8 engine was offered, initially a 289 but later enlarged to a 302. Ford got an impressive 11 years out of the first generation Bronco, with hardly any substantial body changes.

Malibu Street Sighting - 1978 International Scout II

I still really like the late model International Scout II. Competing with the Jeep CJ series originally and then with later models such as the Chevy K5 Blazer and Ford Bronco, the Scout had big shoes to fill. It never became as ubiquitous among personal 4x4s as the Blazer, Bronco or Jeep, but the Scout was a handsome looking and rugged alternative in the marketplace for nearly two decades. These trucks were versatile, offered in a variety of different versions ranging from an open soft top to a removable hardtop to a pickup truck-style roof with open cargo area. Later an extended version of the hardtop and pickup was offered as well.

Oakland Street Sighting - 2001 Isuzu VehiCROSS Ironman Edition

Have you ever had guilty pleasures, the kind of thing you like but either don't want to admit or don't understand why you like it? This is one of mine, the Isuzu VehiCROSS. These little 2-door sport-utes are as much a fashion statement as they are an off-road vehicle. Many today see the VehiCROSS as an exercise in absurdity and the ugliest thing this side of the Pontiac Aztek.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1987 Suzuki Samurai JX

While we're on the topic of supposedly unsafe cars whose sales someone went out of their way to destroy, let's take a look at the Suzuki Samurai. I admit, normally I wouldn't write about something like this, but it seems appropriate and these little 4x4s aren't especially common anymore. Consumer Reports pretty much ruined the Samurai. It was a cheap, capable personal SUV that happened to have a high center of gravity and a short wheelbase. And to Consumer Reports, that equals flip hazard. Never mind that video evidence exists of them doing everything they could to force the truck to go up on two wheels. A photo in a print magazine doesn't capture the voices offscreen of staffers cheering when they get the results they wanted, rather than the results the vehicle would give under regular driving input.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1967 Nissan Patrol L60

Most compact personal 4x4 vehicles in the United States are probably Jeep CJs and Wranglers. For all intents and purposes the original Willys MB military Jeep was the first modern off-roader. (Some could argue that the German VW-based Kübelwagen came first, but it did not have 4-wheel-drive and a civilian variant didn't come until 1969 as the Type 181 "Thing".) The Jeep spawned a host of imitators in the years following World War II, including the Land Rover Series 1, Toyota Land Cruiser, International Scout, Ford Bronco and Nissan Patrol. Today we'll take a look at the Nissan Patrol L60.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1972 Jeep Commando

I haven't seen many vintage sport-utility type vehicles still being used on a daily basis. Occasionally one comes across an older Jeep CJ, Ford Bronco, K5 Blazer or Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. All are recognizable designs and still relatively common. But here's one I don't recall seeing previously, a 1972-73 Jeep Commando.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1973 Land Rover Series III

And now for something a little different. One of the earliest pioneers in what we now know as the sport-utility market was Land Rover, a company which began by reverse-engineering a Willys Jeep after World War II. This proto-SUV is the third evolution of the breed, the Land Rover Series III. The Series III was produced from 1971 through 1985. It is by far the most common of the "Series" Land Rovers, with over 440,000 built and sold.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1992 GMC Typhoon

This may at first glance look like a garden-variety GMC Jimmy, but it's so much more than that. Where the regular Jimmy was an off-road oriented SUV with an unfortunate reputation for its rollover risk, the GMC Typhoon was a romping, stomping, turbocharged, all-wheel-drive beast of a performance truck. It's a curious vehicle, developed at a time when performance cars were anything over 200 horsepower and no one had built a fast truck in decades. Then General Motors unleashed a pair of shockingly quick compact trucks based on their S-Series platform. They were a regular-cab pickup called the Syclone, and a two-door SUV called the Typhoon. They sported a turboed 4.3 liter V6 producing 280 horsepower, 65 more than a V8-powered Mustang GT of the era. (According to Wikipedia, some stock Typhoons have actually produced over 300hp). All this power was put to the pavement through a 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission and AWD system with 35% front/65% rear bias. The trucks also featured upgraded suspensions, brakes, and a self-leveling rear suspension. It was unlike anything else available at the time, a truck capable of doing 0-60 in 5.3 seconds while taking the kids to school. The Typhoon was built from 1992 to 1993. Only 4,697 were ever built.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1978 International Scout II

I always hear people in other parts of the country talking about how rust-prone the International Scout was. To some extent I believe them. This 1978 Scout II is apparently an anomaly, as are the other Scouts I've spotted in the Bay Area.