I think we all have a soft spot in our hearts for home built contraptions. Regardless of what they do it’s just cool to see what people can come up with in the dregs of their workshops. Take this ridiculous VW Passat for example. This thing must easily be 5-feet off the ground sporting what looks to be tractor tires and a fully home built suspension system. From the exhaust note the engine seems to be completely stock as well. As you can see the driver is having no problem flogging this thing through the snow, but all that height combined with a very narrow width would have me nervous to even set foot in that thing. Maybe it’s just me, but I have a feeling that we’re going to see a video of this thing flipping over very soon on Streetfire.net.

Magpul Industries builds upgraded parts and accessories for assault rifles. When they decided to build an off-road vehicle for promotional purposes, it was a pretty safe bet that they’d opt for the baddest ORV on the planet as a starting point. Working with Couch Off Road Engineering in Denver, CO, Magpul commissioned the custom Unimog you see here. Powered by a turbo diesel motor, this ‘Mog features 15,000 pound hydraulic winches on the front and rear, 8mm thick sliders and skid plates, a super-duty bull bar, a custom 27 gallon fuel tank and a spare tire carrier that doubles as a wheelie bar for climbing particularly steep grades.

In case you had any doubt on my choice of the Unimog as a zombie apocalypse vehicle of choice, this video should convince you. I’d sure love to take this beast for a drive across the Switzerland Trail.

Source: BangShift

Mahindra TR; easy to find in a parking lot.

Back in the days before pickups and SUVs became rolling-clubroom status symbols, manufacturers used to build simple, no frills, rugged trucks. If you needed a full sized truck, you shopped for a Ford, Chevy or Dodge, depending on your upbringing. If you needed a compact pickup, you shopped for a Toyota. Once you realized how expensive Toyota’s were, then you shopped for a Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Mitsubishi or Isuzu.

Isuzu and Mitsubishi have all but vanished from the market, and today’s offerings from the other manufacturers tend to be long on luxury and high in price. What if you want a simple, low cost truck with serious hauling capability? What if you’d prefer a diesel motor in your compact pickup? That pretty much narrows the field to none, these days.

Fear not, Mr. Bargain Hunter. Mahindra, the Indian manufacturer best known for building stout farm tractors at reasonable prices, will announce by month end their entry date into the US truck market. Despite repeated delays to their original 2009 launch date, the manufacturer is finalizing approvals on their diesel motor and assures us they’ll be to market by year end. Their first offering, the TR series pickup in two and four door versions, will be a compact sized, diesel powered work truck with best in class payload capabilities. Sure the styling is a bit funky, but at least it doesn’t look like anything else on the road.

Given Mahindra’s success in the farm tractor market and their exposure as a sponsor in NASCAR, I think they may be on to something here. If they price the TR series correctly and offer a better warranty than the competition, I think you’ll be seeing quite a few on the U.S. roads in the coming years. That is, of course if they actually get to market.

Hooniverse recently posted this spectacular video of an ’80s Audi SportQuattro making mincemeat of its tires and screaming its turbocharged head off. It reminded me of another video of a homebrew mini monster truck spraying a herd of Harleys with molten rubber.

At first glance it seems like the vehicles have nothing in common. The Audi is a tour de force of Teutonic technology. The monster truck is a homemade carnival ride. The Quattro has an über turbo with a waste gate that spits like a cobra. The mini monster has a supercharged big-block Ford V8 that’s so wicked it refuses to shut off.

But these beasts have much in common. Both have 600-ish horsepower. Both can make all four tires go critical in the blink of an eye. Both seem to have sprung fully formed from the fantasy of a 12-year-old boy.

So the question is: Which performs the better burnout?

Let’s say you live on an island, about the size of Wyoming, situated in the North Atlantic. Let’s also say that the island is volcanic, and has hot springs, mud pools, geothermal vents and mountains covering the interior. What do you do for fun if you’re a gear head? Why, build a big honkin’ V8 powered Jeep for hillclimbing, mud surfing and all pupose hoonage, that’s what.

Enjoy the video, courtesy of Bangshift.

Hummer? I got pieces of Hummers in my stool...

Readers of Germany’s “Off Road” magazine have voted the Mercedes Benz Unimog as the number one vehicle for cross country travel. With capabilities like those shown above, it’s no wonder why.

Unimogs, built by Daimler in Woerth, Germany, are used by military forces throughout the EU. In civilian trim, they’re used for everything from fire fighting to farming, and retired military ‘mogs have a cult following worldwide. If any readers have a ‘mog they’d like to see on these pages, drop me a line and I’ll hook you up.

Source: The Auto Channel

TLC Icon

I’ve always been a fan of the original FJ 40 series Land Cruisers, since they made no apologies for being a stout, well built truck that would get you anywhere you needed to go. Need to check the cows in the back pasture, but three feet of snow is in the way? No problem for the Toyota FJ. Want to climb the third Flatiron in Boulder, Colorado, but you’re out of shape? No worries, just make sure your FJ has a winch (for safety) and drive it up the face from eyebolt to eyebolt.

Sadly, the FJ 40 gave way to today’s bloated luxobarge Land Cruisers. Original FJ 40s remain in demand, but time has not been kind to their ungalvanized steel bodies. Original, unmolested examples are as rare as honest politicians, and prices for used FJ 40s in any condition reflect this.

Enter TLC, Inc., and their line of Icon 4×4 trucks. Jonathan Ward, founder of TLC, is considered to be the guru of all things FJ. Starting with original CAD files from Toyota, Ward has created a modernized version of the venerable FJ 40, with no expenses spared. Every component and material used has been chosen for its premium quality and durability. Paint is replaced by powder coating for scratch and chip resistance off road. Several engine options are available, including both gasoline and diesel variants. Suspension travel is a full twelve inches at each corner, ensuring that the Icon will get you anywhere you’d ever want to go.

All this capability comes at a price; $105,000 is what it takes to get in the door, with typical customer builds running between $125k and $140. Check all the option boxes on the order form, and you’re looking at $170. Steep? Sure, but TLC has built nearly sixty to date.

Source: Autopia

I’m pretty confident in my Toyota FJ Cruiser’s ability to get me into and out of places no sane man would travel, but the Chainlink Extreme puts the FJ to shame. Can you say “articulation”?

Thanks to Dave for the video tip.

Image from Sport Truck.com

When I was covering the SEMA Extravaganza in Las Vegas, I have to tell you one thing; I wasn’t at all impressed by these types of trucks. I always thought they were over compensating for something (And get your mind out of the gutter!). There were at least 20 of these types of trucks, and to be truthful, I don’t even remember this particular truck. So when a video surfaced about a Custom Silverado built by the same guys who were associated with the famous “Bigfoot” truck that experienced a monumental failure, well I had to find it. And here it is…. only you will have to see it after the jump!

Now that ramp doesn’t look all that high, and a truck that was supposed to be “Over-Engineered”, with steerable front and rear axles, a 30 inch lift, and a custom fabricated suspension cradle, should have survived that small “Bump in the road”. An article in 8-lug.com states that the crew spent 2 weeks to do the truss work on the axles. Looks like they should have spent more time. The cost to put this Custom Silverado Duramax together? Some $350,000, though I’m guessing the truck is now worth significantly less.

Source: Great Lakes 4X4

For those of you elitists with things like a “steady job” and “benefits,” you probably received a hefty Christmas bonus with your paycheck last month. The wisest move would be to invest it, but ask yourself this: can a high-yield savings account scale a vertical wall? Of course not, which means your most logical course of action would be to scour eBay high and low for the most impractical (and possibly by that very quality, totally badass) purchase. Since it was an excruciatingly slow news day, I took the liberty of doing it for you.

Available for a cool $40,900, this 1997 Hummer H1 is in excellent condition with only 7,600 miles on the odometer, indicating the previous owner was either a professional athlete, a rapper, or an exorbitantly wealthy soccer mom. The engine is 6.5L V8 turbo diesel that churns out 195 horsepower, which makes it perfectly suited for all the rock crawling it won’t be doing as it sits in your garage in your gated community. For those days when you want to feel the wind in your hair plugs, this particular H1 also comes with a fully detachable roof and enough interior seating for at least four ladies of ill repute.

On the off chance that you plan on buying it and using it for the purpose for which it was intended, it also comes with all that off-roading crap the Jeep fanboys ramble about. Just go read the listing or something.

Source: eBay Motors