Home built urban assault vehicles?

Has the time come for home built urban assault vehicles?  My definition is this:

Mid 70's malaise land yacht with truck turbo diesel for power.  Rub rails down the sides nose to tail.  Roo guards in place of bumpers front and rear.  Fenders and 1/4 panels trimmed for tire clearance.   A Mad Max look with power to back it up.  And when that high dollar Acura, Mercedes, Infiniti, Tahoe, Camaro, Mustang, etc cuts in front of you at the end of the merge area or charges across three lanes of traffic to invade your space you simply hit them.  Of course you would have to be dressed like this:

Am I bitter or upset about something?  Just because it took my 1.5 hours to drive 24 miles home last night and i am tired of people that think the highway belongs to them and rules of the road are for other people?

No, why do you ask?

Deathmlbile from animal house?

Noddaz said:

Am I bitter or upset about something?  Just because it took my 1.5 hours to drive 24 miles home last night and i am tired of people that think the highway belongs to them and rules of the road are for other people?

Sounds like you want the highway to belong to you because the rules of the road are for other people.

Thinking the protagonist of 'Falling Down' is an admirable hero is the middle-aged man equivalent of people who think that think Tyler Durden of 'Fight Club' is an aspirational figure.

I used to daily this.  Had the same effect.  Took a lot of stress out of commuting in So Cal traffic.

Get a Nissan Altima

Dispo-aggro

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

Noddaz said:

Am I bitter or upset about something?  Just because it took my 1.5 hours to drive 24 miles home last night and i am tired of people that think the highway belongs to them and rules of the road are for other people?

Sounds like you want the highway to belong to you because the rules of the road are for other people.

Thinking the protagonist of 'Falling Down' is an admirable hero is the middle-aged man equivalent of people who think that think Tyler Durden of 'Fight Club' is an aspirational figure.

No, I would just like to be able to drive down the road at the posted speed limit.  But in today's world that may be too much to ask.

In reply to mjlogan :

If you could get the windows to roll up and the a/c to work, that would be the E36 M3 for commuting.

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Deathmlbile from animal house?

 

Clearly, this is the only logical answer.  It's a shame that finding a suicide-door Lincoln would be so difficult.

Not the '70s vibe, but I drove the Xbox to work today.

I still need to replace the windshield after rolling it over earlier in the month, but the driver's view is clear of cracks.

AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) said:

I still need to replace the windshield after rolling it over earlier in the month...

Noteworthy.

I would argue the car is far too diminutive to truly strike terror into the hearts of other motorists, but it is nevertheless a commendable work of art.

NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to mjlogan :

If you could get the windows to roll up and the a/c to work, that would be the E36 M3 for commuting.

Windows rolled up just fine.  No AC but the heater worked.  Was good commuter and got decent mileage with the 2.9.  Easily the most fun vehicle i've ever had

Wouldn't you also need some sort of bullet proof or damage resistant tires?  I mean, one side swipe and your game is over.  I vote for tracks.

Back in the early 2000s, this was my daily driver on the Dan Ryan and Stevenson expressways into downtown Chicago-

38x11.00" Super Swamper Boggers on an unlifted M715 with a swapped in modified 440 exhaling through headers and glasspacks.



To say I was "left alone" in rush hour traffic would be putting it mildly; There was a buffer zone around me with no cars in either lane right next to me, and a couple car lengths in front and behind me on my own lane.

I started building this out of left over Volvo parts in the late 70s but never finished it. 

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

You obviously have not driven much on east coast roads. The police either do not now the laws,(often, they do not) do not give a give a rip about doing their job (know a lot of these) or don't have enough manpower to enforce them. I blessed to prefer living away from on that, out in the country, but MANY people on here brag about going 85-90 in 55-65 speed limit roads, while so many others on that road are driving erratically, on their cell phones, or 'cause they want to?

and if you missed the humor of the picture, I feel for ya. 

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

 

Thinking the protagonist of 'Falling Down' is an admirable hero is the middle-aged man equivalent of people who think that think Tyler Durden of 'Fight Club' is an aspirational figure.

I am pretty sure he is tapping into the frustration of everyday absurdities that is expressed by the main character (not the psychotic tendencies):

   Gang Member #1: Whatcha doin', Mister?

Bill Foster: Nothing.

   Gang Member #1: Yes, you are, you're trespassing on private property.

Bill Foster: Trespassing?

  Gang Member #2: You're loitering too, man.

   Gang Member #1: That's right, you're loitering too.

Bill Foster: I didn't see any signs.

   Gang Member #1: [pointing at a piece of graffiti] Whatcha call that?

Bill Foster: Graffiti?

   Gang Member #1: No, man. That's not f ing graffiti, that's a sign.

   Gang Member #2: He can't read it, man.

   Gang Member #1: I'll read it for you. It says this is f ing private property. No f ing trespassing. This means f ing you.

Bill Foster: It says all that?

   Gang Member #1: Yeah!

Bill Foster: Well, maybe if you wrote it in f ing English, I could berkeleying understand it.

This does pretty well on my commute. The only people I have issues with are the brodozers. I think it must intimidate them. 

I used to drive a 1948 Dodge dump truck around pretty frequently. Most everyone would back down for that. Come to think of it, when the zombie apocalypse comes, do you really want to be wedded to lots of tech a la the Cybertruck? Or something that's just a couple steps above caveman simple? 

The term you are looking for is "battle car".

I have thought about this subject a lot:

Take a Panther platform car, install 2" spacer lift

Put 31" AT tires on

Install/fabricate steel bumpers and/or push guard

Install roof rack with LED off road lights

Fabricate side exit exhaust for nice V8 burble

Drive it and not give any berks

Back when I was commuting a whopping 2 hours to go 14 miles  on 285 working at AutoTrader I wanted to get something like this:

Yup, the Uncle Buck car. Bumpers big enough kill a Hyundai, beat body, floating couch ride, barely adequate power, and gas mileage that would earn me a Christmas card from OPEC. Park it running with the doors open in downtown Atlanta and it would still be there the next day.

I got the idea after some psycho sideswiped me in stop-n-go traffic on 285 with his new-ish Ford Explorer. I was driving my beater '95 Sunfire and he wanted to push me out of my lane. He made the mistake of thinking I gave a damn about my car. I figured if I was in a real 1970s tank he wouldn't have dared try. He didn't push me out of my lane, but he did destroy the paint down the side of this SUV while screaming at his steering wheel.

So, if you start with this...

...and remove the front bumper, you also remove the grille.

Driving it like that will get you all the space on the road you might want. BTDT.

But I drive small cars and I don't feel intimidated. You only get intimidated if you let yourself. Nobody really wants to hit anyone else. But 20' of Cadillac with the front end removed does kinda look like there's nothing else to lose.

In reply to slefain :

Two hours to go 14 miles?

I feel like you just gave me a pep talk!  Thank you!

And this is a fantastic looking ride!