the isuzu vehi-cross has always caught my eye, not sure of the trail capabilities though.

oops maybe they never made a 4-door???

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Possibly a late 90's LC or even a Defender 90 (for the looks).

This also looks sweet if they would actually offer it from the factory this way...

What you guy's need is the 90 series LC, it has the same body as the smaller Lexus, 3rd seat row and after mid year 2000 it has the almost 170hp D4D Common rail diesel. Or even the 120 series.
Now someone just has to be brave enough to import one from Europe.

You might be able to make it more capable than a Pajero down the road with more money of course, but you wont like it more that the Pajero. The Grand Cherokees are nice with a V8, but you guys dont even do any huge flexing to need a solid axle, So I would think the Pajero would be better all around than a Jeep.

You'll find that american SUVs compared to a Mitsu are more "cheap-like". Sure the interior and outside might look great, but you'll have loose ends here and there over time. I think the Montero/Pajero is a solid SUV, inside and out.

Good luck,
Angelo

A guy I went wheeling with in Moab a couple years had a Grand Cherokee. In one day, he snapped two axles and a U-joint. Next day both his rear coils popped out. We spent way too much time fixing his rig.

Yeah...he was a little lead-footed. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

Some people can break a crowbar in a sand box,
Some crowbars just seem to break!

I think I would build my own rig from the ground up. Like this...


The only way to be sure it will work right and that nobody will make anything for it like a GEN 3 Montero <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I remember that. That's from the movie Damnation Alley. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

With Jan Michael Vincent and George Peppard? Thought that looked familiar. IIRC, it's built on a ford van chassis...

" The 12-wheeled "Landmaster" vehicle used in the film was created by Jefferies Automotive in Universal City, California. Despite the appearance of two "Landmasters" in the film, only one was built at a cost of $300,000 in 1976. The Landmaster is powered by a 391 cubic-inch Ford industrial engine, and features a fully-functional, custom-built "tristar" wheel arrangement, which could actually help it "crawl" over boulders. It also used an innovative steering mechanism that guided the vehicle, not by the front wheels, but by "bending" the middle section with hydraulic rams to affect a turn. The Landmaster's bodywork was made with 3/8-inch steel plating, which helped it tip the scales at over 10 tons. It was so tough, in fact, that it survived a 25-foot jump during testing with no damage. As of today, the original "Landmaster" is alive and well, and resides in the lot at the Jefferies Automotive shop on Cahuenga Blvd. near Barham Blvd. It has been somewhat modified from its original appearance in "Damnation Alley," with the enlargement of the driver and passenger side windows, and the removal of the flexible center section cover. The Landmaster was sold to a private owner in 2005, and is currently undergoing restoration to its original condition."

From:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075909/trivia

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