[OrrieG]

In 1976 I was in college at ASU in Tempe AZ. My wife is from El Paso, where we met, and we spent a lot of time cruising the back roads of the 4 corners region in our VW Van. It was tricked for the time, built 1200 cc engine. It had 15" Corvette Ralley wheels on the back with "huge" L78 tires to get a little more ground clearance and floatation over the desert sand. Inside was set up to hold our camping gear and had a back seat that folded down into a bed. Interior was wood paneled, outdoor carpet, 68 Camaro buckets, cassette deck with speakers and a CB radio.

In the winter we would make a trip up to N. AZ so we could play in the snow with our daughter. On one trip I shot the attahed picture of a 59 that had been converted to 4wd. I had decided to sell the VW and get an old truck, and knowing we would end up in Idaho in a couple of years, this became the inspiration picture for my 4wd conversion. It is a crappy picture (taken in 1977) but you can see some of the newer trucks in the background have Jackman's and big tires.

Next photo is my truck right after I converted it, only real "upgrade" that would fit this thread is the big mirrors, needed when the camper was on. Creature comforts were cassette deck, late 70's buckets and a CB. I put a 68 Chevelle gas tank where the spare went for extra off road gas capacity.

Last is my Dad's "bible", the Sears jeep parts catalog. I grew up with Jeeps in the 50's and 60's, he would buy them at surplus sales; paint, add chrome wheels, roll bar and resell them usually doubling his money. We had a M38A1 as our go to hunting and off road play rig, and a second CJ series. The M38 had a pto winch and stock 4 cylinder engine, but could keep up with and usually out climb the guys that had done v-6 or v-8 conversions because of the low end torque.

I remember the "mall crawler" 70's and early 80's fondly, along with the Disco Vettes of the era.