Raph, that was simply a beautifully epic tale. I laughed, I cried, I thought wistfully of the Craigslist beaters I could seek out for my own such adventure. Sigh. Hope the old girl gets a heart transplant and rides again!

Thank you, Ben Roethlisberger! Because he points out things that are obvious, you see.

Someone must make it, because for the most part a government agency isn't going to have something fabbed up special when they can get an "off the shelf" part. But yeah, I hadn't seen this combo before either. Doubles as an extension of the center skidplate, too.

I stand by my assertion in yesterday's distantly related post. Luxury but not too flashy, able to blend into the woodwork. The Genesis will obviously fit that bill, but I'd go even more generic (at least in my So Cal neighborhoods) and pick a last-gen Infiniti G37x. Luxurious enough to not look out of place pulling up…

Not sure of the specifics of the actual drilling/rigging positions (they do drag-lining and SAG-D steam-pressure extraction, which is vaguely similar to the fracking going on in North Dakota), because I'm a city planner. I don't do work for the extraction operations themselves, but for the city to accommodate all the…

Not sure of the specifics of the actual drilling/rigging positions (they do drag-lining and SAG-D steam-pressure extraction, which is vaguely similar to the fracking going on in North Dakota), because I'm a city planner. I don't do work for the extraction operations themselves, but for the city to accommodate all the…

My clearance is set to expire next year, but I've been out of there for about 2 years now. Working up in the Canadian oil sands in Alberta. Cold instead of hot, bears instead of tangos, and I can have a damn beer whenever I want. Unless the economy really goes back in the tank, I've got no plans to go back. If you do,…

For those of you who think I'm kidding, I now direct you over to the Land Rover China website, which lists the starting price of a new Range Rover at approximately 2.8 million Yuan, or roughly $460,000. That's right: nearly half a million dollars for one stinkin' SUV. Take this same amount of money to, say, Fresno,…

No, but I was embedded with a USAF civil engineering squadron (777 EPBS). I was a civilian contractor doing master planning of the FOBs and COPs. I started off with Fenty, then got shifted from RC-East to South, and spent most of my time on KAF and out in the South and Southwest areas (Delaram, Dwyer, some time at…

No worries, I did enough FOB-hopping with my job. Even made it out to J-bad for a week at Fenty. Most of my time was in RC-South and RC-Southwest. Lots of time in the Qalat bases (Laghman, Apache) down on the Paki border (Spin Boldak), and the K-City/Arghandab Valley (Jelawur, Azzizulah, Walton, CNS, Ramrod/Sakari…

I want that key fob! Code-hopping code-scanning so that you walk up to whichever car has a proximity key sensor, it finds the code and away you go!

Go Torch! Lolz (please ungray me!)

You're on the right track, but some of your criteria eliminate the Corolla. Instead of a powerful FWD, it should be at least RWD or maybe AWD. And while it should be relatively anonymous, it should also be a little upscale. Spies like Bond are always going to places like Monte Carlo, so maybe a previous-gen Infiniti…

Yeah, it was kinda fun to plow thru water deeper than the doors, and moon dust up to the axles. Because of the dust, snorkles were a pretty standard modification to the Prados and 'Cruisers we had on base. I honestly prefer the styling of the Hilux because it looks sleeker and smaller. I think the size of our…

Or an actual Hilux. Spent 3 years driving them all over Kandahar Airfield, including thru the 2011 floods that destroyed the southern part of the base (South Park and ECP 5 for those who spent time on KAF).

Just made nearly the exact same comment, then clicked "see more replies". Dammit.

How many smurfs were killed for their pelts to make that interior?

As a San Diegan, I am super proud that SD County Fire uses Raptors for SAR/EMS response in the mountains and desert parts of the county. Have posted this pic on several past Jalop articles, because a Raptor first responder vehicle is awesome! See also the Border Patrol

I did see a G8 in Toronto that had Holden badges on the grill, trunklid, and wheel caps. It was too dark to see if they'd put it on the airbag hub as well, but I liked it anyway. I'm down with some Holden logos on the SS.