Our favorite niece in West Tennessee, SaraNan, has a name for an old beater of a truck that has seen better days. She calls it a "hooptie."
To be a hooptie, a truck must have more than 100,000 miles on it (200,000 is preferable), a faded paint job with a little rust, a loud engine and either a gun rack or an ugly white dog riding shotgun. I chose the dog over the gun rack.
My back-to-the-land vehicle is a 1989 4-wheel-drive Chevrolet Blazer. It has a new 350 cubic inch engine with a rebuilt transmission. A repair shop did the engine and transmission work for the truck's previous owner, but the poor guy lost his job. The shop got a mechanic's lien and sold the truck for the cost of repairs. Basically, I bought the engine and transmission and they threw in the truck for free.
The odometer reads 82,000, but I would bet on either 182,000 or 282,000.
On the front bumper is a 10,000-pound winch that will come in handy pulling trees out of the sinkholes in the back of our property.
One of the "accessories" Willie and I enjoy the most are the front vent windows. When is the last time you've ridden in a car or truck with those babies?
As soon as I get a seatbelt rigged up on the passenger side, I can take you for a ride.
Hey Vince! Congrats on the hooptie - you've got yourself quite a vehicle there. I'll take you up on the ride offer when we're there in June!
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