[bemused_Bohemian]

Moved from a terrific 1987 black Mazda RX-7 which had air-conditioning and the rotary engine with 266,000 miles on it to a new, at the time, dark sea green1997 Ford Explorer 4-dr 4WD XLT with a couple of nice amenities. I still have it and will think about replacing it when the motor mileage sees 600K. It's taken 13 years to get to 241K so this truck may outlast me. Say what you might about the tyranny of sports utes to wildlife and small cars this Ford has been the best darn small rig I have ever owned. I can sleep in it. I can visit the Utah Canyonlands 4-wheel drive trails with it. With the exception of 2 catalytic converters that were stolen for their palladium plus normal wear and tear on tires and other parts everything is still factory. I could never do any of this hinterland tripping with the old 1972 COE twin-screw Kenworth semi I used to own during the early part of my working years.....talk about poor fuel mileage (3.5-4 mpg)...LOL

Tried to use the Mazda several times as a glorified sports ute on the trails but because of low ground clearance I kept hi-centering on certain road ruts and darn near burned out the clutch 1 time trying to sail up an elongated 30% grade near Abo Canyon in northern New Mexico back in 1996. Cool car! Hated to part with it but could no longer get cheap replacement parts out of junkyards by the mid-90's to keep it running.