Last week we looked at a fantastic Soviet motorcycle that may or may not have been built by prison labor according to the commenters. This week, we’re going in a different direction. TriangleRAD is an IT project manager in Raleigh. He also founded the area’s Rad era car club, TriangleRAD!
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Before we get to the cars, what led to the founding of TriangleRAD?
First of all, you have to understand that I’m a child of the ’80s. I lived the ’80s & ’90s and have a lot of nostalgia, especially for the ’80s. More detail below of course, but the 200SX was off the road for a decade. Finally, In the summer of 2020, I got it back on the road. This was COVID time of course, so I had cabin fever like everybody else. Outdoor activities were ok, so I started taking the S12 to meets around the area, and it got a lot of attention.
I started going to meets, met lots of cool people, including some with cool ’80s & ’90s rides. Then I started thinking I wanted to see more of that.
RADwood was still on COVID hiatus at this time, so I decided to try and start my own localized version. I started TriangleRAD as a Facebook group that same month and started inviting people I knew who had RAD-era cars. I designed the logo right after that, it was the first graphic design task I’d ever set for myself.
In May of ’21 I decided to hold our first actual meet. Something like 60 cars ended up showing up, everyone had a fantastic time, and I’ve been holding those events every three months ever since. We have music and prizes for cars, outfits, and accessories.
How’s it going?
Four years in, the TriangleRAD group on Facebook has something like 2,200 members. The largest event we’ve hosted brought in about 150 cars. We’ve had as many as five Deloreans together. We’ve had the NSX Club of America roll in with 60 NSXs. We now have our own parking area at that massive Cars and Coffee in Morrisville, and last year they even made one of the monthly themes ’80s & ’90s, so we got to be in VIP parking. We turned it into a big ’80s block party with tunes blasting and Pac-Man going on a portable tube TV in the bed of the Ram 50.
We’ve also collaborated with local businesses and groups for events at local breweries, retro bars, and retro gaming events. A new event as of last year has been a drive-in movie series. There is a local drive-in parking lot that will let us use their theater on a Sunday, so on Memorial Day and Labor Day we had meets there and then showed a movie. I’m working my way through ’80s car-centric movies. We started with Cannonball Run, of course. Then we did The Wraith. I’m planning to show License to Drive on Memorial Day weekend this year.
TriangleRAD has a great reputation in the local car community for hosting laid-back, drama-free events that are fun for the whole family. It’s become a huge part of my life and I’ve met a lot of wonderful friends because of the club, including one Jason Torchinsky. He’s graced a few of our events with the Pao, the Yugo, and The Marshal.
What’s currently in the garage?
- 2015 Jeep Renegade 1.4 turbo 6-speed (daily)
- 1990 Dodge Power Ram 50 4×4 (aka Mitsubishi Mighty Max)
- 1988 Nissan 200SX SE V6 (S12)
What led you to the Renegade?
When it was being introduced in 2015, and I learned it would be available with a manual, I became excited about it. I was looking for a new daily/family car that was a 5-door hatchback with a small footprint, good practicality, and a manual. The Renegade fit this bill, and I loved the styling and the orange that was available. I also have a soft spot for all Mopar brands due to my growing up in a Mopar family. I purchased it new in August 2015.
What’s the best thing about it?
The practicality. The boxy shape makes for lots of usable interior space. It also handles surprisingly well. Not many people know this, but these came with variable-dampening Koni struts at all four corners from the factory. Fuel economy is decent. It gets mid-to-high 20s around town and low 30s on the highway, although the shape means that the economy drops fast at speeds over 70. The highest fuel economy I ever got was 36 mpg on a road trip from Carlisle, PA to Buffalo, NY. Speeds were lower on that trip because I was in a convoy with my uncle’s motorhome and my dad’s ’67 Chrysler Newport, which was having cooling problems at the time.
What don’t you like?
Drivability could be better. The electronic throttle combines with the gear ratios to make smooth 1-2 upshifts difficult, and there tend to be “flat spots” in the rev range. It takes some getting used to. The electronic parking brake with hill hold is well-executed, but I sometimes still wish for a traditional handbrake.
How has it been for you?
Probably the best all-around daily and family car I’ve ever owned. I’ve put over 170,000 miles on it. It’s hauled bikes, dogs, and a lot of other things. In that 170,000, it has never broken down on me. The only unscheduled repair it’s needed was a new radiator. I am honestly blown away by how much more reliable this vehicle has been than I expected it to be. I feel like I got really lucky, especially considering this was a first-year model. On the other hand, the most problematic features of most Renegades are the 2.4L Tigershark engine and the 9-speed ZF automatic transmission, and I have neither of those. I’m also a stickler for maintenance.
Was it hard to find a Renegade with the manual?
Not really. The initial 2015 run seemed pretty heavy on manuals. From what I’ve read the manuals got less common as time went on, before being discontinued completely after the 2018 model year.
Do you have any feelings about a Fiat being rebranded as a Jeep?
I find it amusing that my Jeep was built in Italy. I like Fiat as a brand, so I never had an issue with it, and I liked what they were doing during those early FCA days in 2014-15. My family has also owned a 2015 Fiat 500 which uses the non-turbo version of the same 1.4L Multiair engine in the Jeep. That’s also been an amazing, reliable car for 140,000 miles. It’s really funny that the Jeep was built in Italy, but the Fiat 500 was built at the Chrysler plant in Toluca, Mexico.
How do you usually use your Renegade?
It’s my daily driver and family road tripper. I didn’t buy it to buy a Jeep, I bought it to buy a small, practical, efficient 5-door hatchback family car with a manual. It’s not even a 4×4.
How did the Ram 50 join the garage?
I’m constantly looking at Marketplace for local RAD-era vehicles to share on the FB group of my 80s/90s car club, TriangleRAD. I was looking at these trucks specifically, and this one popped up a couple of hours away back in May 2024. I had to have it!
Were you specifically looking for a Ram 50 or was it just what was available?
I was casually looking to add a pickup to my RAD-era fleet. As I mentioned, I grew up in a Mopar family and I wanted something cool I could take to Mopar shows with my dad and uncle. I have a really weird soft spot for ChryCo’s ‘80s offerings, because they were around in my youth. At the same time, I like Japanese vehicles from that era including all the Chrysler-badged Mitsubishis from the Colt to the Conquest.
I started casually looking for either a Dodge Rampage or a Ram 50. In my eyes, they both had their pros and cons. A Rampage is just so weird as a tiny FWD pickup truck based on an economy car. The only vehicle that really compares is a VW Rabbit pickup. The Ram 50 has the advantage of being easier to get and keep running. When mine popped up on Marketplace, it was the cleanest Ram 50 I could remember seeing. Plus, it was a lifted 4×4 with big knobby off-road tires, opening up options for all sorts of new activities. You can’t get a Rampage like that.
What kind of condition is it in?
Really great shape. The body is clean. The only rust is some surface rust on the frame rails, which will be gone soon. It has great paint, and the bed has a spray bedliner.
What engine is in it?
Mitsubishi 4G64 2.4L SOHC 4-cylinder. This is from the same engine family as the famous 4G63 DOHC turbo engines used in DSM cars and Lancer Evos. As such, it has pretty good parts availability. The Mitsubishi L200/Mighty Max was sold as the Dodge D50 and later Ram 50 from 1979-1994. I’m very glad that I have the 2.4L over some of the other options. It’s the first year of fuel injection so I don’t have to deal with the problematic feedback carb that came on earlier models, and it’s so much easier to work on than a V6 would be. The engine bay is so spacious, and everything so accessible. I recently changed the power steering belt in approximately 4 and a half minutes.
What’s the story behind the vinyl on it?
When I got it, the white paint looked like a blank canvas to me. Ram 50s originally offered a very ’80s-tastic strobe stripe graphics package. That package, combined with the graphics on the 1988-93 Jeep Wrangler Islander, served as the inspiration for the “Sunset Truck” graphics. I designed the graphics in GIMP and sent it off to a vinyl graphics maker. They sent me the finished vinyl pieces in a big cardboard tube. I recruited a friend who has experience with applying them, and we did it over a weekend in the shop at the JDM dealership where he worked. Pics of that process are attached.
Has this been hard to keep on the road?
Not at all. So far, I’ve only done a few things to it. I replaced the crank pulley because it had a slight wobble. I’ve done the thermostat and a basic tune-up and fluid changes, and that’s it. The only actual issue I’ve had was when I tried to drive on the beach in the Outer Banks. The left front automatic-locking 4WD hub had been improperly assembled at some point in the past, and the 4×4 system didn’t fully engage. By the time I figured out what was going on I had gotten some distance down the beach, gotten stuck, and the left front wheel bearing had eaten itself. I had to get towed off the beach and limp it to a local shop for new wheel bearings. Not the truck’s fault, but rather caused by an error by a previous owner.
Any future plans for it?
It just got a set of vintage fog lights installed and manual locking hubs for the front. I don’t trust auto-lockers after that beach incident. Other than that, I only have possibilities! If I ever find a vintage roll bar, that might be cool. I’d like to get a cargo box for the bed. I may have the vintage ‘90s American Racing sawblade wheels restored at some point, too.
What’s the best thing about this little beast?
The attention it gets at car shows and out on the road. People love it. It’s going to be in the royalty section at RADwood in Charlotte in early April. It’s also just really nice to have a small truck to do truck stuff, and a 4×4 for little adventures.
What does this do better than the relevant competitors from the same era?
The late ‘80s and early ‘90s were truly the salad days of the compact pickup truck. You had your S-10s and Rangers of course, but the offerings from the Japanese makers were really interesting in that they were all so similar yet unique at the same time. Look at this list, all of these were available during this timeframe:
- Mitsubishi Mighty Max / Dodge Ram 50
- Toyota Pickup (Hilux)
- Nissan D21 Hardbody
- Mazda B-series
- Isuzu P’UP
These are all roughly the same size with similar capabilities, and several of them are even a bit hard to tell apart visually. There was some engine carryover, too, with the Mazda using the Mitsubishi 2.6L in some models.
So I guess the answer to the question, “What does this model do better than its competitors?” is really nothing. It just happens to be my favorite of the lot. It’s rarer than the Toyota, Nissan, or Mazda. Parts availability is pretty good, better than the Mazda due to the shared engine family, but not as good as the Toyota or Nissan.
But we’re really splitting hairs between very similar trucks, all of which are excellent. The Toyota and Nissan trucks are legendary for their durability, but the Mazda and Mitsu/Dodge trucks are right up there with them, just a bit less popular. It might have made more sense for me to get a Nissan, since it shares parts with my 200SX, but even in 2025 I see Nissan Hardbodies on such a regular basis, it just was too common for my taste. And I prefer to have the Dodge badge for the reasons I mentioned above.
Why is this so much better than any modern truck?
Size and style! The efficient practicality of a truly compact pickup cannot be beat. Even with the lift, the tailgate load height is still lower than many new pickups. As for the style, just look at it! It looks like a Stomper and has the character of an eager Labrador.
Do you think you will have this until it dies or what’s the intent with this one?
I’ve already built some great memories with this truck with my daughter and my dad, so I’m attached to it. I tend to keep vehicles that I like for a really long time, and I can’t think of another compact truck I’d rather have than this one, so it’s probably with me until one of us dies.
What’s the story behind the rad Nissan?
When I was 16, I bought a rusted-out 1982 Datsun 200SX for my first car. I paid $450. This was in Buffalo, NY. It had 211k miles on it and was so rusty that when you closed the hatch you could hear flakes of rust falling down into the body. An early ‘80s Datsun in Buffalo? The only way to get it to oxidize faster would have been to light it on fire. I had it for about a year and a half before I upgraded to a 1988 Accord hatchback that a family friend was selling.
Fast forward to 2000, I had moved to NC and was blown away by all the old Japanese cars from the ‘80s still running around rust-free. I was sick of the ‘94 Dakota Sport I had at the time and decided to get myself another ‘80s Japanese hatchback. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find an S110 (1980-83) 200SX like I’d had. Finally, after about 6 months of searching, this 1988 200SX SE V6 came up for sale locally and I jumped on it immediately. I purchased it in May 2001 in Cary, NC, from the original owner.
How good of shape was it in when you got it?
It was in fantastic condition. It had 122,000 miles and the original owner had taken very good care of it. The interior was faded, as the black cloth interiors tended to do, but other than that, it seemed like a new car.
What kind of shape is it in?
It needs a new coat of paint and has the rattles you would expect from a 37-year-old car, but it runs well, and the steering and suspension are all new. It’s not a museum piece but I’d call it in good driver condition.
When I found out I was going to become a father in 2010, I decided to retire the 200SX from daily driver duties and get something a little newer that featured things like airbags. I took it off the road and it stayed off the road until 2020.
What have done to get it back on the road?
The first thing I had to do was drop the fuel tank and clean it out. It was full of rusty liquid nastiness. Once I got the fuel system sorted and got the engine running, I then did the timing belt, water pump, fluids, plugs, wires – all the standard stuff – and the engine slowly came back to life. Then I tackled the suspension and steering as there were many worn bushings, a leaky rack, and old struts and shocks. I also found a factory stereo that I was able to put back in it.
Where did you find the stereo? Did it need any refurbishment?
One thing about uncommon cars with very limited aftermarkets is that the enthusiast communities for those cars tend to be tight-knit. There are several S12-focused forums and groups where parts are bought, sold, and traded. I was lucky enough to be the first to see the post when the tape deck was posted for sale in another part of the country. I immediately called dibs. This particular head unit cannot be used without either the amp or the optional equalizer, so it took another month or so of searching to find an original amplifier to go along with it.
Have you modified anything on it?
I have not done major modifications to it because of its rarity. The 200SX SE V6 was made for homologation purposes. Nissan wanted to run the VG30E engine in the S12 platform in World Rally Championship, so they had to sell 5000 cars in that configuration, which they did in 1987. And they only offered the V6 in the United States. Japan didn’t get this variant. Americans snapped up all the ones they sent in 1987, so they kept it going for ‘88, although records indicate only about 2500 were made for ‘88.
How hard is it to find parts for these?
Engine parts are easy. The VG30E might be rare in 200SXs, but it is a very common engine used in the 300ZX, Maxima, Hardbody pickup, Pathfinder, Infiniti M30, Nissan Quest, and Mercury Villager. And that’s just the US-market models!
Suspension parts haven’t been too bad. Mine has lowering springs on it from a now-defunct company called Canuck Motorsports that made them for S12’s about twenty years ago. With the springs, the stock S12 shocks and struts are too long. The S12 community figured out that Toyota MR2 struts in the front and Fox body Mustang shocks in the rear were the best setup, so that’s what I have. So that’s a bit of a Frankenstein setup.
Body and interior parts are pretty much unobtainium, so I hoard them when I manage to acquire them. I bought and stripped a parts car in 2023, so I have a lot of parts from that. Two engines, one transmission, hoods, doors, an entire extra hatch … I’ve got it all. Most of it is in the crawl space under my house, along with several tubs of Ram 50 parts. If we ever transition to an old auto parts-based econom,y I will be very rich.
What do you love about this rad ride?
As a child of the ‘80s, I love the fastback wedge styling and pop-up headlights. I once described it to Torch as “shaped like a wedge of cheese.” He proceeded to make one of his famous drawings of it surrounded by literal wedges of cheese. It’s rear-wheel-drive and has an engine bigger than that model was originally meant for, so it’s almost like the 80s Japanese version of a pony car.
Like a lot of older cars, it’s a more visceral driving experience than you get with new cars. You can feel and hear everything going on with this car. And it gets lots of attention around town and at car meets. I like having just about the only one in town.
Anything you don’t like?
Not really. Sometimes people are disappointed when they hear it only makes 165 hp. Usually these are younger people who are used to the 300 hp V6s that are common today. In the 80s, this was among the most powerful sports coupes available. It took a V8 to touch 200 hp in those days. So, I wouldn’t call it fast by 2020’s standards. It’s “‘80s fast.”
What additional plans for restoration/modification do you have?
Since the original engine has nearly 240,000 miles on it, and I have two extra engines on stands in my garage, I’m making plans to build an upgraded engine using parts from those two, plus upgraded cams, high compression pistons, and maybe some other stuff. I might get it up near 200HP, we’ll see. That’s as far as I’d go, though. No boost in the future for this car. I want to keep it mostly original.
And you built a website about this car?
I first created the first version of V6-S12.com around 2003. At the time, the Club-S12.org forum was really active, but there was nothing devoted to the SE V6 model specifically. I’m an IT guy and wanted to try building a website, so what better topic than the car I was so passionate about? It’s been redesigned since then, but the site has been online pretty much non-stop for 20+ years.
Does this get much attention?
It does not fly under the radar. It definitely gets noticed. However, it’s often misidentified. An AE86 Corolla is the car it’s most commonly mistaken for, but I’ve also had people thing it was a Supra, Celica, Pulsar, and even an Isuzu Impulse once – one of the few cars rarer than an S12.
However, over the past four years, the S12 has become a bit of a fixture in the local Triangle car community, so it seems like more people actually know what it is. It’s also become closely associated with TriangleRAD as the club has grown and become more well-known in the community.
Thanks TriangleRad!
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Huge fan of TriangleRad here. And that incredible Ram 50 also! Bravo, my friend.
Thanks for checking it out!
I love lifted compact pickups and the Ram with the decals looks amazing, and I am straight up jealous of the 200SX SE V6.
Great stuff!
Wtf, did somebody class up Knightdale? I worked there for 8 years and didn’t see anything that fancy going on.
Our club does a monthly meetup at Rewind Retrobar in Knightdale. That pic of the S12 was taken after one of those events. The mural is in the shopping center at US 64 Business & I-540, near the Target.
I know it gets a lot of hate, but I think the Renegade is actually the most Jeep-y non-Wrangler that Jeep sells (styling-wise). A great-looking little trucklet.
Styling wise I would probably agree, and it’s a great looking car.
170,000 miles with a 1.4T is wild.
I’ve never seen a 1.4 with over 100,000 miles that hasn’t gotten a new engine already, but I’ve seen a good few original 2.4 & 9 speed’s do that, and then some.
Power to ya dude! That’s awesome!
Loving all 3 of these vehicles. I dig the Japanese trucks of that era, especially the 4x4s, the Renegade is an excellent “buy it cheap and mod” car, and the 200sx…well I had an 85 300ZX NA in that exact two tone paint combo. It made me nostalgic. Whatever happened to the fun Nissan I grew up on?
Nissan really used to be the coolest of the Japanese brands, I miss those days.
I used to love it when you could get a V6 Altima with a 6 spd. Good times.
And the coupe! That was a good looking car. A bit past the heyday of Nissan, but still a great example.
Heh. The 200SX is “80s fast.” What an apt turn of a phrase.
If you are an American born after approximately 1990, you don’t grasp living a life where cars were faster when you were a kid, then got slower year by year until we finally began the modern day horsepower Renaissance in the late ’80s. That’s why I don’t have much patience for “youts” scoffing at the HP ratings of cars from my formative years. Yeah, a tuned-port-injected 1985 IROC-Z made “only” 215 horses with its 305 V8 – but that’s a FORTY HORSEPOWER INCREASE over a 1981 Z28 with 45 more cubes. In the Reagan era, that was enough to make you pump your fist and shout “hell yeah, brother, Murca is coming back!” while an eagle cried in the background. At least it would bark a tire at a stoplight.
Now get the hell off my lawn. LOL
Also, back then, you really felt those horses.
Whether you think of it as high build quality or joyless deadening, most modern cars offer a driving experience that’s fairly disconnected with the actual mechanics of what’s going on, more akin to playing a video game than anything else.
So while things are objectively powerful now, vehicles past were more subjectively powerful perhaps.
Heh. In the 1970s/80s of my youth, “driver engagement” was a problem to be solved, not a goal to pursue. 90 mph in my 2012 Infiniti G37X sedan feels like “moving smartly.” 90 mph in my 1983 Toyota Celica GT was exhilarating – much closer to the ragged edge and much less forgiving, but manageable if you’re careful. 90 mph in my 1978 Camaro? Absolutely terrifying.
For all the crap that the Large Cars Of Beauty And Grace (shoutout to Torchinsky for that appellation in one of my favorite articles ever from Ye Olde German Lighting Website) got for their “floaty” rides, the large cars of the 70s raised insulating the driver from the road surface to an art form. You have to remember, a lot of Greatest Generation middle class adults would have come up driving cars with terrible ride quality, on roads that were god-awful, and you can just picture them stomping into their local Chevrolet or Chrysler dealer and saying, “Dammit, I never want to feel another goddamn bump in the road for as long as I live. Whaddya got?”
All my life, the only car my paternal grandmother ever owned was a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, bought a year after I was born. I only ever got to drive it once, but 80mph on the interstate in that Large Car Of Beauty And Grace felt like piloting a 747 at 35,000 feet, with zero turbulence, from a captain’s chair that’s more like a La-Z-Boy. At highway speed, cars like that are just about as close to self-driving as a car actually being driven by a human can get. Set the cruise and just let the car do the driving, and let the road take you there.
I have had the pleasure of navigating my father’s 1967 Chrysler Newport Custom on numerous occasion. Yes, I refer to it as navigating rather than driving. The car is just short of 19 feet long and it’s a 2-door. I liken the ride to a plush sofa sitting on a cumulus cloud.
Since I started hosting ’80s/’90s I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of younger people driving and preserving cars of this vintage. Our events attract people of every age and background. Although some of the “youts” have strange ideas, like they think automatic seatbelts are “cool.” I’ve had to enlighten them about how much we hated them back then and called them decapitator belts.
After my uncle was injured in a bad car accident that wouldn’t have been so bad if he had been wearing his belt (or, you know, sober), my mom put her foot down and insisted that we would all wear our seat belts all the time from now on.
The 90s automatic shoulder belt is the only kind of seat belt I’ve ever consciously not worn on purpose since I was 14 years old. Screw that thing. LOL
Like the ’80s fast’ phrase! Every time I drive our family’s bone stock ’68 Cougar (302/2v) to work, there’s some kid in a newer silver WRX aways wanting to race me, Dude! Most ‘pony’ cars were not fire breathing muscle cars. Sounds good with the duals and will chirp going into 2nd, but thats it.
Can confirm from experience that “70s fast” was one helluva lot faster.
In Japan and Australia that era of 200SX (S12) was badged as the Nissan Gazelle. In Australia we only got the CA20E engine, but in Japan they were also available with the CA18E, CA18DE, CA18DET, plus Turbo and NA versions of the legendary FJ20E engine (using a special inlet manifold with shorter intake runners to fit the narrow engine bay). Having transplanted an FJ20ET into an earlier Nissan product of very similar overall weight, I can confirm an FJ20ET Gazelle would be a very fun toy!
It’s so weird to me how often Japan sold the same car, from the same brand under different names. I mean I know GM is famous for that, but they at least changed the badge! The fact that there is both an S12 Silvia and Gazelle is so strange
Awesome combination of cars. The Ram 50 graphics are genuinely great, nice job on that.
And even the Renegade oozes personality.
Thanks for that. I compared the Ram 50 to an eager Labrador. The Renegade is more like a faithful German Shephard, ready to do whatever task you ask of it without complaint.
Now that’s a fleet! Great cars, and those graphics on the D50 are sick!
I had the Mighty Max version of the Ram 50. What a great truck. 5 speed, rated to carry a full ton (500 pounds more than the Tundra I have now), and I guarantee I had more than that in there a few times. Like the time I got a yard of dirt in it and then it rained for a day before I could shovel it out. That’d be about 3,000 pounds right there.
The little beast just kept going even though it was holy-shit rusty. 80’s Japanese steel in Minnesota isn’t pretty.
If I hadn’t been starting to get worried about the frame rust, I’d still have it. The Tundra is nicer in every way except weight capacity, but it’s not *cool.*
It amazes me how tough these little old trucks were. The fact that the tiny beasts from the 90s have a higher payload than today’s full size monsters just blows my mind. Kei trucks are another example of that.
We had a hail storm come through that smoked my roof and siding. Every house in the neighborhood looked like it had been shot up with light artillery. Cracked the windshield on the Mighty Max but didn’t dent the sheet metal at all.
I figure it’s at least as “bulletproof” as the Cybertruck. 😀
Nice garage, and the S12 brings me back, I had an 88 (but with the CA20E, the base dual plug 8 valve engine) as my first car around 2003 as well. I got it running and driving after my dad parked it with some issues. Had a lot of fun in that car and learned a lot from it, but it met an unfortunate demise due to an inattentive driver (not me), an overconfident and inexperienced driver (me), and a telephone pole.
Being from the same age group, I love this collection. But the chef’s kiss is the analogy to a Stomper.
Now excuse me while I go put on my medium gray parachute pants.
Yeah, this is hitting me right the age, but I don’t mind.
My first car was an ‘85 200SX, black with a burgundy interior. No V6 for me, I think the 4-banger made a crazy 92 HP or something like that.
It was a total stripper model, crank windows, no tape deck, steelies, etc. My aunt was the original owner. She didn’t spring for A/C either, so I learned to drive with my left foot out the window, propped on the rear view mirror, trying to catch the breeze where it counted.
Since I was a 17 year old schmuck I traded it in for a 5-year old mustang GT, which I was able to keep for 9 months before it cleaned out my bank account.
Very cool collection! I actually learned to drive stick on a Ram50, which did have the cruddy carb in it, it was a 2WD with a roll bar, cool street truck vibe at the time, and before the carb went bad a real hoot to drive.
I’m out in Charlotte but follow the facebook group just to ogle the cool cars. Also very timely article as Radwood Charlotte is happening this weekend, hope to see either the Ram 50 or Nissan or both there!
I am also a member of the FB group just to drool over the cool cars! My car will soon be sporting a triangle rad sticker too because why not haha
The Ram 50 will be there Friday and Saturday. The S12 went to Radwood Charlotte at Hendrick Motorsports in ’23, so it’s the truck’s turn.
Next year I need to get down there!
Who knows what the RADwood schedule will look like next year…they haven’t exactly been consistent. But rest assured TriangleRAD will be doing our thing in Raleigh in February, May, August and November.
Yeah Radwood is a great idea but seems to be poorly managed. You’re closer to me too. Do you know when in August? That I might be able to make.
It’ll be either the 2nd or 3rd Saturday.
Third I might be able to make, second I will be out of town. Since I’m sure you’re planning the whole event around my schedule, keep that in mind haha.
I surely will.
Sweet! We’ll be there with our 2000 Ranger Electric, it’s got side graphics from a ’94 to look the part more.
Nice! I need to get in touch to hear more about that thing, you’re on my list and I want to know everything about it! I’ve got a few in the works but I’ll be in touch within the next couple months to hear more about this thing.
Cool, I’ll try to keep an eye on my emails!
The Ranger is white, right? I remember seeing it at Hendrick two years ago.
yep, It’s Ford Flaking White, keep rattle canning it lol, decals to help it look less like a utility company truck.
Internet fist bump from a fellow 6-speed Renegade owner! Ours is a 2016 and it was somewhat hard to find since I insisted on it also being AWD. It’s been a good buggy for us, though the Mutli-air motor is decidedly unusual. You can a little of the fizz of the Fiat 500 Abarth in it, which is delightful.