By Mike Troy Photos: Jon Maib
		"Now THAT is cool", I thought to myself. The Off Road Expo actually begins before you even get into the parking lot. As the attendee's funnel into the fairgrounds located in beautiful, downtown Pomona, I always get a kick out of the different rigs waiting their turn. It is an interesting mix of pre-runners driven by tatted and pierced gen-X'ers, monster F-250s with "Got Sand?" bumper stickers, and the usual collection of Jeeps, Cruisers, Toys, etc, amongst the boring, regular cars (who would want to drive one of those?). But this one 4x4 stood out amongst the rest and won my admiration for the "Yeah, I just had to be different" coolness award. It was a 4wd Rolls Royce, running beadlocks on at least 33's, body armor, and with two BFG MT spares sitting in spaces cut into the trunk (yes...can you imagine taking a Sawzall to a Rolls!!!! Editor JB would faint at the pure joy of the idea!), and a license plate that read something about Baja. Indeed. Proof, you say? Rats. I was the Editor without the camera (Director's note: He's fired!). Still, it was a good note to start the day with! I think I found a 4x4 that weighs more than my Scout! Once inside the pearly gates, one thing was obvious. The show had grown since last year. In fact, I think it has grown every year since I have been attending. Cool. For those who have never been to the Expo, it is a mix of Baja racers, sand lovers, and rockcrawlers, all getting along and loving every minute of it. It is fun to see the other facets of off-roading, even though my interests are mainly (ok...completely) into crawlin' down trails in a slow and deliberate fashion. The Big boys are always there: BFG, Goodyear, Skyjacker, Terrible Herbst, and more, have the 18 wheelers parked outside with the latest in tire tech and team vehicles on display. The smaller booths are filled by hundreds of vendors showing their wares. Need an axle? Sure. Forget the junkyard and sign on the dotted line for the latest in custom cast D60 housings, cryogenically treated axle shafts, and 300M u-joints. Wow. My entire Scout is not worth that much. Petersen's 4 Wheel & Off-Road was there with several of the latest victims (er...participants) in the 2003 Ultimate Adventure, including the Ultimate Avalanche. I am amazed that someone will put that kind of time, money, and effort into creating such a vehicle and then be so cavalier as to the condition of the sheet metal. Bully, I say. Bully. I few things jumped out at me as I toured the isles. The 49" Swamper IROC by Interco tire was one of them. WOW...that is a big tire. This thing will laugh at 1-ton axles. Can you say Rockwell? There were some examples of the latest in rockcrawling comp buggies on display, one with an LSI Corvette motor in a rig not much bigger (if at all) than the Nelson and Nelson rig, "Tiny". Man, talk about power to weight ratio! As cool as that was, I am a bit of an "Old Timer" when it comes to off road rigs, and I really get excited about a well built, trail rig that still looks like a Jeep/Bronco/Toy/Scout, etc. The buggies are cool, but pretty impractical for the average wheeler who needs a do-all rig. That said, I fell in love with the newest trail Jeep built up by Rick Russell of Sidekick Off road. Purveyors of fine 4 wheelin' maps, videos, and more, his old, yellow, CJ-6 has always struck me as cool and functional. But, apparently it was time for some new wheels, so the new rig, dubbed the AJ-8, pays homage to the old rig. Retaining the near-perfect dimensions of the CJ6 that Jeep built, but improving it in every way, the AJ-8 is built on a custom frame with coil suspension, an aluminum body from JP (hence the AJ...Aluminum Jeep) and a super clean and functional interior sitting behind a new, FI Chevy V8. The 40" MTRs were just for show as the rig was designed around 37's. I guess that will do. I shook hands with Rick (a really nice guy) and apologized for the drool I left on his Jeep. He understood, I'm sure. Well, I will let the pictures say the rest. My head is still swimming and I need to go wheelin' to sort it all out!
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