Alfa Romeo Matta: The Alfa 4×4 Born From a Land Rover, Not a Jeep
Alfa Romeo Matta: Alfa studied a Land Rover, gave it a dry sump, won its class at the 1952 Mille Miglia, lost the Army deal, and sold for $67,100 in 2017.
Land Rover
Santana Ligero / Santana 2000
The Spanish Factory That Started Fixing Solihull’s Homework Chris Harris once said the joy of an old Land Rover is that it forgives you for everything except neglect. Fair enough. But nobody in Britain ever built the version that admits the factory itself needed forgiving too. That version was built in Spain, by a company … Read more
TOYOTA FJ40
Toyota FJ40: the truck that won by never breaking down Here’s a fact that should sting a little if you grew up on American iron. The vehicle that first put Toyota on the map in the United States wasn’t the Corolla, or the Corona, or the Celica. It was a boxy Japanese 4×4 that looked … Read more
LADA NIVA
The Soviet 4×4 That Embarrassed Land Rover, Mercedes, and Toyota — In 1977 Chris Harris once said that the best cars are the ones engineered by people who have to use them. Not engineered for marketing. Not engineered to win awards. Engineered because the engineer knows that if it breaks, he’s the one walking back … Read more
SANTANA MOTOR
Santana Motor: the Spanish 4×4 that humiliated the British, died with the country — and just came back with Chinese blood You’ve probably never heard of Linares. It’s a small city in the south of Spain, sitting in the middle of an olive-tree ocean in the province of Jaén — historically one of the poorest … Read more