Cherokee's Friends

(this page contains several large pictures, so it might be slow to load)

Here you can find pictures and descriptions of some of our Cherokee's friends, in other words, 4x4 trucks of friends of mine.

To start with, here is our Cherokee's closest friend.

Our Daewoo Musso

Here is our Cherokee's closest friend. For those interested, this car was designed by Ken Greenley of London's Royal College of Art and first manufactured around 1995, by a Korean company called Ssang Yong. The interesting thing was, that Mercedes Benz participated in Ssang Yong, and so the Musso was produced using Mercedes engines (2.0, 2.3 and 3.2 lt petrol engines and a 2.9 lt diesel one). We got this car new, in March 2000, and you can find more about it here.

Also, at the end of this page, you can see some more interesting pictures of some crazy Mussos, from Iceland, just scroll down.

Leo Johnnson's CJ-5

A very capable off-roader. The car has a tuned 207 hp 4.2 liter straight six engine, ARB Air Lockers, 4.56:1 ratios and 38" tires. Leo used to be the Technical Director of the Icelandic distributors of Daewoo, I owe him a lot of my knowledge on the Mussos. His expertise on 4x4s is immense.

The same CJ from a different angle.

A Land Rover Defender 130, equipped with 38" tires, which was also tweaked at Benni's.

Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin

This car is owned by Dionysis, an old friend of mine. I first met Dionysis about 12 years ago, and he was always interested in nature-related hobbies. He is an accomplished scuba diver and he just recently acquired Taz, the car you see at left.

This is Taz, Dionysis Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin, a car designed by Pininfarina and produced by Mitusbishi. If you want to read more about this car, click here. If you want to read about some of our off-road excursions with this car, click here. By the way, the cars of our ... 4x4 club will feature a sticker on their windshield saying "It's a 4x4 THING - You Wouldn't Understand!".

Dodge M37

Whoever served in the army a few years back, should recognize this truck. It belongs to a very active off-roader and friend, Spiros. During the recent 4x4 trial, it was the only truck, which passed all the obstacles. Amazing machine with the following technical specifications:

Engine: GM 350 with supercharger, approx. 350 hp
Trans: TH 700 R
T/C: NP 205
AXLES: Dana 60 front, GM 14 bolts rear with detroit lockers and disk brakes
Tyres: custom 20" wheels with 12.5-20 tyres (unimog tyres)
Suspension: Custom front, stock rear but soon with coil over shocks and four links
Weight: 3000+ kg.

George's Land Rover

George's Land Rover is 1987 3.5 lt truck. It took George two years to restore and bring up to this level it is now. The car is features: Snorkel, Detroit TrueTrac rear differential (75%), Sump Guard, Diff Guards (front & rear), 750x16 Wheels, Rollbar, Halda, CB, Front & Rear recovery points, 4foot High Lift Jack, A Bar, Rock side guards.

As you can see, George is not afraid to put his pride and joy through the most difficult obstacles. And why should he? The car is very capable and reliable.

Matrix's Korando

Here is another Daewoo (Ssang Yong) car from Spain, owned by Matrix. This is the short-wheelbase brother of the Musso, and it is a quite capable off-roader.

Guillermo's Musso

And here you can see a friend's Musso from Argentina. Guillermo was the person who helped me get in touch with Aniceto Gomez, the firm from which I bought the taller springs for my Musso. Thanks friend.

Konstantinos Land Rover

Here is the latest addition to our friends, Konstantinos Land Rover, an ex-Police truck. Rebuild during 2003, it wears BFG Muds, 33x10.5R15. Nice truck, but it could use a fuel-injected engine and some lift.

Given the owner's other truck, here are some pictures of some Mussos from Iceland.

They were send to me by (possibly) the most knowledgeable person on Mussos. It is Leo Jonsson, the technical manager of Benni, the Icelandic Daewoo distributor. Leo is a formidable person and has helped me a lot with the mods I want on my Musso. Here are some pictures he send me:

A black Musso Turbo Diesel, 155 bhp, with 31" tires.