We Just Bought The Most OBSCURE Off-Roader Ever Sold In America!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
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We just spent $4,000 buying one of the quirkiest, most obscure cars ever to grace American roads. Can you guess what it is before watching?
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#Quirky #SUV
Those are awesome
Hi guys, Diego from Chile, first of all great show you have, I always follow your videos. In Chile we have that "jeep" called Feroza and actually the Rocky is a bigger model that Diahiatsu used to do, they where/are great piece of machines.
WE NEED, nay, DEMAND, a matchup between Nathan's Samurai!
Yes
This!
That was my first thought!!
and Tommy's old Wrangler
Yes!
I love the randomness of this channel. You just never know what you guys will pull out of the dust bin of vehicular history. Definitely looking forward to more vids of this kooky ride!
Waiting till they show up in a Merkur
@@aussie2uGA Niiiiiice! Haven't seen one of those since I was about 12.
@@aussie2uGA Some random guy at work has one. Pretty cool actually.
In Australia we had the Daihatsu Feroza with the 1.6 petrol 4, and the Daihatsu Rocky with a diesel 4. The Feroza came in two trim levels, standard and the wide track delux, the Rocky was standard with the wide track, and the reason yours is still in great condition, Daihatsu primarily made trucks, and the spinoff to light 4X4s and economy cars shows it heritage in the engineering, these little things were all over engineered, tough as nails. My old mum had a Charade, great little car, that lovely revy motor, light gearbox and good handling made it a delight to drive. Looking forward to your off road exploits in the Rocky. Cheers from Down Under.🦘
Them's fighting words! Nathan, bring on the Samurai! Fight!
FATALITY!
I've got one of these in Australia, Daihatsu was more popular here and had a much longer stay in our market (can't quite remember the exact years). You asked for correction on things you got wrong so here I go haha (no disrespect meant of course): Firstly, due to daihatsu's inconsistent and confusing naming of these, we refer to these as either F300s, or F310s.
In australia this car was called a Daihatsu Feroza (Fur - oh - zah), in europe it was named a sporttrack.
These F300/310s were actually not called ruggers, or fourtraks in other countries, the rugger/fourtrak is a similar looking daihatsu 4x4, but has a longer wheelbase (slightly longer than a GQ swb nissan patrol), and most came fitted with a 2.8L Turbo Diesel, had solid axles front and rear (where your F310 has Independent front suspension and solid rear, as I'm sure you've noticed) and had the chassis code F75. There are many models of ruggers, some shorter wheelbase, some later models IFS some with toyota petrols (2Y, 3Y, 4Y), but I won't go into that. Confusingly, this rugger/fourtrak was called a Rocky here in Australia, but obviously it is completely different to the rocky in this video. This is important when you are buying parts so always look for "F300 or F310" in the listing or you might be buying the wrong thing!
In australia we got the F300, and the F310. the F300 is narrowtrack, and has shorter axles with smaller/no flares. The F310 is widetrack, with longer axles, and those bigger flares (i.e. the one you guys have got). Most other stuff is the same but the: leaf springs, rear shackles, diff housings, axles, are all different, I;m sure there's other stuff that is different but thats all I can remember right now.
They are a great car and mine has 365 000 kms on it and still going strong, it has gotten me through many trips, the most impressive of which being a 3-week outback trip, that included a 5 day simpson desert crossing, super super remote, and she didn't miss a beat.
HOWEVER! Heed these words of advice! Flush. The. Coolant. System. The 1.6L HDE engine in these is notorious for blowing head gaskets, usually around the 250 000 km mark. However, mine has never blown a head gasket, and I attribute that to me and the previous owners looking after the coolant system meticulously. Change coolant as often as you're realistically able to (I have been slack lately but try to do every 20 000- 30 000kms), and use GOOD quality coolant. One of the first things I did was take out the radiator, take out the water pump, take out the thermostat and flush out the whole engine with a mains hose, with a high pressure end on it (probably wouldn't reccommend a pressure washer). New thermostat, new pump, a few new pipes that were dodgy/rusted out and she was sweet. radiators also develop leaks all over make sure its in good condition, mine was weeping from all the solder seams and was very hard to notice as leaks would evapourate very quick. the viscous clutch fans get loose and are probably the most common cause of over-heating on these. DO NOT let them overheat, this will very likely cause head gasket failure. sorry about the essay I'm a bit of a nerd haha
great insight, thanks!
I have replaced my head gasket. Mine is a 1992 with just Shi of 400000kms on it. Parts are difficult to find but not impossible. Best car I've ever had. Wish we had more aftermarket support for them. Be a shame for them to be lost to history.
Might i correct something? In continental Europe the thing was sold under the name Feroza. Only in the UK it was named Sporttrack. (I remember watching a TV Show from germany long ago where they gave one away. And i remember seeing a few on the road.)
(It's a bit like the Mitsubishi Pajero that considering europe only in spain and the UK was named Shogun. Don't know why Britain, but in spanish Pajero is a curseword for someone...)
@@nirfz very interesting, cheers for the info
I think you just made the prices of Rocky’s go up!
theres like 3 for sale in the usa right now
I always thought the design of these was highly "inspired" by the 70 series Land Cruiser, which we never got in the U.S.
Yup that sounds right
In my opinion It was.. Actually there is a Toyota Version of these
Daihatsu and Toyota are building cars togheter since 1950's. Some TLC had Daihatsu built engines.
jironmeister you are correct
I owned a bj42 land cruiser some years ago and it had a 3.4 litre diesel from Daihatsu
Even had the large Daihatsu D cast into the engine block !
My first summer job was on a Northern Irish farm back in the mid 90's, the farm manager had one of these as the runaround, it got so much abuse but kept running, I distinctly remember sticking it into a ditch and having to get towed out by a John Deere power plus, we managed to pull the rear axle out of alignment so we used a scaffold pole to batter it home! Sturdy thing kept on going until the mid 2000's, 15 or 16 Irish winters had finally taken its toll so it was off the scales to get weighed in.
In the UK this was a Sportrack, the Fourtrack was a more rugged version with a 2.8ltr turbo Diesel engine loved by farmers for its amazing towing capacity for such as small 4x4.
indeed, Fourtrack great 4x4, never drove Sportrack, bit of a softy maybe, but at the time not much better in UK in its class
Own a fourtrak best vehicle I've ever driven great for towing 💪
I stumbled on one of these a few years ago, fell in love and nearly bought it. It was like yours, low miles and excellent condition. It checked a lot of boxes for what I wanted. 5 speed, 4x4, reasonable economy. The only thing that kept me from pulling the trigger was, it was going to be my daily. I average 30-50k miles a year. While I wasn't super worried about the reliably, I didn't know what parts availability would be like. So, I ended up with something else.
Just imagine if you guys had bought a Lada Niva 4x4 Andre would be ecstatic!
Keep talking, Tommy. Let's see Rocky vs "Ivan Bronco" . Then we'll see who's the champ.🙂
Sounds like Tommy keeps sneezing in this video. "DAIHATSU"
Must be the smoke from all the wildfires.
Actually it was the 'Sportrak' in the UK. The 'Fourtrak' is a whole other (bigger) 4x4 they also did.
The sport sportrak didn't have the wide body but the fourtrac did however it didn't have the removable roof
The Fourtrak was an awesome 4x4 pitty they dont make it anymore.
Here in spain, was feroza, the rocky was another 4x4 by dahiatsu
@@shitloveaduck What?
@@shitloveaduck Lol 😂😂😂
When I was in high school the speaker holes meant your parents didn't pay for your car. Love this channel. Take Rocky to the Rockies.
The samurai rollover claim was a farce. The supposedly independent company that did the testing intentionally rigged it so that it would look unstable when in fact they had to go to great lengths to get it to roll over. One story I read said that none of the test drivers could get it to roll except for one man who was fearless.
No, Roman owned one back in the day and they would roll over. Narrow, tall car with a short wheel base. It’s not hard to flip them if you tried. Just because Donut media says it’s a farce does not make it true.
@@TFLclassics wasn't donut. I read an article online first. I did see the donut video as well and I think the video clip they have from the testing says a lot. I really don't believe they were easier to roll than any other off-roader of the day. Given the dimension similarities, I don't see a reason it would. It seems the rocky is very similar in size and ride height.
@@TFLclassics as far as the proof says, wasn't donut media, was a court, and was the proofs of the vídeos recorded by consumer union itself
@@salvador_mano4x4 That's right. Truth is you really can flip any car. I knew a meth head that flipped every car she had, enough shadow people chasing you and it gets wild.
When I saw the title the first thing that popped into my mind was the Suzuki Vehicross lol you guys should try to pick one of those up (or borrow one for a few days) and test its off road prowess!
Evan Barnett that’s the exact same thing I was expecting as well!
Sylvester Stallone should have made commercials promoting this little gem.
Maybe they would have sold more of them back in the day.
Love the new car. Glad to see your making friends with Ford, Tommy!
#freeTFL
@@TFLclassics ... interesting if these were so well put together we would see more models on the road. Parts availability may be an issue down the line when it breaks. As far as it being better than the bronco and other proven 4x4s is a bit premature at this point... I do like this vehicle though remember them from back in the day.
I've always loved those things. I got a samurai instead, parts for those are tough to find
not really, there r a few getting hard, but no gear items
I've seen these things lifted and on 35~37's in Bali They look great.
Cool, looking forward to seeing you bouncing up hills like a maniac in that thing! Also, that fuel pump is terrible like you said.
Suzuki Samauri got a bad wrap from Consumer Reports. They did not have the tendency to tip over.
That was a setup...jeep didnt want any competition..people got paid off
If it's a hairpin turn you most certainly can easily
@@Dankcatvacs you still have to be doing something stupid to turn one over. They don't just flip going normal speed. That was way over hyped.
@@Dankcatvacs while true for many vehicles, it was proven in court that consumer reports executives purposefully caused harm to Suzuki for manipulating roll over testing. Consumer reports actually had a hell of a time making it turn over. One executive was on record, furious about how long it was taking to get it to flip and wasn't going to stop testing until it flipped. In the end Consumer Reports had to pay Suzuki a settlement.
@@Jackmerius_Tacktheretrix still know somebody that rolled one but it was slick
I expected a geo tracker but hey close enough lol
Now you're making me show my age.... Memories! Lol
@@goingagainstthegrain lol didn't mean to. First guess was honestly a samurai then I remembered they did an episode on it already, and the shape did look like a tracker
I absolutely loved this episode of TFLclassics, I love the nostalgia you brought in this video. Tommy, I love your passion and excitement for the Daihatsun Rocky, also, there's nothing wrong in being a nerd. You are your authentic self. Looking forward to you bringing more content on a long forgotten vehicle. How's Blaze doing?
Tommy, I forgot to mention the way the cargo door opens. The cargo door opens as if it were a vehicle that drives on the left side of the road, it's so cool that Daihatsun did not change it for the states.
Dad definitely got a great deal!!! Excellent find!!! I'd love to see it off road! ❤️
In Europe we know this SUV as the Daihatsu feroza (1989-1999) ! It's a Great off-roader . 🇯🇵 . But it's relatively slow.
We got them here in NZ new and later as JDM imports, we also got the Rugger which from the little I know is the same but with the 2.8 diesel turbo . . . They were/are propper little mountain goats . . . there are even a few for sale here at the moment !! Looks great, well done to your Dad for finding it !!
Who hasn't heard of Daihatsu?
Half of our younger staff
@@TFLclassics Not even those little flat faced work trucks?!?! Get those boys out to some cars and coffee sometime 🤣😂🤣
First gen Mitsubishi Montero was similar!
Go to fast around a curve an she’ll lift the front wheel!
Had a 86 cj would do the same ! straight 4x4 no hi/lo 304 V8 and 400 turbo auto, On 33 BFGs A/T'S ! Quad lock level in the glove box ! Wish I would've bought a frame and swapped everything over ! Had good times in her !
FORD 300 bronco with the ZF5 and 4x4 and 4.10 LSD setup would dominate everything
I love mine. Such a cool little 4WD.
Just make sure the ignition timing is done right with the vacuum line disconnected. Big loss of power if it hasn't been like that.
Also try and source the later model air intake system with the torque box that sits above the valve cover . Really gives a good bump in mid range torque.
A set of good 4-2-1 extractors really gives a good improvement too.
On to a winner guys. Keep up the good work
When y’all get bored of this in a month and decide to sell it let me know, I’m East if you in Lafayette.
Grew up with Daihatsus overseas, loved them, they were inexpensive, great offroad, and easy to repair. We had the diesel engine and that thing was a tractor!!
Lots of them available in Colombia
The Samurai was actually a really stable vehicle, the rumors of it rolling over were fabricated by Consumer Reports, and they eventually admitted to it. It's actually really easy to look up. Those rumors from consumer reports is why Suzuki decided not to sell the Samurai in the USA anymore, even though it's still sold worldwide today as the Jimny, and it's a super popular suv.
As soon as I saw the title, I figured it had to be a Rocky.
The only one I've seen in person was the obscure BMW engined Bertone styled one when I was in Italy on business.
Those rocky's are so rare! Nice catch. Reminds me of a cross between my 87 montero and my 86 samurai.
I thought the feroza actually being smaller as a rocky. I remember the rocky having a big diesel engine. That 1.6 would be the same as in a daihatsu applause.
(I had a 1.3 16v version of that engine in my 93' charade. Only the stroke was different.)
Daihatsu Rocky Parts Northwest has been in business for over 10 years. We love our Rockys. Jeff, Rob, and Burdell are there to help keep your Rocky on the road.
The Rocky was sold in Europe totally different, the Rocky was based on a Land Cruiser and had a 2.8 Liter Diesel engine. The Feroza was a small an fun offroader, lots of rust, worn axels and blown engine. Charade engindes also fit in a Feroza.
omg i remember this car! i almost bought one but ended buying the dodge Raider! love it
I had one back in the day. Used it as a daily driver and played with it off-road 2-4 times a week. Went wheeling with Tacoma and Samurai and hung with them all easily. No breakdowns, fun with the top off. Smooth engine that always ran perfect. I still sometimes dream I still own it...then I wake up :(
Hi Tommy, I used to own one of these in the 90's in Australia. It was a Feroza II there. Wonderful little vehicle and quite capable, especially with a set of 235/75 all terrain tyres. Mine was an EL Spec, meaning luxury of central locking, power windows and mirrors and premium Panasonic CD Player. Only problem I had was putting a dent in the oil pan from a rock!
In Australia, this was the little brother to the Daihatsu Rocky. The Rocky had front and rear live axles, early models had leaf springs all around, later ones on coils with a 2.8 litre turbo diesel.
Wow, you really surprised me with this one! I never knew these were sold anywhere in North America. I live in Canada, and don't recall ever seeing one.
This! This is why TFL IS THE BEST! Keep bringing us awkward classic suvs! I have 2 classic suvs myself and nothing new could ever replace those cool machines.
Il Rocky in Italia era il modello prima, questo si chiamava feroza
You guys should really check out the second gen Isuzu Amigo
I gotta tell you! I always thought that was one great looking little truckster!😎👍
its super cool. Not the best model though but still awesome.
You can't beat it for 4k good purchase
Don't forget the 'isuzu amigo' back then too. You guys need to find one of those now and compare all 3.
Id love to swap a VW 2.0tdi into one of these.
Cool find Tommy!👍
It was called the Daihatsu Sportrak I had one 1600 great off-roader
The Daihatsu Charade weighed in at a curb weight of-are you guys sitting down?- a MEASLY 1600 pounds, a 3 cylinder 0.8 litre engine with your choice of a 5 speed stick or a 4 speed manual with an EPA gas mileage rating of 60 miles to the gallon (7 or 8 Gallon tank)
Rocky was the name on this in Norway too.
Thanks Tommy, I've been looking for an obscure offroader I can pick up cheap but you just ruined the market for the Rocky.
Good buy, Tyler Hoover will be jealous!
Was stationed at Ft. Hood, Tx in the late 80's. Remember looking at one of these when new. Dealer in Killeen had just got it in, about 1988. Fully loaded it was around 14K. Really nice little rig but already had a Jeep CJ-5. Later bought one in 1996 and had a blast with it. Kinda a pain to remove the top but the 4 knobs on back door takes out the glass and remove the t-top and that was good enough for me. Had to sell it so I could buy a house. Guy that bought it had been in the Navy stationed in Japan and had one there. Really wanted another and said he would never sell it. Very capable rig even stock. Wish I still had it.
It was called the Feroza in Europe. Fun little car!
I had a 1983 Rocky. Best off roader I've ever owned. I called her the Blue Dragon. They sometimes give (manual) transmission issues. I owned a Land Cruiser FJ75 & LJ70, Asia Rocsta, and a 1944 Willys all at the same time, none modified and the Rocky always outperformed the rest and we all know what great 4x4s the Land Cruisers and Willys are.
Obviously the Blue Dragon wasn't as reliable as the Toyota's (nothing is) but is was reliable.
Hey Tommy I believe they were also known as the Feroza and were quite popular in Australia, you still see them around from time to time!
There is an abundance of parts such as lift kits and lockers that you can get for them in Australia if you refer to the Feroza
Isn't this a badge engineered dodge raider or mitsubishi something?
No, this was its own vehicle. The raider was a Mitsubishi, though.
Hey Tommy, that is a cool purchase but if you REALLY want to see a BIG windscreen and perfect view from an SUV, check out the VW T3 Syncro (and if you find one for testing, I'm very curious for the hill climb)!
I'd offer mine, but I don't think you guys will come to see the Czech homeland anytime soon, right? :-D
I still want the Bronco
Small SUV with so many names "Toyota Blizzard", "Daihatsu Fourtrak", "Daihatsu Rugger", "Daihatsu Taft Rocky".
Daihatsu Sport-track in UK and Europe and this was sold with only a 1.6i engine.
Edit: the four-track was a Defender type competitor and came with a 2.8 diesel.
I'm pretty sure I still have an original sales brochure for both and even a car magazine or two with reviews (in the loft)
Hi from italy!
In your video you show daihatsu rocky (unique code F310),
The Rocky was a Feroza (F300) made for the american market because
Americans like large cars, the rocky is large +6cm for each side.
The rocky have 105hp usually because of the ECU and the Feroza 90hp.
In italy esist another extra rare version called Bertone freeclimber 2
(not original Daihatsu car but arrangend by Bertone rare in italy ultra rare around the world) with BMW motor and large as rocky.
Search on google bertone freeclimber 2, or if u check my channel i made a elettronics project on my feroza (f300) in the last video.
That would look BA with a mild lift and off road tires.
Hello fellow US Daihatsu owner! There are dozens of us! I've got one of the minuscule amount of diesels in the US.
Daihatsu sold taxi van in China back in the 80s and 90s. They were EVERYWHERE. We call them "bread car" because it was shaped like a loaf of bread, and it was painted yellow... search for "Tianjin Dafa"
A US-spec Daihatsu! Rare and definitely obscure!
WAIT!!?! the samurai we OWNED???? You sold the sammy??????
Btw, weird thing, that's the Daihatsu feroza here, rocky is another Daihatsu 4x4 with double sólid axle, very similar to a samurai long body
In Europe Rocky are bigger model, with 2.8TD engine at toyota license... This model was called Feroza and its smaller and more agile car to compete whit Suzuki Vitara/Sidekick
If your fuel pump makes so much noise,than check your fuel tank because is full of rust and the fuel pump now sucked all the dinosaurs from it and now its struggling to push the fuel towards the engine.Take the fuel tank out,clean it,change all the fuel filters and put a new pump....problem solved!!!
Thanks, Tommy, I love the early 80s Japanese SUV’s: Isuzu Trooper, Mitsubishi Montero, and Suzuki Sidekick (the Samurai’s big brother). All 5sp, 4cyl
Awesome car, it was the essence of 4x4, it has to be a off road beast!! Not a 1/4 of mile car 👍🏼
In Indonesia there are 4 models:
- TAFT (diesel 4wd short wheelbase)
- Rocky (diesel 4wd medium wheelbase with resin top/removable top)
- Hiline (diesel 4wd/rwd short,medium,long wheelbase)
- Feroza (petrol rwd short and medium wheelbase)
Super cool I had to sell my jk rubicon 😞 because of an back injury, and I miss it everyday now that I can’t wheel. This would be nice to have but good luck finding one in the low population of Canada 🇨🇦.
Great video enjoy the sweet ride guys!
First you guys bought the ML. And just when I think you couldn’t possibly buy something worse, you go and do something like this... and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELVES!
In Europe we had also an luxury Model of the ROCKY. This Car Fa
called BERTONE FREECLIMBER,. The Engines are from BMW. A 2.7 ltd.Eta Gas Engine with 129 hp and a2.4 ltd.diesel, with 115 hp.
Get timing belt replaced immediately. Who knows when it was done, and parts if it breaks and monches the valves.... Forget it. Also. Don't do any power enhancing. The transfer cases used to have a reputation for cracking as they're weak. Treat it nice, and don't do anything beyond a medium trail, and you'll have lots of fun.
Delete this video ASAP!!! I have always wanted one of these since they came out, and now it will be harder and more expensive for me to get one. STOP RIGHT NOW. Darn it, now I’m going to be paying premium prices, lol. Seriously though, awesome video, I think these are awesome budget eclectic drivers too and I love this! Thanks Tommy and TFL for the video and reminder that I need one ASAP. I love all the TFL content. Thanks from a nobody in central Indiana. You guys rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best 4x4 ever! Your fuel gauge should not be marking fuel with your ignition switch closed, you might have little problem there
This car was so famous in 90s in Indonesia. There were 2 engine available, 1.6 L petrol and diesel without turbo.. The petrol version with only 4x2 was called Feroza which sold from 1995 to early 2000s. The diesel version which was named Taft even had longer history, they were sold from 1985 or 86 to early 2000s without any major change. The diesel version also had many variant swb and lwb, 4x4 and 4x2. The only version which was named Rocky is the top trim which came out in 1995 until Daihatsu stopped selling them.
Great video Tommy, you are in for a treat!! The F300 (Feroza/Sportrack/Rocky) was a smaller and “urbanized” version of the more rugged F70 (Fourtrak/Hiline/Taft/Rocky). The 1990 model you have is from the first gen, and as you rightfully said, is everything you could ever need. It’s EFI engine is ready to go anywhere (sort of quick) and was built to last forever. Also just give it grippier tires and you won’t believe how good it is off road, specially in the sand where it’s revy engine and low weight shine like very few others.
Im just getting into offroading after a long time
Bought my first 4x4 this year A 1989 Y60 Nissan Patrol 4.2 petrol lwb wagon for 1700 AUD (1300usd)
It has a 2 barrel Holley carb ,32 inch mud tires on it and I plan to fit an aftermarket exhaust and extractors
This is known as the Feroza & Rocky internationally. To be extra confusing the Rugger which is larger and never sold in the USA is also known as the Rugger/Rocky/Fourtrack and weirdly the Toyota Blizzard.
It was Feroza in most market or Sporttrack in Europe. Rocky was in reality was bigger SUV about a size of Land Cruiser-II I guess. Daihatsu- means Big Enterprise was based on Toyota base parts. Charade was once a darling hot hatch and had few WRC wins as well. But Daihatsu main competition was Suzuki. And Daihatsu was much better, much better only problem was it was also much expensive
Wow what a find! I’ve never heard of the rocky, but I’m familiar with the daihatsu name. The body style of that looks awesome! Almost like a smaller early s10 blazer
My wife bought one new back in 1992! Great SUV!
Have got mine for about like a year or so, it is a european version so it is called Feroza, i like that car, but thing that drives me mad is a lack of OEM or even aftermarket parts for it. Seriously, when i was repairing front suspension i had to bring upper arm bushes from russia and lower arm bushes from Japan. Steering idler? Came from Taiwan directly. Sealings for transfer case? Unavailable. I dug deep enough to find that I can use sealings from Benz G class. It is gonna be nightmare to service that car but, fingers crossed, you will not sell it if you throw it in the rocky paths. You get it? ROCKY paths :D greetings from Poland :)
EDIT :
If you search in the interwebs, especially on russian sites you will find full factory service manual in PDF for free. About 5000 pages. I've already printed mine. Cheers!
I always liked the Rocky, for me it looked like a shrinked Nissan Patrol. In Germany they called it between 84 and 88 'Wildcat'. Daihatsus are damn reliable. A coleague of mine needed a few years ago a 2nd small little car just for a few month. Her husband - a car mechanic - got her for €1000 a '99 Daihatsu Sirion with a 1.0 3cylinder non turbo. That car was pretty quick. In the beginning my coleague hated it because of the looks, I told her that it's cool and reliable. They kept it and she loved it. Her husband as well. Both liked it more than their BMW.
These things are great !!!
in Indonesia, the "Feroza" is a SWB that only comes with 2wd petrol engines and the "taft GT" is a SWB model that comes with a non turbo indirect injection diesel engine and 4wd, the "Rocky" is a MWB that comes with a non turbo indirect injection diesel engine. early models of this car comes with a solid axle and leaf spirings but, updated models comes with a front double wishbone setup and wider wheel base. the diesel engine is very versatile and i do mean THIS THING RUNS ON CRUDE OIL and it will still be fine, making the diesel models very desireable for indonesians mostly for farm work and climbing mountains etc.
in other parts in the world you can get a turbo diesel like in the model "Rugger" from japan with its MWB setup.
This looks like the predecessor to the Daihatsu Terios. No longer sold in South Africa but a very capable vehicle. Came only with a choice of a 1.3 or a 1.5 liter petrol engine, but there was the option of an Automatic gearbox. I think the reason it never got better drive options is because Toyota did not want it to compete with the rav4.
The Rocky has a strong reputation off-road. I was about to buy one in 1999 from the dealership but went for the Daihatsu Terios because it had power Windows. 1.3l engine was surprisingly quick. Amazing offroad even though it had no low gear. My next car was a Hummer H3 then a Toyota Sequoia.
Awesome this was my second car i owned and it was great, perfect summer vehicle with the soft top and very good offroad the engine was the same as in the U.S. But mine had a little button on the left side of dashboard to adjust the front shock absorber, soft, medium and hard. Does the US version have the same? In Germany the name was Daihatsu Feroza, the Daihatsu Rocky was his bigger brother with solid axles and leaf springs. The Rocky in Germany was only available with a 2.8l turbo diesel engine with approximately 100 hp at the end of production in 2002 :-D
I got my hopes up I could find a somewhat clean one for sale locally. The only one I found that runs the guy wants $14,000. I like Washington State but every moron on Facebook marketplace with a classic 4x4 wants $10k minimum for there rusty 4x4.
Forget the new Bronco..... And with those 4 words Ford will not become TFL's new Subaru..... Dum Dum Duuuuuuuuuuh!
Hell of a shame they didn't stay in the USA.
The Rocky was a nice rig in its day and that one you have is a PEACH.
I remember when they were brand new and people compared it to the Suzuki Samurai all day long.
If I recall, the Rocky was a little more expensive, but I think it was because it had a more luxurious interior and more power for its size.
That stance was awesome.
It was just out of reach of more of the younger crowd to buy and it hadn't been around all that long so no reliability track record.
You are right, competition was fierce back then but the use of manual transmissions was WAY more common in the late 80s and early 1990s.
Wish they would bring something like this back.
One of the biggest D-bags I worked with owned a Diahatsu. It was a Charade he owned, thank God, and not the Rocky. Even then, I'd still drive a Rocky. I always thought they looked kinda cool. Anxious to see how well it can do offroad. Look forward to that video. I'd love to see a shoot out of that against the Samurai. But.......
Got bad news for you though Tommy if you guys do a shoot out. I'm pulling for Nathan in that matchup. Why? Nathan is a Jeep fan and a Rush fan.