Jeep Cowboy: The AMC-Based Jeep Pickup Prototype that Never Was

"Hey, that's a pretty sharp looking Gremlin-Camino ya' got dere."

Originating around 1970, the Jeep Cowboy Prototype was conceived as an answer to the heavy influx of import trucks coming from Japan. Datsun, Toyota, and Mazda, the latter also sold by Ford as the Courier, not to mention the Chevy Luv, itself a rebranded Isuzu, were all picking up steam in the mini-truck marketplace, and AMC figured the easiest way to get in on the action was to cook up an  El Camnio-zed version of it's successful Hornet model with a Gremlin fascia and bed in back.

Reportedly only three prototypes were built, all bearing "JEEP" logos despite its AMC lineage. While accounts vary, the Cowboy was never produced for two reasons: Production capacity for the popular Hornet was maxed out, and at the time AMC/Jeep had no 4x4 system available that would work with the Cowboy's unibody origins. Sad, as just a decade later AMC would introduce the 4x4 Eagle, essentially a Hornet with a slightly lifted suspension and a true four-wheel drive drivetrain. Available in Wagon, Sedan, and Kammback body styles, a light-duty pickup would have been a natural extension of the Eagle lineup.

Though we're sad the Cowboy never got an opportunity to put the spurs to the competition, we're absolutely thrilled the concept rode off into the sunset before surfacing with the fascia mock up seen in the photo below, which resembles something Anthony Hopkins might have worn in his portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. Yech.

When Buster Keaton Shilled for Jeep.

"What goes up, doesn't always come down." Apparently that includes mortgage payments.

Necrophilia Not Funny, Alice.

Say what you will Ms. Landers, but Alice's sense of humor was not lost on a few kids from Maumee, Ohio.

Punk Rock in Detroit (1976-1986) Presented by Third Man Records and Cranbrook Art Museum

C'mon down and hang for a bit and bat the fat–it could be wacky. It's free.

Where:  Third Man Records
              441 W Canfield St, Detroit, MI 48201
       
When:   Saturday, August 4, 2 p.m.

"Your body is not a temple; It's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride." -Anthony Bourdian 1956-2018

Words to live by.

Bourdain visited Detroit in 2013 to shoot an episode of Parts Unknown and came away with a better appreciation and understanding of the Motor City than most:

Kick Out The Jams  

Anthony Bourdain, CNN

This is it. The last episode of our second season of "Parts Unknown."

And I'm glad it's set in Detroit. Because Detroit, for many Americans, is an abstraction -- truly, if incredibly, a part unknown. 

One only need look at some of our representatives, who, a while back, were actually suggesting it might be OK to let the beleaguered auto industry fend for itself, to leave Detroit to its fate to see how blithely willing much of America would be to point the gun straight at their own heads and pull the trigger. 

Detroit isn't just a national treasure. It IS America. And wherever you may live, you wouldn't be there -- and wouldn't be who you are in the same way -- without Detroit.

 Continued on CNN.com

John Deere W330 PTC Combine Posts Blistering 5-hour, 36-minute and 11-Second Nürburgring Lap Record!

Happy 50th Birthday, Hot Wheels

Matchbox cars may be neat, but Hot Wheels are cool.

From the original sweet sixteen to Sizzlers, and from the welt-inducing orange track to the iconic logo, we love you Hot Wheels. In celebration of your 50th anniversary, we've collected some of our favorite vintage Mattel Hot Wheels TV adverts for your viewing pleasure:

Fun Fact: The 1st Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Convention was held in Toledo, Ohio, in 1987 and returned at least four additional times in the ensuing decade. The 5th Annual Collectors convention was held in nearby Maumee, Ohio.

Jeep Wagoneer for 1966: Vigilante V-8 or High-Torque Six?

"Only the new Jeep Wagoneer offers all of today's Turnpike features plus the gripping power and safety of 4-Wheel Drive." Jeep really plays up the whole storming the beaches of Normandy association in this clip. We get that. But why is it autonomous? And is it true that the little kid in the video is a young Jon Stainbrook?

Jamie Farr, Toledo's Favorite Son

Not content to simply sit back and enjoy the spoils of his success, Toledo native and solid gold superstar Jamie Farr, aka Jameel Farah, is leveraging his legacy with Klinger Kreations, a can't miss entry in the highly competitive celebrity condiment arena. Try some today!


*Art and concept courtesy of comedic genius and talented illustrator Cris Shapan.

Toledo – The Fireworks Center of America

The "good old days," when a young man could stuff a sawback into an envelope and receive a haphazardly packaged box of potentially lethal pyrotechnics via the U.S. Mail Service no questions asked.

Oh Boy! THINK OF IT! World's Loudest.

FUN FACT: John Miller, of Toledo's Miller Fireworks Company, is largely credited with popularizing the M-80 as a civilian firework.

02.07.73 Raw Power Released, Life Made Tolerable.

Released 49 years ago today.

Brutal, simple, and boogie-free, Raw Power forgoes melody instead relying on the visceral power of the guitar riff to drive the songs forward. Although hardly noticed when released in 1973, the album would serve as the "how to guide" for aspiring guitarists of the nascent punk scene. Without it, players such as Cheetah Chrome, Johnny Ramone, Steve Jones, and countless others would likely have never made it out of the basement. For that we are eternally grateful.

Produced by David Bowie, the original mix was polarizing. Several attempts have since been made to "improve" it, which at this point is a bit like trying to punch up the Ten Commandments for a more casual feel. But before the masters were committed to vinyl, a few early mixes were leaked to WABX, Detroit's premier FM rock station at the time. Listen here as Mark Parenteau and Dennis Frawley discuss and play the tracks during a live broadcast.

John Lee Hooker in Frogtown: The Secret Session at Toledo's Sweeney Sound Engineering

Dig below the surface of Toledo's rich and diverse music history and you'll inevitably uncover vague references to  John Lee Hooker recording at Toledo's Sweeney Sound Engineering. While the bluesman's affinity for the Toledo-adjacent Hines Farm blues club is well documented, the link between Hooker and Sweeney Sound is far more tenuous.

Hooker's notoriously cavalier attitude regarding the signing of and adhering to binding contracts makes verification difficult, but Sheldon Brown, son of Detroit Based Fortune Records founder Jack Brown, has long maintained that John Lee Hooker’s first recording session was actually conducted under his father’s supervision at Toledo’s Sweeney Sound Engineering. The session, which reportedly produced the tracks “Miss Sadie Mae: Curl my Baby's Hair” and “609 Boogie,” went unreleased at the time. Additionally, David A Carson confirms the session in his exhaustive Grit, Noise, and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock 'n' Roll. This is significant as historians have for years generally credited Hooker's late 1948 recording of "Boogie Chillen" at United Sound Systems in Detroit as his first session. These claims instead indicate that Hooker's first session was, in fact, in Toledo.

Information detailing the history of Sweeney Sound Engineering is similarly hazy, a lazy google search turning up a 1950 recording of Fred Harris & his Uptown Band. Ripped from the 1980 release, Vintage Toledo Blues 1950-1980 (TRH Records #8001), Fred Harris--not to be confused with the legendary Canadian TV host of the same name--apparently went on to form Fred Harris' Red Tops who recorded this jam in the studio at Toledo's WTOD radio station in 1957.

Given the willingness of Fortune Records founder Brown to travel to Toledo for a session, what other gems may have been committed to tape or acetate inside the walls of Sweeney Sound Engineering? Those with even cursory knowledge of the studio and or the owners/employees are encouraged to chime in in the comments.

Linkapalooza: 
The Bull- Fred Harris' Red Tops Organ Trio- New Song
Remembering Hines Farm, a legendary African-American mecca for the blues
Hines Farm Movie