Forbidden fruit from abroad –
Fresh from our newest show, “Dude I love (or hate) my new ride – @home edition” – we have three vehicles that are forbidden fruit in the United States. Some of these vehicles might look familiar, but they never sold here. In some cases, it’s a real shame.
2009 Jeep Commander
Erick from Norway has a 2009 Jeep Commander, which looks outstanding. We don’t get many Jeep Commanders, and they do not get a lot of love stateside. This Commander is different, it has a Mercedes-Benz-sourced V6 diesel that makes about 376 lbs-feet of torque. He says it averages 22 mpg and can run from 0 to 60 mph in nine-seconds.
This Jeep Commander is rated to tow about 7,000 lbs and it has the QuadraDrive II system.
Erick added a lift, upgraded the hitch and added more aggressive rubber. He also added a wireless charging unit and an Android auto compatible stereo system.
2014 Ford Ranger
Mariano from Argentina has a 2014 Ford Ranger to show us. This 2014 Ranger is a clean example. You can tell by the interior that he got a lower trim model, but it still looks outstanding.
This Ranger has the 3.2-liter, five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine with a six-speed manual transmission. It’s a high torque setup that is quite efficient. This is Mariano’s first truck and he gets excellent fuel mileage. He averages 12 – 15 kilometers to the liter, which hovers around 30 mpg.
Many of us feel that this version of the Ranger was one of the more attractive designs and wish it came here.
2004 Suzuki Jimny
Alistair from Scotland has a 2004 Suzuki Jimny which is a sweet example of how awesome these little off-roaders were. For those of you who don’t know, the Jimny is closely related to the Suzuki Samurai we once got in the United States. The proportions are tiny by our standards and it weighs just over a ton.
This is a proper little off-roader. He has a two-inch lift, General Grabber AT3s and a stainless exhaust. There’s a sharp looking snorkel too. It has a tiny 1.3-liter gas engine that makes about 80 horsepower. This is Alistair’s daily driver and it looks like he’s taken excellent care of it.
Check out this video for more details about these cool rides!