DEFEND YOUR RIDE: John At Pinetree Bark Park

Q: Hi John! Tell us about your ride. Why did you pick this one?

A: I had suggested to my father-in-law this was the greatest thing ever made. He ended up getting a good deal on it. I ended up inheriting it, but I'm the guy who talked him into buying it to start with. This is the greatest thing made right now.

Q: What makes this car so special?

A: It is basically the original SUV. The top comes off and the doors come off. It came before there was such a thing as an SUV. It was made by International Harvester. It has a heavy steel body and it's four-wheel drive. It has a short wheel base and it can pretty much climb a tree. A lot of parts are interchangeable. If you need a replacement motor for it, you take an international dump truck and it uses the same motor. Or a school bus. It uses the same motor.

Q: And you enjoy driving it?

A: It works great. I use it just to pull the boats. I have two boats in my yard and it's a real tight fit to get back there. This thing is short enough and will turn hard enough to get the boats back where I need them. Also you never have to worry about getting stuck at the boat ramp because it'll pull out of anything.

Q: Do you have any rules in your car?

A: No. It's the dog car. It's the one I don't have to worry about getting dirty or anything like that. You can smell like fish. You can be a dog. Whatever. I don't fix it up any more than I have, pretty much because it's original. Everything is original on it. The doors all lock. It's the original motor. Everything is so original I'm scared to change it.

Q: What's the farthest you've ever driven in it?

A: The top speed is about 60 something miles per hour, so I stay on back roads pretty much. I have driven it up about halfway up the state of Florida. I grew up here in Miami Beach and went away and ran a farm in South Carolina for 20-something years. Now I spend the summers in Little River, South Carolina on the waterway. As soon as I have to start putting shoes, long pants and socks on, I come back to Miami Beach.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about your car John?

A: It's heavy steel. That's the biggest problem with these things. They rust. It's not just steel. It's a lot of steel. It came with air conditioning. It looks like under dash air conditioning, but it's factory. That's the way they did it. It works out just fine!