I was, umm, on hiatius just short of recently. It was the summer.

Sojourning down Glamis Dunes way, I noticed more than a few hopped-up Subie Legacys.

They were lifted. Somebody had done something to the engine. They sounded like P-O'd bee hives, and judging by the way they were raging about in the sand whatever that someone did worked.

I am somewhat famous for having my timing slightly off.

I used to think, and I still don't think it's a bad idea, that the ultimate hunting vehicle is a late '80's Mustang convertible.

Put the top down, you can put a quartered elk in back. Then you put the top back up. With chains you can go anywhere, given the torque and the posi.

I think the advantages of having to drive back several hours across a couple of states with a Chesapeake that just rolled with considerable gusto in the remains of a six-month old dead skunk should be obvious.

Top down. Wind whipping in your face. Not having to smell the stinking creature that is now for some reason just as pleased as punch for doing what he did and for some ungodly reason, NOW, wants to snuggle.

Priceless.

So, allright. I can slap all the camo paint I want on used Mustangs and I won't be able to give them away despite the fact they're all the vehicle 99.9% of hunters are ever going to need.

I think this Subie thing, though, might be the ground floor of something big. Now, thanks to Obama, not everyone can afford to buy a Polaris or Kawasaki or Honda. Maybe they can spring for half that, and get a used Subie. With mods.

But what do you call them? Dune Buggies?

I don't know what to call the Subie Legacys, but I know that the current "hot" item for roaming the Cascades in the part of Oregon I just moved from is a rice burner also sold as the Geo Tracker. Really great little rigs for narrow, rainy wagon roads in the timber and bush.