Curbside Classic Outtake: The Force Is Not With Me

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

True confession: I finally got stumped. It went by in front of me at the intersection, and I wasn’t really paying attention. A big bland boxy SUV; my subconscious identifying mechanism probably categorized it as a gen 2 Trooper. But then it rejected that, and sent a message back saying that impression didn’t fit with the memory banks, and I should wake up and notice what just drove by. Upon doing that, my only response was “that doesn’t belong here”. Well, it does, but it didn’t just then, in the momentary blank spot I was drawing. How about you?

Well, That wasn’t going to do, so I whipped across the empty right lane, turned and followed it. And when the Laforza name popped into view, I still couldn’t properly explain it to Stephanie. I knew it was an Italo-American project, conceived in the height of the SUV fever, and the 5 Liter badge meant that Windsor’s finest was under the hood. But did they really sell this thing here? Stephanie gave me that look reserved for senior moments. This is not the walking encyclopedia she’s used to. Time to put me out to pasture.

Well, the Laforza wasn’t exactly mainstream. It started life as the Rayton Fissore Magnum 4×4 shown in Turin in 1985. Designed by Tom Tjaarda, who penned that more famous Italo-American project, the Pantera, and based on an IVECO 4×4 military truck chassis, the Laforza combined hard core underpinnings with a handsome and plush body to compete against the Range Rover. Remarkably, it was federalized and sold on and off in small numbers for a number of years here, from 1989 through 2003, or whenever they finally got rid of the last of them.

Later versions had the 185 hp Ford replaced with various high-powered Ford and Chevy supercharged engines, in an effort to justify the $60k and up prices being asked. Apparently it has a very nice hand-stitched Italian interior. If I ever see it again, I will verify that. And know instantly what it is.

More new Curbside Classics here

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Dave7 Dave7 on Apr 19, 2010

    I've only seen one in real life but they do seem to show up on eBay quite regularly. I suppose its for the person who wants something that will drain their wallet and a Range Rover is just too common.

  • Turbo60640 Turbo60640 on Apr 19, 2010

    I've seen 1 or 2 of these in person. They resemble SUVs from video games like Grand Theft Auto.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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