4/3/98 <snip> from email

Greetings from Calgary, Alberta!

I liked the story about the S-10 towing the big Ford, and I have a similar story for you:

Last summer I was out for the day at the McLean Creek off road area near Bragg Creek, just west of Calgary. I came accross an early-mid 80's full size Blazer off to the side of the road with the hood up. Dead. No idea why. Wouldn't even turn over. Its two occupants were ready to get the mountain bikes out and cycle off to the convenience store (and phone) near the park entrance, several miles away over the hilly gravel road.

Since I was there, and had all day to kill, I offered to give them a pull to the store. Maybe save them a bit of time and $$ if the poor old Blazer still couldn't be made to go. They looked at me kinda funny, shook their heads, and said I could give it a try if I really wanted to. So we hooked up the tow rope, locked in my hubs, selected 4-LO and off we went. No problem!

Oh, by the way ... did I mention I drive a '91 Tracker?

Yep, a 1991 Chevrolet Tracker (the Geo name wasn't introduced in Canada until the '92 model year). Its 1.6 L 4 cylinder with all of 80 horsepower, and about 200,000 km on the odo, was puffing pretty hard in 2nd Lo, and I needed to turn the heater on every few minutes to keep the temperature gauge away from the red, but we did it! You should have seen the looks on the Blazer guys' faces when we rolled to a stop outside the convenience store. Priceless!

And one more real quick story:

Friends of mine used to own a British imports dealership (Ellis Autodrome, Lethbridge AB), and still have an early 70's Series III Landrover SWB which they claim once towed a semi (with trailer) a short distance. No idea how much it was carrying, but the tractor alone must have weighed several times as much as the little 'Rover.

Ain't it amazing what a stout engine and low gearing can accomplish?