Muddy Mondays: 1st Gen Durango Gets Stuck

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durango mud stuck 600

This week’s Muddy Monday clip features a stock1st generation Dodge Durango attacking an increasingly more treacherous offroading area that proves to be a bit much for this factory issued sport utility vehicle.  Unfortunately, the video ends before we get to see whether the driver was able to dig out but the early stages show just how capable these original Durangos were as it trudged through mud that is worse than the average driver will ever encounter.

Things start off well as the Durango storms through the shallower mud and manages to dig its way through the slightly deeper mud with a few seconds of tire spinning but as our hero nears the end of this muddy patch – things get a bit too deep for the original Durango.  It looks like he is only inches from hitting dry land but when the driver swerves back to the right and into the deeper mud, the Durango noses down and is stuck.  Oddly, when the cameraman walks up to the stuck Durango, the left rear tire isnt in all that deep of mud but it proved to be more than this stock Dodge SUV could handle.

 

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com


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