Slim Pickens

Cars, girls' names, cocktails and songs

The great Johnny Cash's paean to initiative and workplace theft. 

1966 Plymouth Barracuda. Chrysler had little in the bag when Ford created an instant market phenomenon with the Mustang, hence this rather awkward looking fastback coupe. The front end is familiar to us through the Australian Valiant but the rear belongs to the Barracuda alone. I like gawky looks so this one wins the Miss Personality award for any pony car built in 1966. For: That back window. Grrr. Against: You would really have to want one to hand over 40K.

1966 Van Den Plas Princess. The well known aesthete has been warming his garage to receive one of these. You could argue that the engine swap has improved matters by removing the awful power plant developed by Rolls Royce for a failed military contract. It could not deliver even its modest output reliably so it was a cruel trick to palm them off onto gullible retired civil servants, surely the only market for such a thing. For: That requires more thought that I can give it. Against: Sorry, you have to have one with the naff motor. Otherwise it's cheating.

1972 Mini Moke. If you really want a car for days when all your cares are left behind you in a toweling bag, here is the ideal vehicle. Fun for young and old and just the thing for getting passengers safely home after one of your ever-popular beach front drinking orgies. Just tip it on its side and hose it out. For: Its a Mini so you will always have parts. Against: It needs a fringed top and whicker seats.

1982 Fiat Mirafiori 131R. An acquired taste, I grant you but nobody did a better flying pet cage than Fiat. Snorting twin side-draft Webers, noisy gearboxes and hilarious cabin velour combines into a hallucinatory driving experience that is the antithesis of anything remotely tasteful from any non-Italian competitor. Cortina GTE? Pfaff. For: Look at all those wheels! Its like a Fiat half-track. Against: Not for you passive- aggressive types.

1983 Jeep J20 Wagon. There was a time when Jeeps were driven by rough spoken men who lived in one roomed shacks with dogs. Therefore this Jeep wagon harks back to the golden age before power windows and air conditioning and all those other things that make contemporary motoring so rottenly pleasurable. For: Meet the coming Apocalypse in style. Against: You may lose some friends.