The adventures of my former 1969 Patrol

[Daner]

Evening-I came across photos of my old Patrol(s) while looking for other stuff. And since I always enjoy hearing the stories of other folks Patrols, thought I'd share what I know about this one during the time I owned it:

I bought this Patrol in Silver City, New Mexico around 2002 or so, and sold it in 2007 when I took a job in the Pacific Northwest and thought I would not enjoy a Patrol in the NW. I was wrong, but I digress: When I bought it was owned by a gentleman who was a pilot, and used the Patrol to get to his cabin up near the Gila Wilderness. The Patrol was sun-faded from being out in the desert sun, but it was clear the previous owner really took good care of the Patrol, everything was original and worked well-except for the fact that it had very low oil pressure, something that was easily remedied by replacing the aftermarket spin on oil filter.
As soon as I bought it, even before I had gone through it to make sure it was mechanically reliable, I was off in the hills going to old mines and tracking historic wagon roads and stage lines. The picture is probably the first pic I have of the Patrol when I first bought it:

[curlrider11]

What a beauty! Thx for sharing!

[moore_rb]

Classic photos are always the coolest... Thanks for sharing.

[L60Boerne]

That is a Patrol and Patroller in their natural element. I wonder where that one is now?

Patrolling again soon,
L60 Boerne

[Flaggoni]

I like the “canards” on the hood!
Mild Bill

[mad4hws]

I bought this Patrol in Silver City, New Mexico

.....

I grew up in Silver City, New Mexico. What a small world. Funny though, small town as it was (and is) I thought i would have remembered seeing that beauty out there at some point... That scenery sure is familiar. Did you ever take it up in the mountains? The continental divide is right there.

[Daner]

I bought this Patrol in Silver City, New Mexico

.....

I grew up in Silver City, New Mexico. What a small world. Funny though, small town as it was (and is) I thought i would have remembered seeing that beauty out there at some point... That scenery sure is familiar. Did you ever take it up in the mountains? The continental divide is right there.

The red 1969 was stashed out at the Grant County airport east of Silver for years. When it wasn't at the airport the owner left it up by Beaverhead airstrip, if I recall correctly. I did purchase another green 1966 Patrol off the Turner Ranch just outside of Silver City for parts around 2002, I believe they bought it new so its possible you saw that one when it was in town. The Turners pretty much beat that one to death:

[Daner]

I eventually sold the green 66 Patrol to a fellow in Las Cruces. I didn't really want to sell it, but by that time I had 3-4 parts Patrols. The guy in Las Cruces had helped me with parts earlier, so I felt pretty good returning the favor.

But back to the red 1969...For about a year, I drove it almost daily, and it ran great until I took it on rough roads, then the carburetor would start coughing and sneezing. After attempting to rebuild the carb several times, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a Weber 32/36 carb for her, and after that time she ran great on the trails all around Southern New Mexico-here she tackling some rocks up on the Gila National Forest. (I know, typical Pirate 4x4 poseur shot with the front wheel on the rock lol).

[RiverPatrol]

It did some wheelin' outside of Tucson at least once as well, out past Oracle.

[Daner]

River-I spent a couple of hours looking for pics of that trip but could not find them...if memory serves me most of the photos were of the Patrol parked with the hood open, lol.

I think that trip was the last straw as far as the original carburetor went. In hindsight I should have paid a carb specialist to rebuild the original carburetor. As we'll see, my perspective on Patrols has changed over the years as I have come to appreciate how rare they are, even if they are not very collectible for some reason. Back then I just wanted to be outdoors and on the trails.

The next trip we took was backroads all the way from Silver City NM, to Moab Utah and back, camping out along the way. I only found one pic of that trip, but I do remember being highly impressed at how well the Patrol handled some of Moab's trails. I was not as impressed with the Patrol on the highway as the Weber carb seems to have cost power at the top end, although the fuel mileage was much better...This grainy pic is of the Patrol heading up Hell's Revenge trail. The local 4x4 club recommends 35" tires and front and rear lockers for this trail, but the Patrol on its skinny little 30" tires and open diffs easily walked through Hell's Revenge without a single stall, Although I did bypass a few obstacles such as the Tip Over Challenge as I did not have a rollbar....