The Alpine Loop of southwest Colorado consists of a series of high mountain
passes that link Lake City, Ouray and Telluride in southwest Colorado. These
passes exist because roads were needed to haul the gold and silver from the
mines to the smelters. The mines are almost all closed, and many of the towns
along the pass roads are ghost towns, but the pass roads flourish as four wheel
drive roads.
Ouray
advertises itself as the "Jeep capital of the world," with jeep tours
and jeeps available for rent. The county maintains the roads by clearing snow
and keeping the roads passable to almost all SUV's. Whether you wish to enjoy
the scenery, wildflowers, explore the ghost towns or find a difficult side road
to challenge your serious 4x4, you will find it here.
How The Amigo Performed
We have been visiting this area since 1972 using Jeep Wagoneers, Land Cruisers,
Scouts, Blazers, and rental Jeep Wranglers. How would the Amigo compare? The
only modification to the Amigo was installing BF Goodrich AT tires of the same
size as the original tires.
Here are my observations:
The engine is strong, idles up steep grades and never misses a beat.
There is NOT enough ground clearance. I hit rocks several times that would
be passed over by other stock SUV's. On a positive note, the Amigo skid
plates really work, and vital pieces are tucked up well.
The Amigo turns sharp, almost as good as a Scout - this is very important
when encountering switchbacks.
The fold-down top storage system needs work. In order to fold-down the top
you must unzip and remove the side and back windows. A nice bag is provided
for storage of the windows and it fits great in the back cargo area.
However, the windows take up the entire floor space and you are unable to
put anything heavy on top of the bag. The solution? I built a shelf the
exact size of the cargo area that the bag and sunroof glass will slip under.
The shelf is painted to match the interior and carpeted on top to match.
Summary
The Amigo was able to take everything I asked of it with ease. I was able to
drive over 600 miles in comfort to get to the off-road stuff. The real gnarly
stuff that modified 4x4's take was not even attempted. I have no doubt that with
more ground clearance the Amigo would have no problem. This is one fine vehicle!
The author poses on a smooth section of Black Bear Pass.
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Ouray
advertises itself as the "Jeep capital of the world," with jeep tours
and jeeps available for rent. The county maintains the roads by clearing snow
and keeping the roads passable to almost all SUV's. Whether you wish to enjoy
the scenery, wildflowers, explore the ghost towns or find a difficult side road
to challenge your serious 4x4, you will find it here.
