Ivan? Or is this just Mater disguised as Ivan?

The trans-red bent arms are nice, though maybe they should have been trans-orange or hey, trans-yellow. Now THAT would have been cool.

The body looks wonky but the Technic is all in there.

Great set. First real technic set I ever got under the Christmas tree. Challenging build for a 10 year old, but I loved it. Still a favorite to this day

This must have one of the highest Set Name Size to Part Count ratio of any set.

One of the earlier fully studless Technic sets!

8436 Truck is my only big technic set and at the time buying it was a big achievement. One of its three rear attachment builds is a car transporter, which fits this set. Well, it's in the intstructions anyway as I never owned this one.
By that sheer virtue alone (and the 2004 catalogs), I find this set quite disirable and nostalgic. Even when I know that this angle as fat more flattering than the more likely angles you'll see it from. Judging from pictures it's quite dumpy.
But still, it has some good basic car functionality :)

This was one of the first (bigger) sets I bought when I got out of my dark ages. I was surprised by how ugly it was.

One of my dearest nostalgic set. I can remember playing with it at the age of 6-7, and I liked it had a removable body.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"off-roading? on those tires? only if your definition of off-roading is, "i drove on a gravel road once.
ONCE.""

In Colorado, we call people with trucks like this, 'Texans.'

A high-country sheriff has another name for them. "A$% Clowns."

See, https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/drivers-stranded-colorado-passes/

and,

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=681263647362584&id=100064368655109

This thing is actually 2WD. False advertising or what?

The very first set I had that taught me what a differential was. Classic times asking why the wheels are going in opposite directions when I turn one side.

Oh this era of Technic, when they stopped using mostly studded beams, but were not using panels as much as now.

This model in particular really gives me vibes of K'NEX or ZNAP (visually), which I doubt it deserves as it does look like a cool set.

Technic was never my thing, but Technic from the 90s at least gets my nostalgiameter running by virtue of having been in the same catalogues as my beloved System sets. This is after that time, so it does the same thing for me as a 2004 set as a 2022 does, though I acknowledge that the look of the set is quite different.

@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"off-roading? on those tires? only if your definition of off-roading is, "i drove on a gravel road once.
ONCE.""
You just described the ridiculousness of 99.999999% of all SUVs, many of which don't even have 4WD to begin with ;-)

Has a lot of parts (connectors etc) in unusual colors

@crazylegoman said:
"This must have one of the highest Set Name Size to Part Count ratio of any set."

At 1:154-1/3, I think it would be one of the lowest.

@Brickalili:
Maybe it’s backwards-driving.

@WizardOfOss:
You mean Spontaneously Upside-down Vehicles?

@EtudeTheBadger said:
"This thing is actually 2WD. False advertising or what?"

Yeah, seriously!

@PurpleDave said:
"You mean Spontaneously Upside-down Vehicles?"

That sure is one way to get rid of them.....

@PurpleDave said:
" @crazylegoman said:
"This must have one of the highest Set Name Size to Part Count ratio of any set."

At 1:154-1/3, I think it would be one of the lowest."

No, a high ratio is one where there's a large difference in the numbers. For example 1:100 and 100:1 are both high ratios. 20:25 would be a low ratio.

https://www.beedictionary.com/common-errors/ratio

@crazylegoman:
Well, you know what Mark Twain said about statistics…