1966: Coot Mauna Kea Adventure

Coot Mauna Kea Adventure • Winter 1966

A Film Directed by Woodson K. Woods

Back in the early 1960s, my father Woody Woods (he’s driving the lead Coot) owned and operated the Hawaii Trails safari business on the Big Island of Hawaii. Along with Land Rovers and Toyotas he also sold the 4-wheel drive Coot farm vehicles designed in 1964. Land Rovers were the back bone of the Hawaii Trails operation to access the dramatic Big Island landscapes and the 13,803 high Mauna Kea was the most challenging in that the state was in the process of completing the first cinder road to the top. On one off road trip up Mauna Kea in Coots he hired his good friend and cinematographer Don “Buns” Rathbun from Aspen, Colorado to shoot 16MM footage for a publicity film but the film was never finished. 50 years later I found the footage and put this short piece together with an M83 music track. Now you can drive a car all way up Mauna Kea on paved roads.