What's With The Fascination Of Jeeps?
- Brian K Dery, Founder
- May 10, 2020
- 3 min read
Some call them a boxed kite, especially when driving them in high winds, heck, even a light breeze the Jeep can be all over the road. But us Jeep owners, we really baby these things. Well most of us. You hear a noise and the radio gets shut off. You silence everyone. Quietly listening for that noise...
I'm on my third Jeep. My first one was a 2000 Sahara Wrangler. In 1999, I was a first time Jeep owner. I didn't know what a TJ was with a "straight six." It was all white. It looked like a square piece of cotton going down the road. I was soon moving to L.A. and I said I could not drive that thing across America...so I got rid of it...WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I ask myself that today. I would LOVE to have told that kid at 24 do NOT get rid of it and take your time driving across this beautiful country in a Jeep, with the flipping top down.
In 2013, I got my second Jeep. I got a 2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport JK. I loved it! It was Navy Blue. But a couple years later, if that, I traded it in for a truck, all because I was getting my youngest stepson certified in Scuba. Again, WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I could of kept it, threw the tanks in the back, or got a JKU...well...with mistakes...and now a very frugal, financially conscious wife, I had to love that truck and I had to wait... which I did, but not that much and not that long.
I finally got my Jeep that I wanted. The one that I kept blabbing about like a drunken sailor or a drunken parrot. I bought a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Sport Unlimited. This was mine. This was the one. Soon mods started happening, a 2" lift, on 35's, then bumpers, then a winch, some interior stuff, then fenders, omg, the bumpers extend too far now due to the new bumpers, it looks like it has a pencil thin mustache, now new bumpers, gotta match that winch since I went with a different brand...and folks, all in between that a small club was founded and then very quickly it took off.
I sit in my office on this Sunday evening, and all over the walls are Jeep signs. One wall has a piece of signage that says, "Tails Closed." On the floor are two huge crates that say, "Jeep", the most recent one being the one that held my 4" lift.
I have this thing planned out. I'm not done with this build. Yesterday at our "Safety & Recovery Class" I had a member wanting to know if the Jeep was being raffled off. Son, I am being buried in that thing.
But to come back full circle, what is the true fascination with Jeeps? It evolved from a military vehicle.
It's the only vehicle that is truly fully capable of being modified and rebuilt.
Nothing looks cooler than driving down the road with the doors off, and the top down and the wind blowing through your hair...damn, I got none on my head.
I have done so much in this Jeep, to this Jeep than I ever did with the first two combined. Matter of fact, when I got the first Jeep, I got it stuck in serious mud in Spring Hill...I had a bunch of good ole' boys come pull me out. I didn't know anything then. Today, pulling someone out of the mud is a fun treat for many.
I'm a Florida native from Tampa. I love travel and I love the outdoors and I especially love history. I look forward to driving all over the State of Florida in this thing. Racking up miles no longer means anything to me. Yesterday, my oldest stepson thought it was a great achievement to hit 60,000 miles and he took a photo of it. Gee, thanks! Today he asked me about it. I said, "No, son, no it's not an achievement. My warranty is finally, fully done."
So do I baby her now, do I go less off-roading in her? No, not at all. You just appreciate her a little bit more. You love her a little bit more, because you've been there for those 60,000 miles making memories and having fun. So go on out, ride those trails, drive those back roads, modify that Jeep. Learn to ride it and continue to love it.
STOMP ON!!!
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