Jeep story
Updated March 2011
My mother asked me why I bought a Jeep, and that got me thinking about the answer.

My earliest memory of Jeeps was my father's claim that he would get me a mail truck as a first vehicle. Back in the 70's and early 80's, mail trucks were built on the Jeep DJ-5 series. Back in those days, you could buy a retired Jeep mail truck for very little and it would have been an inepensive way to get a used vehicle, and possibly a good truck for a kid. I always thought this was a great idea because of the novelty of driving a mail truck.



When I was 15 and learned to drive back in the mid 80’s, I wanted a black xtra cab Toyota pickup, just like the one in Back to the Future.



Ironically, the same film also had a scene with a Jeep:



I knew that my parents wouldn’t deem a Toyota pickup an acceptable first vehicle, so my second choice was a Jeep CJ. My parents said a Jeep was too impractical since it only had 2 doors and lacked a real back seat. They thought a 4 door vehicle would be better so I could drive my friends around. So I ended up with an Isuzu Trooper which was fun and practical. Ironically, people often referred to the Trooper as a "Jeep" because it was similar in style and had round headlights, although it had 4 doors. At the time the term "SUV" did not exist and people thought of those types of vehicles as Jeeps.



In the following years a Jeep was still in the back of my mind. Somewhere there is a photo of me sitting in a new Jeep at the 2000 Texas State Fair in the auto show area. At that time I was still drawn to Jeeps but owning one was not in the cards.

At some point in the early 2000’s I looked at a few new Jeeps but even the base models were not exactly what I wanted. I just couldn’t see buying a new Jeep Wrangler because they had no cargo capacity like a pickup, they were under-powered, and the cheapest models had pizza-cutter tires that were fine but looked odd. Overall it was just not a good value to me, but the Jeep mystique remained.

Around 2005 I started learning about Jeep history and looking for Jeep CJs (the predecessor to the Jeep Wrangler) and pondered the idea of getting a CJ as a daily driver. At that time the only way I could afford a CJ was to use it as my main vehicle. Even though a CJ lacked most of the design improvements and creature comforts of a more modern Jeep, I was drawn to the CJ. My 1992 Chevy pickup was getting old and nearing the end of its useful life.

In 2007 I started seeing the restyled Jeep Wrangler (the JK) and very much disliked the style. It was far from the original Jeep styling that I admired, and this drove me to want a classically-styled CJ even more. In my opinion, the older Jeeps were the only ones with real character. The newer Jeeps were full of more modern technical innovations and fluff and still had a good repuration for offroad driving, but this came with a big cost: high price. New Jeeps were still not a great value.

While following up a few Craigslist leads I test drove several CJs. While they all had positive aspects, they all had big problems like oil leaks (which I later learned was expected), no top, no doors, excessive rust, too many modifications, poorly maintaned, or too expensive.

Here are a couple that I drove:





In the summer of 2008 I drove a gray/silver CJ-7 (pictured below). It was probably a 1981. It was beat up and in poor shape with a lot of problems hiding under a recent paint job. The frame was serviceable, but not great. The thing had a 3” body lift, no suspenstion lift, 4 cylinder engine, and lots of leaks.

Picture this: It's the hottest peak of the intense Houston summer. I’m out on a test drive while the afternoon sun is blazing down through the intense humidity in the hottest part of the afternoon, I’m wearing my work clothes (long pants, button down shirt) sweating buckets and driving this crude, beat-up 4 speed CJ across the Houston streets. My shirt is soaked and I probably stink. There is no breeze and the tropical humidity is thick. During the test drive, I realized the turn signals didn't work, and I started thinking that if something that basic didn't work, there would be a whole lot of other problems down the road. The afternoon sun is burning my eyes, and I have no sunglasses. Between the heat, sweat, sun, and problems with the Jeep, I knew a CJ was not a great daily driver, at least not this one. If it had no working turn signals, it was not fully road worthy and would be more of a project than practical transportation.



I decided to put the CJ idea on hold.

During 2009, after continuting to learn about classic Jeeps, I narrowed my requirements down to a late CJ-7, ideally something between 1980 and 1986. I started looking for CJs again and set up email notifications for Jeep CJ listings from Craigslist for several different cities, Ebay, and Autotrader. The CJ ads started pouring in. At the same time I started saving money to buy a CJ as a 3rd vehicle. Over the months, I again narrowed my requirements to a CJ that was white and had the T5 transmission and the 258 engine. Perhaps my hope was that I’d never find the Jeep I was looking for.

In May 2010, I saw a hopeful Craiglist posting from Houston for a CJ. I emailed the seller to get more information, as I had with scores of other prospects. The days past and I thought nothing of it. Out of the blue I got an email message from the seller. The Jeep was white, had a 258 and a T5. I scheduled a time to go see it in person.

A few days later I drove out to Baytown and saw it in person. The Jeep checked out OK: The frame was in great shape, it had a rebuilt engine and transmission, fairly new seats, very new soft top, several various new parts, and had been owned by the same person for the last 13 years and hadn't seen any off-road action.

It started and drove well and I was tempted to make an offer. The seller’s asking price was $6200. The next day I called the seller back and offered $5000 which he did not accept. He would take $5500 and no less.

I thought about the Jeep during a sleepless night. The next day I realized it would be a mistake to let this one go for a difference of $500. I had posted the photos and information on Jeepforum.com and the overall response was positive that I should buy it.

I called the seller back the next evening and offered $5500. I purchased the Jeep shortly after that.







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