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Written by Bill Moore
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 We’ve always been fascinated with Jeeps . . . and I mean virtually all of us! Of course, it all started in a big way in the buildup to World War II when the U.S. Army (fresh off feeding their cavalry and hauling horses to the guard dogs) needed a maneuverable vehicle that could be used for scouting or just running errands.
Since we don’t want to get bogged down in the minutiae about Jeeps, you’ll have to tune up your computer and search World
Naturally, it didn’t take too long for one guy with a Jeep to challenge another guy with a Jeep to a contest . . . as simple as getting over rough terrain as fast as they could go, or by merely lowering tire pressures and crawling. Every weekend, whether in sand pits in Rhode Island, sand dunes in Michigan, deserts in California or over rocks in Moab, Utah, you’ll find hundreds of thousands of people enjoying their Jeeps in an off-road situation.
For aesthetic reasons, I generally like old Jeeps with simple four-cylinder engines and a patina of use around the shift lever and the steering wheel. All you have to do is look at those wear patterns and imagine how the occupants lived through many happy moments in the vehicle. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the chirping of birds; the gruff whine of an engine and the spin of wheels; with a slight hint of hydrocarbons from the well-warmed oil or transmission fluid.
Of course, the Jeep that came out of World War II, and the CJ that followed it, have all changed. And, in the course of changing, the Jeep changed the way Americans looked at vehicles. In 1946 (and through 1962) there was that first SUV, the Willys Station Wagon—followed by the Jeep Wagoneer and the Jeep Cherokee. Now, as I sit here in the editorial office, I’m waiting for something new once again from Jeep—it’s the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
Next time around, you’ll be able to find out how we like it!
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