Tell me about your first Jeep.

[jeepingib]

I blame the Army. They just had to give me a roommate that was the coolest guy in the company with his old YJ. Lol
But let's turn back the clock first. I was a pick up guy, had the opportunity to buy a 93 Grand Cherokee with the 5.2, or a 4x4 Dakota standard cab short bed also with the 5.2L. I chose the truck. Then I got to my new unit where I met my roommate Cameron. He had a 91YJ with the 4 cylinder. A 3" body lift, and the widest 31" tires I've ever seen. Of course I thought my little Dakota was better than his Jeep. And he humored me. We did some trail riding around the post, back when it was still allowed, and he would bounce right through anywhere he pointed it, and I was slamming the belly through the same places. He got out of the Army about a year later. I went on my first deployment and came home to the little Dakota on its death bed from the abuse I'd given it, and decided that I needed a Jeep.
Found a 1999 TJ Sahara on the used lot, in 1999. It only had three thousand miles on it. And they mistakenly thought it was a 98. I got it for 18k. I really should have kept that Jeep. Only had it for a few years. Wheeled it all over Central Texas. Most of the places aren't open or legal to wheel at anymore.

Sponsored

 

[DaltonGang]

1998 TJ. 4.0. Manual tranny. It was Forest Green, with a black Hard Top. All I did was add a Borla exhaust, and a few intake goodies. It made it a little peppier. It was a great little Jeep, but kids started to come along, not enough years in my job, and the Jeep only had 2 doors. With two infant kids in child seats, it wasn't working. I would love to have it back, only to modify it, to my liking.

 

[trekster]

My first Jeep at, purchased in 1973 at 16 years old for $300 was a 1953 3A. The motor was the size of a large lunch box at 60 HP, I think. It topped out at 30mph between the motor and the 538 gears. My dad helped me paint it President red, turned out beautiful. Put a white convertible top on it, tear drop head light rims. The we put a Buick 225 V6 in it Desert Dog tires and bigger wheel, not sure what size. We put a tilt steering column in it also. Several other mechanical upgrades. This Jeep would climb anything. Of course I pushed the motor, it was so... fast of the line but the transmission was the stock 3 speed that barely shifted. At 16 I had fun with this one. Since have owned a 72 Jeepster, 80 CJ5, 2005 LJ, 2010 JK and now have ordered a 2022 JL Rubicon Extreme. It's been a Jeep thing for me!

 

[MEHillwalker80]

In the summer of 1958, about two weeks after high school graduation, I joined the Army to get away from milking cows and pitching hay. While at Fort Dix, NJ, waiting for my EOD school assignment I was tasked to sign out a Jeep every morning at the motor pool to act as the driver for a Major during the day. That was my first Jeep. The job only lasted for about a month until I received my school slot, but I've never forgotten the experience and it remains warmly in my memories. By the way, I remained in the EOD field for 20 years, retiring in 1978.

 

[WannFly]

I will tell you when i get it

 

[Birdsong]

Our first.

 

[3TV]

a 1961 CJ-5 that I bought in 1974 for $600. I was only 14 years old, and I didn't even have a driver's license at the time. For a few years I had to have my dad drive it from our house to the nearest dirt road, where I could take over driving. I had a lot of fun with that Jeep. And I've always owned a Jeep, or 2, or 3, in the 47 years since then.

 

[tk1700]

1976 CJ 5, 258 6 cyl, 3 speed, soft top bought in 1983. I was stationed in Fairbanks and drove it year round for 2 years. In the winter I had an aux heater for the interior and could get the inside temp to about 30 when it was -30 outside. I was lots younger then! It makes me appreciate the heated seats in my 2021 JLUR.

I bought a totaled 1979 CJ 5 with nicer seats and a hardtop. My intent was to swap the seats and top, but I ended up repairing the 1979 and sold the 1976.

The CJ7 behind mine belonged to my neighbor. Factory it had the 248 and auto trans. We put a 360 in it and he could easily get the front tires off the ground.

 

[MrGneissGuy]

My car was pretty much on its last legs. There was a local dealership that had promised to take care of the employees of where I worked because all the company vehicles were bought there. So my wife and I went to look at what they had on the used lot (still early enough in my career that new was not an option). They had a 1997 Lapis blue soft top on the lot and I looked at my wife and said, "why not?" It was late and close to closing, so even though he offered to stay for us, I just told the sales guy we'd be back the next morning to test drive it.

That night, we decided that, barring something off with the test drive, we would offer a specific amount for it. Figuring there was no way they would go that low, we also decided on a cutoff price that if they hit with their counter, we would tell them we'd talk about it some more and get back with them. If they didn't, we'd walk.

The next day, we test drove it and made the offer. About 10 minutes later, the salesman came back from talking to the finance guy and they accepted our offer. We hadn't actually planned on buying it that day, because we didn't think they would go that low. But there we were, signing paperwork and taking it home.

It was a manual, soft top, with no AC. A cassette player in the radio was pretty much it for bells and whistles. Shortly after, one of my wife's friends had lost a parent back near her home town, a roughly 3 hour drive. As I had to work, I drove down the day after she did. It was a cloudless warm night, and the drive was all state highways and county roads. I took the top down, plugged my portable cd player in with a cassette adapter, and started driving a little before sunset. Then watched the full moon rise into the sky as I drove. That was, by far, the most enjoyable and relaxing drive I have ever had.

The following winter, when my wife went into labor with our first daughter, we ended up going to the hospital in the Jeep (even though she swore she absolutely did not want to go in that bumpy thing) because her car was in the shop. We ended up getting hit by a winter storm that weekend while in the hospital, with enough snow that her car would never have made it home. As it was, we loaded up our new daughter in the back, put it in 4WD, and had absolutely no trouble getting home during halftime of Super Bowl 34..."The Longest Yard".

 

[NMPirate]

My first Jeep was a 1965 CJ. Bright orange with chrome rims, 4 cylinder, hi & low transfer case (3 shifters on the floor; transmission, 2wd-4wd, hi & low) and even had hand crank windshield wipers on both driver and passenger sides. It would only go 50 mph down hill with a tail wind, but would go anywhere!!

 

[macphisto13]

There's some great stories out here. Fun thread! My first Jeep was a 2012 Sport. It wasn't special compared to some of these others but it was special to me.

I have always been a sportscar guy. In 2010, I traded in a Mazda RX-8 for a sporty sedan (Infinity G35). I was hoping for a sports car feel with sedan practicality for my family. I was underwhelmed. Why spend that much money on something I wasn't in love with? So I shopped around to find a "fun" practical vehicle. I test drove lots of sedans and SUVs and ended up test driving a Wrangler for shits and giggles without a serious intent to buy it. I was hooked immediately. It was nothing close to a sportscar but it was amazing for other reasons. I traded that in for my Mustang 5 years later. I thought I would go back and forth between sports car and Jeep for the rest of my life to scratch both of those itches. But I recently talked my wife into letting me keep the Mustang and buy a 22 Rubicon! Best of both worlds (when it arrives)!

 

[EugenesAJeep]

73’ Toyota Land Cruiser fj40. Ran great, go anywhere, loud as f@;k. Not a Jeep but I was surprised at how many people did… “Nice Jeep”.

 

[JABCAT]

I was 18 & my first Jeep was a ‘94 Wrangler Sahara in Pearlstone metallic (the color of the Jurassic Park Jeeps). It was an auto, hard top & full doors, and had been accessorized by the dealer with a Warn 8k winch, windshield light bar, Sony removable face CD player.

I had gone to this dealership because they had a ‘93 Wrangler Sport I wanted - pretty bare bones, and relatively cheap. Instead my parents decided they were co-signing for me on the Sahara (which I was not thrilled about because it was 2x the cost of the Sport).

That Jeep was cursed from day 1. Within 4 hours of leaving the dealership I was arrested in it for mudding on private property (didn’t know it was private). Thankfully when I went to court on the charges I had about 100 pictures of the property showing no “no trespassing” or “private property” signs. The case was thrown out

Next event was while pulling out of my driveway in a snow storm a car came flying over the hill, through my front yard and smashed into the side/front of the Jeep resulting in new fenders, new wheel, suspension components, hood, front bumper, winch, etc.

Got the repaired Jeep back and my parents let my younger brother (16) take it to the store. He blew a stop sign & t-boned another vehicle. New bumper, hood, winch, fog lights

A year goes by without incident, brother driving it again and some plastic piece breaks and somehow sticks the throttle fully opened. He can’t stop, miraculously doesn’t hit any other vehicles but ends up in a corn field. No real physical damage to the Jeep.

Parents decide they want to consolidate cars & my mom likes the Jeep, so they take it & I purchase another vehicle. Fast forward a couple months, mom somehow flips the Jeep on a public highway, Jeep ends up on its tires and she drives it 20 mi to work. I get there, the light bar is smashed, hard top has windows blown out & is cracked, spare wheel on back is bent, 2 tires are flat & those wheels bent, side mirrors are missing. I honestly have no idea how she drove that 20 mi.

I moved away shortly thereafter but my brother told me they repaired it and kept it for some time.

My ‘22 will be my 5th Wrangler, but I still miss that ‘94 - there were no other Saharas in that color in my area (all were Forrest green).

 

[YippieKiYayMrFalcon]

‘94 YJ 4.0 that my parents had as a weekend toy. They were getting ready to sell it about the time I turned 16 and I convinced them to keep it for my first car if I paid them a little each month for it.

it was pretty much bone stock with low miles and in perfect shape. I loved that thing. Until one day my stupid 17 year old self pulled out in front of an F150 and totaled it.

I had a ‘93 4 banger after that for about a year, which was a dog. I sold it and didn’t get back into a wrangler until I bought my ‘09 JK.

since then it’s been a series of 2 door and 4 door JKs and JLs. Currently have an 80th anniversary JLU.

almost 20 years after I totaled it and I still miss that damn ‘94 YJ.

 

[jellis4148]

2008 2-door Sahara. Still have it. Has 120,000 miles. The 3.8 is gutless, but runs great and gets 20 MPG. Put Rubicon Wheels on it, and LED lights. Other than that she is stock. Created a love for a brand of vehicle that will never change. Hell, I'm probably one of the only guys that tells both of his Jeeps goodnight.

Sponsored