What got you in to Jeeps?

[FCrackerJLRubi]

Just a for fun topic since a lot on here seems to always be official or otherwise on point. What got you into Jeeps, and jeeping? Regardless if a JL is your first or your 10th Jeep.

For me it was all about the freedom of it, no top, no doors, and I was young while serving in the military. Then I discovered wheeling and rock climbing in Jeeps, and the Jeep owner community/local clubs. I met my wife while wheeling, a ton of great friends, broke a few TJs along the way and its just an experience that I was never willing to give up.

Feel free to share as much as you want, or as little as you want. No judging, just relax, we all wave to one another!

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[17FreedomChief]

Went to tech school and got an internship for my senior year in high school at the local Chrysler/Jeep/Plymouth/Eagle dealership. Something about the Jeep product in particular the Wrangler line just drew me in. My grandfather and father both had Cherokees and Grand Wagoneers over the years. Waited awhile as I just got my first Jeep a 17 Freedom Edition JKU just over a year ago now.

 

[wanderer]

the ability to just turn and go onto any trail anytime.

 

[Billy]

Hot wheels, about 900 years ago.

I always knew since I was a little kid, that I as a Jeep guy. Bought a CJ7 when I got a full time job right out of high school, then got laid off the same day. Gave the check back to the bank the next day, & one of my buds with a huge trust fund bought it with cash and left for college shortly afterward. Then in '97 I finally got my TJ. Drove that for 18 years until I bought my '08 GC CRD 2 years ago. I hate the GC, except for the power. Waiting for the JLU or more likely the JT with the diesel.

 

[Covfefe]

Snow and Zombies, but mainly because I just found out that someone actually makes powered convertible tops for the Wrangler, and I'm a die hard convertible fan ever since I started riding bikes. The snow and people getting crazier blocking roads and attacking drivers pushed my need for Wrangler's ground clearance & durability even more. It would be nice not to have to drift just to make a turn without getting stuck when it's snowing.

 

[FrenchSSGTMike]

people getting crazier blocking roads and attacking drivers pushed my need for Wrangler's ground clearance even more.

 

[gumbyhoss]

My family always had some version of a Cherokee (XJ) and that introduced me to the brand.

But as a car obsessed kid, when I was 16 I wanted nothing more than a Mustang GT 5.0 - It was my dream. I did not realize that dream.

I got the cheapest 1987 Jeep Wrangler POS my dad could find. Original color Colorado Red - Actual color faded orange. Holes in the floor, gauges unreliable, needed a warmup in the summer.

Once, we wanted to figure out a knock under the hood and upon inspection pulled out a full size crowbar that had been riding around in there for a few thousand miles. It was not our crowbar.

By all accounts I should have hated it, but I loved it. No frills, just fun. And pure function that created unique form. I very quickly removed the top and doors and it became mine.

And of course the "off roading". We didn't even know what off roading really was back then, but dammed if I didn't do whatever I wanted in that thing.

I was hooked. Still am. Now if I can just get Toledo to pump out my JLUR so I can stop writing long winded love letters to Jeep on forums full of strangers.

 

[Nate]

Because Freedom.... not the social status it’s become as of late.

Trail riding, rock climbing, muddin’, beach camping and the great outdoors with girls. AKA living life

 

[Jeep4Life0112]

For me honestly it was seeing Jurassic Park on opening day back in the summer of '93. It was the last day of school and we went to see one of the first showings at the local theater. Obviously the special effects were mind-blowing, but what really stuck with me ever since was the open driving experience I saw in the film. I knew from that moment that someday I needed to own one. 25 years later and it looks like I am just a few weeks away from finally pulling it off.

 

[FrenchSSGTMike]

For me honestly it was seeing Jurassic Park on opening day back in the summer of '93. It was the last day of school and we went to see one of the first showings at the local theater. Obviously the special effects were mind-blowing, but what really stuck with me ever since was the open driving experience I saw in the film. I knew from that moment that someday I needed to own one. 25 years later and it looks like I am just a few weeks away from finally pulling it off.

Then you needed a Ford Explorer ! Lol

 

[Phillyfisher]

My grandfather. Growing up in the 70’s, we would spend summer vacation with my grandparents and in his barn he had an old Willys Jeep. It was old, looking back, my best guess it was a CJ2A. It had a plywood cab he made for it, with the window right behind the seats, leaving the back open. It was glorious! I still remember the smell of gas, oil, leather and exhaust. We would put trash cans in the back to take them to the dump. We would ride in the back, holding on to the trash cans, for the ride down the road to the dump. My brother learn to drive stick in that Jeep, and wore a track in the field out back behind the barn. After my grandfather passed, the Jeep ended up at my uncles hunting camp, used to ferry people from their daily drivers to camp. I imagine by now it is nothing more than a rusted out frame and motor, somewhere up in the woods up there. Always loved that Jeep. Never had one, but always wanted one...

 

[brantb]

I inherited my sisters baby blue plymoth neon when i was 16. I absolutely hated it because she beat it to shit and i was a 16 year old kid driving a baby blue neon. It had a horrible exhaust leak so it sounded as bad as it looked. One of my friends had a beat up 92 yj that he was selling for 1k. Sold the neon and bought my first jeep that was in worse condition, but hey, it was a jeep. The ax5 was on its way out and the bearings in 5th were toast making it unusable. I put a 4 inch lift and 33s on it, so that made 5th obsolete. I had to wear ear plugs when driving long distance due to road noise and wind howeling through the leaks. I could however make it out to camps, go hunting, and go through something deeper than a couple inches so i didnt care.

 

[Sheepjeep]

pow pow power wheels

 

[Jrbrannan]

I was in a restaurant when I was 15 and they had a white CJ5 when you walked in. My dad and I had been talking about what kind of car I was going to get when I turned 16 earlier in the day. He looked at the CJ and said what about something like that? I was like are you serious? He was and the thought of driving anywhere I wanted to with no tops or doors was just too much. A couple weeks later I bought my first of my Jeeps a 1984 CJ7 with a 350 out of a Camaro. That thing was BA. Ever since I have been hooked. It is impossible to not smile when you are rolling around with no tops and no doors wind blowing through your hair.. even though I have no hair anymore. They are just such great vehicles which serves so many different purposes.

 

[MockBarbecue82]

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