Why buy a Jeep
How did this all get started?
To start with, I grew up
on a
large farm in Africa (Kenya),
land of Land Rover, Toyota and Datsun. When
Suzuki came out with their first 'jeep' like vehicle in the mid 70s, we
had to get one. The first ones were soft top LJ50 with a 750cc 3 cylinder 2
stroke engine. Top speed was 45mph! After a couple years, we traded our
soft top in for the new 4banger with a hardtop (LJ80) and a bigger engine. The soft
top 'zuks
were a blast to tear around the farm in. They were unbelievably light, so
much so, that one actually started to float away crossing a flooded river,
and essentially never got stuck.
December 1996, I decided that I wanted to test drive a jeep - just
for fun.
After that I had to get one. I considered some older SWB rigs - FJ40, CJ5, CJ7, but
wanted something newer. Missed the Land
Rover Defender (what I really want, but these are really spendy),
as the '97s didnt arrive until March. So in early 1997 we ordered the new more affordable
Jeep Wrangler
TJ. This has turned out to be an awesome vehicle in the dirt. With
some lift and decent tires, I've been able to go almost anywhere I
wanted - without lockers.
After 5+ years with my Jeep, I had the opportunity to get what I really wanted - the Defender. After looking and learning for a couple years, I finally found a local one in pretty good condition. Sadly the Jeep had to go after the Land Rover arrived. We will miss it.
One thing to note all these vehicle are pretty basic, and very noisy on the highway.