It's a Jeep Thing

Over the past 100 years, few vehicles have spawned a sub-culture the like of which Jeep has. To be specific, the Jeep CJ series and its descendants, called the Wrangler today. Wranglers are simply the most capable off road vehicles you can buy out of a new car dealer showroom. From the mighty Rubicon, to the more street oriented Sahara, to the base X model (that can be optioned to near Rubicon capability), Wranglers are all about going anywhere, anytime.

Other manufacturers have attempted to compete with the Wrangler. Hummer, Nissan and Toyota all offer vehicles that very capable on less than severe trails. Nonetheless, the vast majority of those who buy these SUVs will never use them to their full capability. This is in stark contrast to Wrangler owners. At least, it was.

In 2007, Jeep introduced the first four-door Wrangler. Previously considered impractical for families in its two-door guise, the 4-door suddenly changed the basic demographic of Wrangler drivers. People completely new to the Wrangler are often ignorant of the culture. They don't understand that Wrangler drivers always wave to other Wrangler drivers. They don't realize that getting the Jeep muddy is a rite of passage. Not venturing off road is almost sinful.

Wranglers have always been a lifestyle statement. The desired image is often that of rugged individualists who want to the world to recognize that they will not conform to society's norms. The new reality is that this often not the case. More so now since the 4-door was introduced.

Wrangler owners have always been scornful of the so-called Hummer “mall crawlers”. So the sudden influx of generation X and Y moms driving around in Wranglers comes as a shock to the deep rooted traditional Jeep social structure. Go back just three years and you'll find that many women who owned Wrangler, took them off road. Even if this was limited to a beach or mild trail, most of the ladies used the vehicle's capability. With the growing number of female Wrangler Unlimited drivers, the percentage of ladies hitting the trails is dropping relative to the total population of female owners. It's now common to see one or more child safety seats strapped into the back of four door Wranglers.

Indeed, the ultimate horror for a Wrangler owner is to have some ignorant person state that “your Jeep looks a lot like a Hummer”. I had this happen in the dealership parking lot. A thirty-something female in a minivan made that exact comment.

“You’re joking, right?”, I asked.

“No”, says the lady. “They look alike”, she replied.

“In what ways?”

Looking perplexed, she says, “I don’t know, they just do.”

“I see, four wheels, four fenders, four doors and big tires…. Would it matter to you if I said that the Jeep was around for nearly 60 years before the Hummer?”

“That Jeep is not 60 years old.”, the lady replied.

It was clear that she wasn’t going to get it if Fed-Ex dropped it off. Climbing into the Wrangler, I wondered how Darwin missed this one.

Jeeps evoke various reactions from people. A Wrangler is a completely masculine vehicle, and that intimidates some people, while others admire its "in your face" demeanor. Sitting alongside a Rav4 at a traffic light, it's like Clint Eastwood sharing a table with Don Knotts.

One afternoon, I spot late model Vette owner walking around my Jeep in a parking lot as I approached.

"Nice Jeep", he stated, "I like the color."

"Thanks, the color is red rock crystal."

"How does it drive?"

"It drives like a Jeep. Better than the previous model, but it's still an off road vehicle."

"Yeah,", he said, "the Vette spoiled me."

I smiled, "I'm sure it has. Wranglers are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Corvette. Tall, rough ride, not much in the handling department."

He understood the point. "Not really very good road manners, I guess."

"True", I agreed, "but you don't buy a Wrangler for its road manners anymore that you buy a Corvette for its luggage capacity. Different purposes, completely different vehicles. Both are great fun in their own niche."

He was in agreement. I unlocked the door and held out the keys to him.

"Want to give a try"?

His initial reaction was hesitation.

"Go ahead, you might find it better than you think."

"Alright", he said. I climbed into the passenger seat.

After about a 15 minute drive around town, we pulled back into the parking lot. I had learned that his name was Bill, he was married with seven year-old twin sons. His wife drives a Honda minivan, and he drives a 2004 Trailblazer to and from work.

Bill was very impressed with the Wrangler. It was simply fun to drive. He was very surprised at the quality and layout of the cabin, as well as the relative quiet.

Before we went on our separate ways, we exchanged business cards.

About two months later, I get a call at work from Bill. He had traded his Trailblazer in on a new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4 door) with dual tops (hard and soft). He said that his wife and boys absolutely loved it. So, Bill now has both ends of the car spectrum covered, with a minivan filling the middle. He said that they were all looking forward to driving up to Cape Cod with the top down. I know that they will have a blast.

It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand....