From the November 2016 issue
After I lost Lloyd, my brain-damaged cat who had vertigo and used to fall out of trees, I never thought I’d love anything so slow this much. But for some reason, two years ago, we bought a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited for my wife. Actually, the reason was simple: She wanted a convertible with four doors that could be used as a tow vehicle. Being cripplingly indecisive, I liked her criteria because they narrowed our choices down to one.
I love putting the top down, which is an immediate experiential upgrade. After two years, we can get it down in about two minutes. I love that all four doors come off—call that a 10-minute job. The exposure is as close as someone with terminally bad judgment needs to get to a motorcycle. I love that it’s got a manual—not a great one, mind you, but whatever.
And I love the Jeep community. Another Jeeper pointed to my filthy Wrangler at a gas station once and asked where I got my mud. Did you know it’s customary for Wrangler drivers to wave to each other when they pass on the road? How rare is it today that strangers bother to acknowledge and affirm one another? Once, while driving a 911 Turbo S, I tried waving to other Porsche drivers. I just got scowls in return, so I switched the wave to a middle finger. When you’re the one in the Turbo S, it’s your prerogative.
Yes, the Wrangler’s tires are loud. Yes, its handling is abysmal. And yes, it struggles to maintain 75 mph in sixth gear while towing our small enclosed trailer. But we love the Jeep because it is great at being what it is and doesn’t much try to be anything else. It’s not an anodyne, ordinary vehicle and so by its very nature inhibits anodyne, ordinary experiences. So we drop the top. We stash the doors in the garage. We chase sunsets—slowly—while the passenger stands above the header, wind in their face. We go Jurassic Parking, crashing through the woods while listening to the movie soundtrack and howling with laughter at every perfectly timed bird screech. But most of all, we go and we do, because the Wrangler lends even the smallest errand a sense of occasion and adventure.
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