Perfect 10

Unknown Owner's '53 M-38
The 40th Annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari, August, 2006
Again, it's an orange-hued flattie, and Hazel is the one writing this story. What did you expect? Actually, no matter what color it was, this flattie had it all. For starters, the 33s were shoved under the fenders despite the low-slung stance and the 1-inch springs were just right. A Dana 44 front axle was shoehorned in just below the Buick 225's oil pan, and the Warn locking hubs on the rear prove the tow bar on the front bumper gets used. All of the military plaques were still on the dash, unpainted in their original brass. The air locker switch in the dash showed us that there was at least one pneumatic locker while the power-steering conversion and full cage proved it gets used off-road.

Brent Burton's '97 Wrangler four-door
'06 Top Truck Jeeps, September 2006
When we say there's nothing small about Brent's stretched four-door Wrangler, we really, really mean it. Everything about the Jeep, with the exception of the body width, has been increased. For starters, the rig rides on massive 53-inch Michelin 16.00R20 XZL tires and front and rear steering Rockwell axles with upgraded 47-spline gundrilled shafts. There's a 2.72:1 Klune-V Underdrive in front of a 32-spline NP205. Even the LS1 has been stroked to increase its displacement and help generate 425 hp.

Ron Schoonard's '49 Willys Jeepster
Meticulous, September 2006
Both Cappa and Trasborg both started their voting arguments off by saying, "Who cares if the body is the only thing Jeep left." But that can pretty much be said of a lot of cool "Jeeps." Ron's Jeepster is all kinds of high-tech and clean-build rolled into one tight, nimble package. The front and rear three-link suspensions are grafted onto the Blazer frame and control the Dana 44 and 9-inch axles via Fox coilovers and hydraulic bumpstops. A potent LS1 gulps air and throws power back to a TH700R4 tranny and Atlas T-case. This rig embodies the whole package in what we look for in a feature vehicle. Clean building, functional design, a body style that isn't overused, and high attention to craftsmanship and detail.

Jeff Nasi's '67 M-715
Cover Vehicle, August 2006
True, he's pretty high up on the Primedia food chain, but that's not going to stop us from making fun of his hat. While we call it an M-715, about the only thing left of the original Kaiser military pickup drivetrain is the T-98a transmission. The rest has wisely been tossed either in the scrap heap or in Hazel's M-715. The 330hp GM Performance crate 350 feeds a Dodge NP205 T-case, a Chevy Dana 60 front axle, and a Chevy 14-bolt rear. The axles hold Detroit Lockers and 4.56 gears. Off Road Unlimited in Burbank, California, did a really clean job on the full front and rear cage that protects the front two buckets and the two bench seats mounted in the bed. It's the eight-passenger party bus, but our favorite part is that Jeff's ride still sports all the military trinkets and widgets-from the radio antenna to the pioneering tools strapped to the bed.