Perfect 10

Christian Hazel's Project Hatari! '71 CJ-6
Hatari! To the Rubicon, March 2006
Whether you agree with our voting in one of our own or not, the Hatari! CJ-6 was one of the most popular project vehicles the magazine has tackled. Trasborg probably said it best: "(It's) an old Jeep with a great mix of old and new tech. Reliable enough to drive every day and yet not overbuilt as many magazine projects end up being. A project with 31s? Basically, I dug it because it was attainable for the guy who still uses his Jeep as a daily driver." Indeed, Hatari! put the money where it would be best used, such as in the Advance Adapters NV3550 five-speed and power-steering conversions, onboard welder and air system, and Warn 6,000-pound winch, while kicking aesthetics to the curb. Sadly, it's gone, but its oil spots live on in Hazel's driveway.

Greg Zoetmulder's CJ-7
How Fast is Your Jeep?, June 2006
For those who have never followed drag racing, anything below 11 seconds in the quarter-mile is simply cooking. The fact that Greg has dipped this street-driven, steel-bodied CJ into the eight-second range is no less than astounding. We're a little rusty on our horsepower-per-elapsed-time conversions, but we're guesstimating it takes around 1,200 hp to move a 3,400-pound car down the 1,320 in 8.96 seconds at 148 mph. Greg relies on a good snort of boost delivered from a massive ProCharger F2 centrifugal supercharger to get the Chevy 400 to churn out those numbers. If you feel a bit cheated that we haven't included more info on this monster, don't worry. We're currently working up a full feature shoot on this missile.

George Kane's '94 ZJ Prerunner
Grand Runner, June 2006
"I'm all over it like Michael Jackson at a boys school petting zoo." Whatever the preceding Tourettes outburst really means, Cappa's quip best summarizes the staff's enthusiasm over this prerunner Grand Cherokee. While George makes no claim as the builder of this rig, he did buy one hellaciously setup racer. With 4.88s, a 9-inch rear, King bypass and coilover shocks, a custom three-link rear, 35s, and a massive GPS system, about the only thing this thing is lacking is a V-8. True, the 4.0L six lacks a little in the oomph department, but the chassis will never be overrun by the engine.

Dennis Sparandera's '52 CJ-3A
Jeep Shots, June 2006
Hazel just about froths at the mouth at anything painted the right shade of orange. Make it a stock-flavored flattie, and all bets are off. Like Hatari!, this Jeep puts the parts to use where they'll do the most good. The '52 makes room for slightly taller 7.00x16 NDT tires with a small Superlift suspension. A Lock Right in the rear Dana 44, a pair of Superwinch locking hubs, and a 12-volt conversion are pretty much the only deviations from stock in the drivetrain. Taking the easy (and smarter) route, a new body from Willys-Overland was dropped onto the frame and fitted with a Smittybilt rollbar and a pair of comfy-looking seats. This rig looks like it would make one hell of a nice trail cruiser or a fun daily driver.