Not A Jeep
I am a long time subscriber and really enjoy your magazine. I do have a question regarding "Military Brats" (Jan. '09). One military vehicle missing was the M422A1. It was also called a Mighty Mite. As I recall it was built by American Motors in the early '60s for use in Viet Nam. As I remember it featured an all-aluminum V-4 engine. In stock form it could out-climb any other Jeep I have ever driven. Actually it was this Jeep that got me into four-wheeling 36 years ago.Jerry ScottVia e-mail
I don't really consider the Mighty Mite a Jeep. It's true American Motors Corporation built the Mighty Mite. However this was long before AMC bought Jeep. It is Jeep-like though.
Real Jeeps Please
I enjoy Jp magazine a lot. It's a refreshing change from the typical "Parking Lot" show type 4X4 magazine. My opinion is based on 47 years of owning real Jeeps.
It seems that often sight is lost where this all started. How many of these fancy vehicles of today that they call Jeeps have carried thousands of soldiers, fed hungry cattle in blizzards, pumped water for wild horses dieing of thirst and performed countless other tasks without all the horsepower, oversized tires and useless crap people think they need on vehicles today? Please let's not forget the Jeep heritage, the little 38 horsepower flatfender Willys with 6.00X16 tires that we owe all this to.Buzz StambaughMaple Valley, Washington
Forgot The Ladies
In your January '09 story ("Off-Road Archetypes"), you forgot a category which I believe should be at the top of the list because of the increasing popularity:
1-The Jeep Girl
These are women who did not want to be in the passenger seat. Our boyfriends or husbands were either not interested in wheeling or would not let us drive so we went out and invested in our own Jeep. We are continually learning how to keep our Jeeps working (with help from Jp magazine) and gaining mechanical skills that greatly impress the men in our life. Our Jeeps are diversified in styles to meet our requirements. You will see us out on the trail having a great time and we are part of the few who will take advice on how to improve.Cat NylundVia e-mail
Addict
I am a Jeep addict. I've kept quiet up until now. "Off-Road Archetypes" (Jan. '09) has brought me out of the garage. You left us out; the Jeep addicts! Oh, you know my type. My dream is to own enough Jeeps that I can walk across the hoods from my backyard to Toledo without touching the ground. I spent my week vacation in the garage building a Jeep. I would rather go wheeling than take an expense-paid trip to Disneyland. I would rather drive a soft top CJ with no heat through the winter than own a new pick-up. I would rather seek out a new project Jeep than the company of beautiful women like Bree-Whoa! Back-up there. I said I was an addict, but I'm not that sick. Thank you for asking. My daily driver is an '81 Scrambler, but my newer-squeeze is a '79 CJ-7 plow Jeep named Patches. Yes I name them. I've included a picture.Tim CrawfordVia e-mail
Cappa Slam
This is the method I use read Jp ragazine in a couple of easy steps. 1.Go directly to the back and look at the Sideways page. Good stuff there.
2. Go a page or so west to the Pajamagram ad. Nice jammys!
3. A few more pages west and it time to read the wisdom of the good Dr. Vern.
4. I don't mean to make the good Dr. Vern feel bad but he is way back there. Randy's Electrical Corner has good info. I am rebuilding a '48 CJ-2A and I am going with the marine battery cable ends. Good idea.
5. And finally after exhausting the pros in the rest of the zine I read Trail Head. I'm not saying it's bad. No, no, no, it's just at the front. Yeah that's it.
If you read the zine in this direction it puts the good Dr. Vern before Randy. (Sorry Randy.) But it puts Cappa where he should be. Eric Bell Arvada, Colorado
I must apologize to my family and friends who I persuaded to subscribe to Jp magazine. We don't subscribe to other four-wheel-drive magazines because we want nothing but Jeeps.
I'm amazed that you don't know if you should write an article about your hot rod Jeep for a Jeep only magazine (Trail Head, Jan. '09). Or that you informed Mr.Brausen that his Jeep Commander doesn't really measure up to a Jeep enthusiast's good read (Mailbag). But somehow you think 12 full pages of RC models in a magazine dedicated to Jeep is what we all want to read about.
The sad thing is that if you take off the 8 full-page RC model advertisements, you have a 4-page article on RC models ("Remote Blowout"). That's longer than most of your Jeep articles. Incredible!
If you're out of ideas for quality Jeep articles, might I suggest that instead of 12 full pages of RC models in a Jeep magazine you put in 12 pages of readers' Jeeps.
It's a Jeep thing, you may not understand, we are all proud of our Jeeps and if we aren't playing with or working on our Jeeps we enjoy looking at other Jeeps. The Jp magazine Web site is loaded with photos of cool rides owned by subscribers.
I know of at least five subscriptions that won't be renewed next year. We are going to subscribe to RC Model magazine; they probably have more Jeep articles. Mike Read Via e-mail