Like most fads in the automotive world, the "rat rod" craze has gotten out of hand. This trend started with guys cobbling together junkyard vehicles that performed well, even if they looked a little rough. Now there are fat-wallet car buffs spending tens of thousands of dollars to have someone build them a new vehicle that looks like a rat rod, which defeats the whole purpose.inline_mediumwraptextright31182807/featuredvehicles/154_0911_1951_willys_m38_sand_rod_dragster154_0911_01+1951_jeep_m38_sand_dragger_rod+side_view.jpgTrue

Most of us can't afford to just write a check for some shop to build our dream Jeep, and Greg Johnson is no different. He has been building his CJ piece by piece for the last ten years. Along the way, he has added some high-tech components; they came not at great expense, but from a lot of horse-trading, hard work, and a little luck. They say that no project is ever truly finished, and that is definitely the case with Greg's Jeep. Greg started the project when he lived in Arizona and currently lives near Reno, Nevada. Instead of waiting for his Jeep to be done, he keeps wheeling it hard all over the western United States and upgrades whatever part proves to be the weak link.inline_mediumwraptextright25821935/featuredvehicles/154_0911_1974_jeep_cj5_4x4154_0911_01_+1974_jeep_cj5_4x4+rock_crawling.jpgTrue

Libertad
I would like to thank you for placing my KJ in your magazine. I can not wait each month for the magazine to arrive and I was completely shocked with it being in there, not to mention honored, since it was my KJ, not our TJ or WJ. I belong to several Jeep clubs. All they do is complain about your magazine and the people behind it for the fact that you won't put a KJ in it, and for the fact that you say it like it is. Now I am facing the wrath by some jealous people saying that my pic is a poser pic and that there are way more worthy KJ's out there. They seem to be plotting some sort of game together to flood you with KJ submissions now since they feel mine was only put in since ya had no other worthy Jeeps to put in. Well, in my eyes all that matters is I made it in your awesome magazine and I will continue to look forward to it arriving each month not just because my Jeep was in it, but because I enjoy your magazine. I am not a Jp hater! Watch out for the flood of KJ pics from all the haters out there trying to prove a point. Maybe some day we will see you out on a trail and ya can see my KJ isn't a poser.Tammy MeyersFrackville, Pennsylvania

Look, before you go getting riled-up, we realize that the only TJ parts on this "Jeep" are the grille and hood. However, there are other factors that make this rig interesting in its own right. Such as the fact that Brett Jerome missed first place by one point, and after the competition was all over, offered rides up and down the Tank Trap in his four-seater. That is to say, he was driving both ways (up and down) the event course that claimed more flops and rollovers than all the others combined, just for fun and liability-be-damned. That's the kind of spirit we like to see at these events, and we wish more people nowadays had Brett's attitude. So here's a look at the rig that missed winning Top Truck by a second.

By far one of the most unique Jeeps we have seen show up for Four Wheeler's Top Truck is this '63 FC-170. Wayne Sheeley likes older Jeeps and felt that something a bit more unique was in order for this year's Top Truck. If the Sheeley name sounds familiar to you, that's because this couple was at Top Truck in 2006 in a Vette-powered TJ with Addie behind the wheel and Wayne spotting. This time roles were reversed, with Wayne driving and Addie spotting, but an LS6 still made an appearance and Wayne sure put on a show with plenty of wheel-standing action and even a backflip in the Tank Trap. Wayne owns a couple of carwashes up there in New York, so the "Washofen" license plate on the FC makes a lot of sense.

When the Jeep Wrangler YJ first appeared on the market, many thought that it spelled the end for Jeep, and it was easy to see why. The same smog-choked carbureted 258 carried over from the CJ line, but it was backed with a crappy Peugeot transmission, lackluster NP207 transfer case, Dana 35 rear axle, and a front Dana 30 with an axle disconnect. Could you ask for a worse drivetrain?

I'm not Madonna. Hell, I'm not even Guy Ritchie. But it seems that once yourname goes into a national publication, you're a celebrity to somebody in some dark corner of the world. And believe it or not, even the lowly editors at Jp magazine get our fair share of stalkers. I've been assaulted with e-mails from readers wanting to meet at Starbucks to talk Spicer 18 tooth counts. I've had more jail mail saying I've got a pretty mouth than I care to think of. And I've even had the "Drop by the house just to see what you're working on, buddy," on more than one occasion. Maybe I've seen Taxi Driver one time too many, but it usually makes me load one in the chamber and sleep a little uneasy at night.

There is no getting around it: This is one big CJ. But then when you take a CJ-7 and sling Rockwell axles and 49-inch rubber under it, you've got to expect something big. Granted, there isn't all that much left of the CJ that this Jeep started life as, but it is still recognizable as a Jeep, it still has a body that sits on a frame, and it just looks cool. Jamie Eulberg was the driver half of this husband/wife team, and her husband, David, wasn't on his first rodeo here at Top Truck.inline_mediumwraptextright26551789/featuredvehicles/154_0910_1984_jeep_cj_7_jeeps_of_top_truck_challenge154_0910_01_z+lifted_1984_jeep_cj_7+hill_climb.jpgTrue

Well, it was a good year with our long-term Grand Cherokee with the 3.0L diesel engine.

In 1951 the military awarded Ford with a contract to replace the M38A1. The new 1/4-ton 4x4 was called the Military Utility Tactical Truck, or MUTT for short. The MUTT utilized coil springs and independent suspension front and rear. Despite the horizontal grill slots, the MUTT is often mistaken for a Jeep. Manny Alvarez's CJ-5 is the real Jeep mutt though, not those rollover-prone Ford military vehicles. Manny picked up the CJ-5 in 2005 with a 21/2-inch lift and 33-inch tires. He purchased the Jeep to use for hunting trips, but after one trip to the Chile Challenge in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Manny was hooked on rockcrawling.

On a recent trip to the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in Reno, Nevada, a particular vehicle caught our eye. It wasn't the Big Oly Bronco or the famed Baja Boot. In fact, it wasn't in the Off Road Hall of Fame at all. As a small part of the National Auto Museum, the exhibit houses over 200 of the late Bill Harrah's 1400-strong car collection, including everything from the Thomas Flyer (Google it...) to Elvis's Cadillac. But the vehicle that captured our attention, though not as old as the Thomas Flyer or as audacious as Big Daddy Roth's Beatnik Bandit, looked like just another Jeep from the outside. It was Bill Harrah's personal ride: a '77 Wagoneer fitted with a Ferrari V-12 engine. And while we weren't able to fire up the Jerrari, shop supervisor Jay Hubbard was nice enough to let us crawl all over the Jeep and provided us with the rich history of the vehicle.

Top O' The Heap
When I bought the June '08 issue I flipped the pages expecting rides too expensive to pay attention to, rig mods that didn't fit my budget, and wheeling in places I can't get to with obstacles too tough for my rigs to tame. I was pleasantly surprised. "Hammer Down Wheeling" had a wide spread of rigs that I would see in my local club. "Doin' the Zombie Dance" and "Versus" actually apply to my demographic (the too cheap to do it right the first time demo), a YJ build that wasn't off the charts ("Off-Highway WHY-J"), an informative article on mileage and performance ("Project Mileage Master"), all topped off by a build ("Recycled"), that gets big results cheap. Thanks! A mag I can finally enjoy and use instead of drool on. You've been promoted to top of the stack on the tank of the throne!
Shawn Norton
Butte, MT

The buzz started several years ago when our fighting boys and girls began sending photos of these cool-looking long-wheelbase TJ Jeeps the Egyptian military was driving around in the deserts of the Middle East. What were these stripped-down, beefed-up, diesel-powered dream Jeeps and why couldn't we buy one over here? Well, you'll have to thank Uncle Sam's bureaucrats for that one, but at least somebody has finally found a way to get a military-spec, seven-slat vehicle to the US public.

There are three questions we get asked about Moab, Utah, more than any others.

Relax, you didn't miss a touchy-feely get together like the title of this story implies.Rather, Trasborg and Hazel ran around like fools in search of leprechaun gold during the 43rd Moab Easter Jeep Safari in the spring of '09. And while no actual gold was found, they did run into more than one cool Jeep treasure while out and about. So, whether by casual conversation, covert clandestine operations, or simply by banging a U-ie and chasing the owner down, we were able to nab photos and specs of a few neat Jeeps we met up with. Want your chance at making this story next year or just want to enjoy some of the world's most killer wheeling? Check out the Red Rock 4-Wheeler's website at rr4w.com for info and factoids on next year's Moab Easter Jeep Safari. You bring the cool rides, we'll bring the cameras. See you there.

Man, are we sick of concept cars. And we bet if you've got a pulse you are too. You see 'em at all the major auto shows with their overly Armor All'd tires and plastic seats that crack if you even look at them hard. Zero function, 100-percent fluff. Most are dreamed up by guys who wear suits to work every day and play polo on the weekends. Then public focus groups, dorky designers with pocket protectors, and Madison Avenue fashion-types shape these horror shows into something more likely found in an '80s Sylvester Stallone movie set in the year 2018 than in real life. The companies then orchestrate a gala unveil before a sea of pantywaist newspaper and men's journal photographers who slobber over them as if they held the cure to male pattern baldness. There's no heart in these window dressings. No soul. No thrill. But for the last several years Chrysler's Mopar Underground has been changing that.

I had to read the "International Buys Jeep!"story twice. Is this an April fool's joke?I understand GM and Cerberus top executives have been talking about a merger, but yourscoop that Jeep is being sold to International was a complete surprise and music to my ears.A '10 JeepWrangler with not one, but two V-6 diesel engine options?If your"deep inside" Chrysler source rumors are true,a 25-mpg torque-happy 3.0L Mercedes diesel Jeep Wranglermay find a home in my garage next year.Keep up the great articles, and I am looking forward to the next issue.David SpreitzerNewport Beach, California

Phony Spotter
Your April fool's joke this year was recognized immediately, and it was not funny.Jeremy AdamsVia jpmagazine.com

In the June issue we tried to break the huge news about the all-new Grand Cherokee as gently as we could-which for Jp meant sugarcoating it as, "We bet it'll be less capable than its predecessor." As for the rumors? Mercedes-Benz M-Class chassis and four-wheel independent suspension. As for reality? Mercedes-Benz ML chassis and four-wheel independent suspension. There's not enough sugar, people.

A huge sticking point in the program was that marketing estimated they could sell 2,500 units each year while the engineers behind the program thought 10,000 was more realistic. Nearly everything that made up the Rubicon package except the tires and decal would be hidden, so marketing had a very hard time believing that more people would pony up the roughly $6,000 that the package would cost. The initial tooling was set up to build between 4,000 and 5,000 vehicles the first year. The company ended up taking orders for that many before the fist one went down the assembly line, which sent the team scrambling to increase the supply of transfer cases, axles and tires.

Despite the extremely smooth Gladiator concept truck from a few years back, AEV's bitchin' Brute truck, and the recent buzz created by the Moab appearance of a couple of JK Wrangler-based Jeep trucks, the jive turkeys at Jeep corporate have not sold a Jeep pickup within the U.S. borders since 1992. This has prevented cool cats like us from laying any cargo between Jeep bedsides for some time. So when Jeep corporate can't commit to building the fly Jeep truck you are jonesin' for, you just have to build it yourself. That's exactly what one smooth operator named Jeff Scherb, a retired Information Technology and Operations Executive from Elmira, New York, did. The result is this well-engineered Jeep pickup that looks like the Jeep that Jeep should have built. This Jeep's look combines design cues from past and present.

Readers Cheap
Thanks for the "51 Cheap Tips" article (March '09). I would be willing to bet that the readers out there have some great tips that could be shared with all Jp magazine readers. How about doing a reader's cheap tips down the road somewhere? I'll even throw in my cheap tip: Ever lose something down behind the gap between the dash and the firewall in your JK? Go get a foam pipe insulator from your local hardware store (about two bucks) and cut it to length and slide it into the gap. It works like a champ and you never have to worry about losing your wallet, pen or cell phone behind the dash again.Miles NewsomeWichita Falls, Texas

Attention Military Geeks: This Month's Puzzle Is For You!
OK, so it's for the rest of you, too. Test your knowledge about the whos and whats of the era-everything from the way stuff was built and how the Jeep came to be to the bigwigs of the day. The answers are on page 72. But you don't need them, right? Right.

Unlike many other magazines, when we are given a vehicle to test as a "Long Term" vehicle (read: "Here, borrow this for a year and tell the world what you think") we actually test the thing for a year and try to use it to the utmost. We don't beat on the thing for two or three weeks and then let it sit in the parking lot collecting dust. You see, we are Jeep guys at heart who happen to write a magazine, and we try to use the vehicle like you would, complete with doing our own maintenance in our own driveways.

We don't know if the Rev drives a Jeep, but he was the inspiration for the Wagoneer shown on these pages. In addition to being a huge Jeep fanatic, Brian Errea is also a fan of Reverend Horton Heat, so he used the Rev for motivation on his latest Jeep project: a lowered Wagoneer cruiser. Errea began this build with the idea of creating a stylish cruiser without spending a lot of money, and he accomplished that goal. It isn't the best looking or most capable Jeep we have ever seen, but it is definitely unique.