I miss the variety and individuality that Jeeps and Jeep-building once enjoyed. While flipping through several photo archives and back issues (looking for images of the Jeeps that influenced me most, "Influenza" on pages 58-59) I started to realize that we don't have the diversity we did back then. I used to go to events and there were FSJs, YJs, older CJs, newer CJs, flatfenders ... you name it. And they were all built differently. Nowadays I go to an event and it's typically made up of 70 percent or more TJ and LJ Wranglers! And what's worse is nearly all of them are identical -- even ones with Hemi V-8 engine swaps, trick paint, and custom axles are common.
When the TJs came to town, the aftermarket jumped on board like a herd of swimming vermin to a life raft made of cheese. Today you can get anything you could ever imagine (and even some things you can't or don't want to imagine) for a '97-'06 Wrangler. These Jeeps are almost too easy to modify. And thanks to the Internet information super highway, we've added insult to injury by insuring that nearly all of them will be built exactly the same. What happened to experimentation, a learning curve, self-advancement, and picking what works for you? People will often go straight to the Internet, ask someone else what works, and then regurgitate word for word exactly what they were told. They don't necessarily know it to be a fact, but because they read it on the Internet it must be true. Regardless, what fun is there in that? With that mindset you may never try something new with your Jeep or really learn anything at all. You'll simply build it just like 357legshake and 5,000 other people because they all agreed with him. Then when the question comes up again, you'll chime in, making it 5,001 people that think it should be built that way. How boring.
I guarantee that two things will happen by the Fall of '06. Current-model Wrangler people will split into two camps. There will be the people that want and can afford the newer, different, bigger, and presumably better Jeep JK (which you can read about on page 16). And then there will be the '97-'06 Wrangler loyalists that will berate the JK for everything from its floppy-looking front fenders, potentially gutless V-6 engine, oversized stance, "J"ust "K"idding moniker, and so on. And while this battle is taking place, there will likely be a third group of true Jeep-building enthusiasts waiting in the wings to snatch up bargain TJs or LJs that someone decided to dump in favor of the newer model.
As I was writing this, a friend that runs a Jeep wrecking yard called me. We got to talking about older junker Jeeps and how they aren't as inexpensive as they once were. He believes eBay is the reason. His yard went from over 100 parts-Jeeps to less than 20 in only a couple years. Anyone and everyone with a junk Jeep languishing in a barn now thinks it's rare and valuable, and maybe it is ... to one or two people in the entire United States. The market is no longer local, it's nationwide now. So it doesn't matter if Jeeps were once cheap in your area. A seller there can get top dollar elsewhere. That makes the prices higher everywhere. Funny thing is that it ends up costing even more money because you have to pick up the Jeep or have it shipped, perhaps from several states away. I hate eBay for making it possible for some greedy dirt bag to get way too much money for a project Jeep that would otherwise go to a garage-builder Jeep enthusiast. These budget-minded true enthusiasts have, in a way, been forced into the newer models, like the TJ and LJ, because it doesn't make sense to pay way too much for a non-running hulk to build up and spend even more money on to get less Jeep. So I say ban the greedy bastards. Don't buy from 'em, or only buy from those that have reasonable buy-it-now prices. Better yet, let the junky Jeeps sit for a while until the prices drop, and then snatch them up. Or don't buy them off of eBay at all, that's really where the bidding wars bump up the prices to unreasonable levels.
Yeah, I partially blame the Internet for the lack of older, innovatively built Jeeps. But I can't totally bash it because it's that same Internet that makes it possible for someone to get ahold of that sometimes-rare and perfect part that completes their Jeep. I guess the phrase "Everything in moderation" fits here. It's time to see some Jeeps other than '97-'06 Wranglers on the trail. Go ahead, yank that basket-case CJ out of the woods behind the house, snatch up that dirt-cheap FSJ down the street, trade your wife's favorite sofa for your neighbor's non-running flattie, and get started on something old and cool. I wanna see it, and I know lots of other people will appreciate it too. -- John Cappa