Last week Mary and I bought a Jeep Wrangler. It’s the second one we’ve owned.  Our first one was a Wrangler Renegade – just a bit larger than a regular Wrangler. (It had square headlights too.  Not a true Wrangler, as some purists claim.) It also had a fiberglass hard top, which was heavy, and a pain the neck to remove.   

This one is different.  For one thing, it’s used.  We bought it from a good friend and excellent mechanic who owns his own garage and specializes in reconditioning Jeeps.  It is a 1997 Sport with 118,000 miles on it.  The blue book value on the thing is $6700. We got it for $5500.  (The fellow who we bought it from is Jim James, and he owns Heether’s Garage in Coventry, CT. I will trust Jim exclusively with the maintenance and care of the vehicle, and I am sure that the thing will live for well over 250,000 miles.)

Except for a rip in the driver seat, the vehicle is in mint condition.  Six cylinders. Rag top.  Five speed. Four wheel drive on the fly, of course. The vinyl top is brand new, and it’s all held together with Velcro strips and zippers.

We bought it for our place in FL. (We have a house on the water in Palmetto, FL on Terra Ceia Bay, which is a small inlet off of Tampa Bay.) Usually, Mary drives her Mitsubishi Eclipse down there every January and then drives it back in early April. The Wrangler will be left down there.

I drove the thing to work yesterday, about 50 miles round trip. I had forgotten how much fun Wranglers can be!

There are certain things you need to understand when you buy a Wrangler:

1. There is no trunk to speak of.  If you’re going to go grocery shopping, take your other car.

2. Be careful when taking corners with the top and doors off.  I had a German Shepherd fall out of the back once.  (She was fine.  The incident took place on my road less than 100 yards from my driveway.  Pal was standing up the back. As the Wrangler took a corner, she lost her footing, fell over the side,  rolled around on the ground, got back to her feet, and jumped back into the back seat.)

3. Keep an eye to the sky when you have the top off. It takes a few minutes to put the rag top back on.  If you have a hard top and it’s off when it starts to rain…you screwed because the top is back in your yard somewhere.

4. There is a distinctive and satisfying snap every time you push the stick shift into the next gear.  The machine is light and short, and, combined with the power of the six-cylinder engine, it is incredibly responsive because of these things.

5. The Wrangler is not a luxury car.  If your idea of great transportation is elegant and quiet, get a Lexus. The Wrangler bounces and jangles and rattles and bumps along with the suspension like a smoothed out lawn tractor. Which is wonderful if you expect it. (And with the 4.0 liter engine and six cylinders, the thing is quick and powerful…just not very smooth. Kind of like, I would imagine, riding on the back of tiger.)

It is SO MUCH FUN taking the doors and the roof off when it’s eighty-five degrees and sunny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ragtop and the sides simply unzip, and they can be folded up and slipped into the backseat.  (With the Renegade, when we took the fiberglass top off, I needed a socket wrench and another set of arms to lift the thing off the body and set it down on a wooden pallet behind the garage.)

When driving it to work the other morning, I was reminded of something that surprised me back when I first owned my Renegade; there is an unofficial, secret society of Wrangler owners. Much like motorcyclists and owners of the old VW Micro Buses, when one Wrangler driver meets an oncoming Wrangler, they both wave to each other.

Dumb. 

I don’t do it. Not because I’m some kind of snob or something. It’s just that I feel self-conscious and silly doing it. I’ve never been much of a joiner.

However, I must admit that I do feel real pride in owning and driving a Wrangler. And, if I ever did decide to wave to other Wranglers, I definitely would not wave to those new FOUR-DOOR Wranglers! Guess I am something of a purist and a snob after all! I mean, a Wrangler is a Wrangler is a Wrangler!   And a Wrangler has one door on each side, a rear hatch, round headlights, and drain plugs in the floor for when you get caught in a sudden downpour with the top down. (Trust me; it happens! More on this in another blog.)

I don’t usually get excited over vehicles. A car is usually just something to get me from one place to another. I know this post sounds like a Wrangler commercial. Can’t help it. I really, REALLY, REALLY like Jeep Wranglers!