Thursday, July 1, 2010

$80,000 for a real Jeep?

The CJ series was amazing in its simplicity and durability.  I miss the hell out of my old CJ-7, with its Iron Duke 4 cylinder engine, 4-speed manual (non-syncro super-low 1st, baby), Warn hubs, rag(ged) top, single pull-out floor mat, and hose-down interior.  The current Wranglers and H2s and things of that ilk are a poor symbolic tip-of-the-hat to the original concept of a rugged go-anywhere tin box on a 4WD ladder frame – about all they share is a boxy body and (sometimes) 4WD.  I guess they sell, but they're not really something you want to throw a sandy net and a mess of bloody mullet into the back of while you careen down a beach with a lukewarm Schlitz in one hand.
Now the hot-rod custom builder Icon has resurrected the original concept with their CJ3B, and it's even better than the old CJs ever thought of being.  But for $80k, it damned well ought to be.  Here's a review, courtesy of Fox News.
I don't know.  On one hand, it's a really cool, capable vehicle, and a lot more off-roadable than any stock CJ ever was.  On the other hand, you'd have to be rolling in dough to use something like this the way it's intended to be used.  Here's hoping that somebody takes the concept one step further and makes a cheap 4WD skinny tin box again.

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