1980 Jeep CJ5
Chris' Jeep CJ5
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This was my first car. I will always want another Jeep, but probably never have one. They are not the most practical cars, but they sure are fun.
I got this car the summer I turned 16, 1993. My parents and I had searched around for a car before we found this one. I didn't like it at first, but it really grew on me. First, I hated that it was a stick shift. I didn't pick up it as fast as I wanted, and at one point jumped out of the car and screamed that I would never drive a stick again. Boy was I wrong. I finally got it down, but wasn't too pleased with it’s color – blue with a blue top. I rarely put the top and and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was unique.
I set about customizing it just a few months after owning it. I pulled out the sheepskin seat covers and went with just the vinyl seats. Then I added a set of larger tires and wheels – not so big that it needed a lift kit, but much larger than what was on there. It really gave the car a lot more attitude. Later the muffler broke, and we added a flowmaster muffler to it. That sure increased the obnoxious factor. But I loved it. I wanted to do more, but that was all I ended up doing (although my brother later added a set of fog lights to the front bumper when it was his car).
This car was everything I wanted. I got to take it off road a little, drive on the beach a little, and hardly ever put the top on. Boy it got cold with no top and no doors. Sometimes it got more than just a little wet as well.
There isn't much I can say about the performance. It wasn't much of a performance vehicle. It wasn't really all that fast and didn't handle really well. The bigger tires made the speedometer read a little high and they sure didn't like driving through water. But none of that mattered.
Maybe some day I will get an opportunity to have another Jeep. Just a weekend plaything. Probably not. But at least I had the chance.