What's your first Jeep memories

[Bananaman]

Going hunting with my dad (1978) in his friend's Jeep. Late 40's, early 50's model. Took the back roads as it didn't go past 50 mph.
Got hooked on Jeeps ever since.

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[WilldWilly]

1970 CJ5 with a stock Buick V6. It was red with black top and doors. Nothing fancy. I started with a gen one Bronco, and this was smaller, and got into tight spots the bronco could not without damage. I then purchased a Brown 78 Golden Eagle CJ7 with a 304 V8. They were fun, but life got in the way and I needed a Truck. I have owned a few Jeeps since then. A 95 Cherokee, 2015 JK Unlimited, 21 JL Willys unlimited, and two JTs to date.

 

[verde]

My first Jeep.
In 1999 I bought a 1981 CJ 7 that was sitting outside a mechanics shop. It didn't run. I did some repairs and got it running. It was smoking more than I was willing to tolerate so I put it in a friends shop. I ordered a re built motor and we started pulling it out. Ended up taking it down to the frame and discovered it was bent. I found another frame and I was on the way to doing a frame up total restoration. New paint including firewall, tub and dash. All knew everything. The anticipation of riding in it at the deer lease was huge. It had full doors and a factory hardtop. I went on a few jeep outings and had fun but learned that carbureted jeeps don't like being straight up and down. I kept it long enough to take to the ranch and have a blast in it . Then I saw what a fuel injected TJ could do. I knew right then I'd soon have one.

I towed it behind a motorhome to Kodiak Alaska from central Texas in 2003. The state ferry took us from Seward to Kodiak. It was great exploring the island. I hadn’t thought about that in years.

I dug out this pic from a box in the garage. I was taking a friends son for a ride.

Edit: My first memories in a Jeep were with my Father and Grandfathers. Grandad lived in McAlester Oklahoma and was a sportsmen. Hunting and Fishing was his passion. He had his first heat attack deer hunting in Grand Junction Co. He had quail dogs and loved taking them out.
Verde

 

[Sw00per]

if you know you know.

 

[embedded rock]

Back in about 1980 I drove a red CJ with a V8 and a manual transmission in Phoenix, AZ. That CJ was loud, vibrated, stiff clutch, and zig-zagged down the road. No casual driving that thing.

 

[cb4017]

Early 70s a Navy CPO and friend I worked for had a flat fender Jeep. He was literally like a dad to me. We roamed all over the mountains above Sedro Woolley and Burlington in that thing.

In my career I wanted to be a CPO so I could be like him. I made it.

As I recall he had put a Buick V6 in it. Good times.

RIP Warren.

 

[NC_Overland]

I’ve always told my parents that I blame my Jeep sickness on them. They brought me home
from the hospital in one.

 

[DouginNC]

My dad's 81 CJ7 and my uncle's 78 CJ5 each with 3 kids bouncing on the backseat, tearing around Allegheny State Park chasing black bear from camping loop to loop. I've been hooked since.

 

[biplaneguy]

1970 or so, my older sister's boyfriend (later husband) had a 1949 Willys with a plywood hard top on the cab. When visiting my sister at college he gave me a ride. He wanted to take the "overland" route, but couldn't get over the snowbank so we took the road. I was still pretty smitten with the idea. Later after I graduated in '81, one of my own college buddies and his brother got brand new Samurais and properly introduced me to the off-road world. He'd come over for dinner, my pregnant wife would want ice cream, so we'd take the Samurai through the woods to get her ice cream. My own first Jeep came a few years later in the form of a DJ-5 (postal Jeep).

Sadly, the overland route to the ice cream shop is gone, and so is the ice cream shop.

 

[ByrdEngr]

My dad had 1978 CJ5, Renegade trim with the Levis interior when I was born in '81. He had that until my sister was born in '83. Of course I don't remember it, but there are pictures of me in it. Dad traded that in for a '78 J10, which I do remember. It was a tough truck, I rember it had the 360 and Quadratrac, and I have a memory of it pulling dump trucks through the mud on construction sites. He ran that tuck into the ground and in about '88 or '89 bought an '86 J10. I thought I was going to inherit that truck when I turned 16. Then just before I got my license he traded that truck in for a 1-ton Ford. *puke* But it was the right thing to do as he was pulling a skid-steer around in his J10. Although the truck pulled it just fine, it was the stopping that was too exciting.

I've wanted a Jeep truck ever since. Finally got one this past November. I will not be pulling a skid-steer with mine.

 

[Renegade]

1989: First Jeep, at age 16.

 

[Mad Mac]

The first Jeep I drove was not a Jeep.
It was a Ford M151 MUTT pulling an M416 trailer in the mud and snow of the Reforger exercise in West Germany circa 1971. My enlisted driver could not drive a stick so I took over the driving.

The only time I wore a uniform, we had no rank insignia as we were both Special Agents in Military Intelligence. Soldiers assumed since I was driving and he was tall and handsome and I was... not, that he must be the lieutenant and I must be the enlisted man. Both of us rather enjoyed the ruse.

 

[Mud Pie]

I grew up with Willys (not Jeeps) and I posted elsewhere about this pic, but these are my first. My Dad gave me the 1954 Willys M38A1 (right) when I was 14 under the condition I get it running, on my own without help, before I got my learners permit at age 16. I did, he gave it to me. The M38A1 was named Mud Pie (can't see it due to glare). I bought the 1953 CJ-3A next to it for 250 bucks, money I saved from mowing a crapload of lawns. This pic is circa 1977/1978.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Well mine isn’t that far back. 2009-2010 I bought my first Jeep. A 2006 LJ Rubicon. Had it in the Arizona desert with paper plates and got it nice and stuck in some sand on a river bank. Had no idea what I was doing and I laughed all the way down to the pumpkins.

 

[Neomonk21]

My buddy in high school had a late 80s Wrangler and I always liked it. A year or two into college I found a beat up 92 YJ that I bought for $800. The windshield was cracked, it was missing the rear seat, and the owner forgot to mention the transfer case didn't work. I was able to source some used parts locally and got it fixed up. It was a great Jeep and I will always be fond of it.

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