With less free time than I’ve ever had in my life, due in part to raising an infant, investing in a wonderful marriage, fixing a 100 year-old house, and running a company, I can no longer “Buy First, Think Later”™ as I have done for the past decade or so. I have to make some tough choices.
The most cars I’ve ever owned at once was 14 — a count that coincided with me living in Michigan and having zero life outside of cars. Fourteen cars was, somehow, at the time, manageable. Now, times have changed, and my house needs a fence and we’re about to install some built-in closets into our office, and my baby requires supervision literally 24/7.


Time is gone. Money is gone. Ergo, some of the cars must go. It is life.
I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking about the cars that I simply cannot let go, and I’ve thought about how silly it is being sentimental about cars. “Don’t let cars control you. Ignore the sentiment and let it go. It’s just a machine” some said when I wrote about my first Jeep, a 1992 Jeep XJ currently rotting in the forest in Michigan.
I think I’m going to embrace sentiment. I’ve owned four XJs, four ZJs, two Grand Wagoneers, two Forward Control Jeeps, a Chevy Tracker, and a bunch of other off-road vehicles. Many have come and gone, but the two vehicles that have stayed are: my first Jeep and my Jeep J10.
Something made me hang onto those vehicles; it’s not that they were in better shape than the others — they were actually quite a bit worse than both my minty 1991 XJ and 1993 ZJ and even my 2000 Chevy Tracker. But I kept the XJ and J10. I kept the former because it was my first car, and I kept the J10 because I believe it is the very ultimate when it comes to trucks: manual, bench seat, manual locking hubs, stamped tailgate, regular cab, 4×4, longbed, gun rack — it’s a truck’s truck, and I love it.
Recently I was offered a two-door manual XJ — the holy grail of XJs. But I’m likely going to pass on it because it needs rust work, and if I’m going to put my heart and soul into a rusty Jeep, it’s going to be my OG:
Yes, it’s not rational. I could find a rust-free XJ for much less than it will take me to fix that one up, but that was my first Jeep. And my J10 has been in my car-family for a decade now:
I’m keeping these two. I’ll fix them up as needed, and I’ll have time and resources to do this because I plan to keep my fleet tight. This means that, in addition to these two OGs, I’m keeping only these four others:
My 2021 BMW i3S
I need a daily driver, as the XJ and J10 aren’t going to cut it given $5/gallon gas here in California. The i3 is the perfect city car — it’s nimble, it’s quick, it’s efficient, it’s luxurious, it’s quiet — it’s a car I love driving everyday. I paid far too much money for it, but it’s a car I plan to keep for life.
My 1991 Jeep YJ
There are two reasons why I have to keep my YJ — the first is that I live in California, and not having a convertible is blasphemous. The second is that my YJ was my wedding car, which means my wife Elise (not her real name) wants us to keep it. Don’t have to tell me twice!
My Brother’s 1966 Ford Mustang
This 1966 Ford Mustang has been in our family since 2012; it’s my older brother Mike’s dream car, and though he lives in Hong Kong, when he visits, the joy he gets driving his Mustang is irreplaceable. A vintage Mustang in California is also just cool.
My 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee ‘Holy Grail’
This one is controversial. Elise doesn’t get why I want to keep it, Jason doesn’t get it — nobody does. Especially since keeping it necessitates keeping a parts ZJ (at least, until I have the parts off the parts ZJ; then it can get junked).
But this is not rational. If someone has devoted a huge chunk of their life to cars — and Jeeps especially — you’re going to be hard-pressed to convince them to get rid of the best version of a Jeep. And that’s truly what I see what I look at the ZJ above.
I know, it needs tons of work, and ZJs aren’t “handsome” machines or desirable ones, but I believe that, if you can get your hands on one of the 1,400 stickshift models built, you’ve got possibly the best Jeep of all time. No, not the greatest Jeep (that’s the WW2 Jeep); I mean the best combination of capability/versatile per dollar. It’s essentially a Jeep Cherokee XJ — a vehicle beloved my all, including me — but with more space, a significantly improved suspension, and better interior quality. It’s a quiet, comfortable off-road beast with the most reliable drivetrain one could possibly want. There’s a reason why I call it The Grail.
So I’m not getting rid of this one. It’ll be on the backburner for a while, but when I do get to it, it’s going to be glorious.
So just to recap:
- 2021 BMW i3 (daily driver)
- 1991 Jeep YJ (my summer daily driver; this thing is in great shape)
- 1992 Jeep XJ (my first car; a full restoration project)
- 1985 Jeep J10 (my workhorse; I’ll tinker with it and eventually fuel inject it, but for now it’s a runner)
- 1966 Ford Mustang (my classic cruiser; needs a new suspension)
- 1994 Jeep ZJ (overlanding project)
This means I’ll be parting ways with my 1989 Chevy K1500 — a great pickup truck, to be sure, but not one that has my heart. And I’ll say goodbye to my Willys CJ-3B and my Nash.
I realize that some of those choices aren’t rational — the ZJ that’s in a million bits, the J10 that clearly needs work and eventually needs to get through SMOG, and the old XJ that needs lots of love — but I’m going to lean into the sentimentality of it all, because that’s what gives cars meaning. I’ve found that my love for a car isn’t about how nice it is or how little work it needs, it’s about what the car means to me — its story. There’s a reason why so many have come and gone, but my OG XJ and my J10 have stuck around.
Six cars. I don’t need any more. Maybe if a super nice manual XJ or ZJ comes around I’ll carve out some space, and it’s possible I’ll replace the YJ with a Jeep Wrangler JL four-door since I helped engineer it and since I’d like to take my family off-roading without jeopardizing their on-road safety in a vehicle without airbags. But until then, these six vehicles are the ones I plan to drive into the future.
Now we see why you insisted on using that. 😉
Is it really still an overlanding project when there’s basically zero chance of you ever taking it overlanding at this point?
Were you contemplating all of this while watching the gear oil transfusion on the i3?
Phew, very relieved to see the ZJ make the cut, seemingly by the skin of its teeth. Eagerly anticipating updates on that. In its final form, it will be perfection.
Someone gets it!
Let us know when you’re down to what will fit in your own garage & driveway. Including the family Lexus.
Based on a different post, I’m led to believe the new house has a very long driveway. So this list might meet your criteria already.
Here’s a weird idea that allows you to make 2 sentimental cars into one. Yank the engine/transmission/transfer case from the YJ then sell the YJ as a roller for someone to make into an off-road build.
Now put the drivetrain into the J-10. Et Voila! You can pass smog on the J-10, it has fuel injection and a 5th gear. You’ve “kept” the YJ in spirit and you have a truck that’s better to drive and you can keep registering it.
This is the way.
Just wait until kid #2 comes along. You think you don’t have time now? It’s hard to find time to do basic maintenance with two kids taking up all your time.
Kid time demands increase exponentially, not linearly, with n
Exponentially?!
It may be Gaussian with large enough n, but I wasn’t about to find out
I found it to be a non-linear equation. Huge jump on #1, big jump on #2, oh what the heck it’s #3 the food’s in the fridge and the toilet’s over there in that room you’ll fit right in bub anyone hear any crying? Nah, it’s OK.
I’ve heard it said that it gets easier around 4 kids because the older ones can help out. I found 2 kids to be 4x harder than 1 kid, since now each parent can theoretically be occupied all the time
Adulting isn’t fun all the time.
The OBS seems a lot more useful than the J10, but I get it. The ZJ’s, not so much. I get that it’s rare, but on the other hand, it’s rare in a way that very few people care about. I love ZJ’s, but have no interest in a stripper manual one. If it were a ‘niner I’d be singing a different tune.
I also get wanting to keep the XJ, but again, it seems like something you’ll never find the time to go to, and if you do, it’ll be too far gone by that point. You live in the land of rust-free vehicles, just buy a nicer one there and recreate it.
The Mustang would make a cool Cali daily driver.
Aww. (._. )
I’d only keep the Mustang if it’s something you actually want to own, drive and maintain. You keep referring to it as your brother’s but ultimately it’s your responsibility from a financial, maintenance and parking/space perspective. It’d be easier to justify if you were only going to keep two or three cars, but you’re talking six (seven, if you count your wife’s car). IMO it doesn’t make sense to keep it for the sole purpose of him driving it a couple times every 2-3 years if he’s going to remain in Asia indefinitely and has no interest in taking actual ownership or responsibility.
Personally, the Mustang is the one of three I’d keep.
The other two being the Wedding Jeep and the i3.
Wild pitch – once Edison motors comes out with their pickup hybrid kits that would be a great swap for the J10.
I want an update on the cats!
YOOOOOO, PICS??? The resident house obsessive demands pics.
[Discord DMs are open so you don’t dox yourself.]
Also, with all of this room freed up, you need an Elise.
He has one inside the house!
Prediction: The day David finally acquires his “I made this” JL, Elise (not her real name) becomes the new owner of the YJ, and David no longer has to list it as his.
Can we get some details on the sweet craftsmanship of your century house? I was just complimenting my neighbor on their gorgeous garage door from 1924.
It’s wild to think that you’d rather replace the car you got married in than the J10. Especially since the family fits in one better than the other.
I also hope the J10 doesn’t come back to bite you when it comes to working on the 100 year old house and need to haul stuff.
The rest has been said before, but I forsee the XJ becoming that car that Delrin (or whatever thermoplastic we’ve assigned to your child) sees as the car “dad always said he was gonna fix it up” and has to deal with when you pass. Not having any emotional attachment to it.
Yeah, the gap between ‘selling the Chevy’ and ‘needing the Chevy’ he just sold’ is gonna be real short, IMO.
He’s gonna find that the levee is dry in short order.
The J10 runs and drives. I towed my Willys with it last summer! And its 8-foot bed puts the Chevy’s to shame.
It had holes in it.
We may all roll our eyes a bit at another of these articles. But, anyone in the car world has a buddy who regularly sends them long messages with these types of ‘logical’ arguments and rationalizations. DT at least gets to monetize his rationalizations, and I suspect his project cars are tax deductible as they generate content, so who gets the last laugh?
I’ve been telling you all what happens in my car-life for the past decade; no reason to stop now!
None whatsoever, it’s great watching you live thru it so I don’t have too.
Keep the articles coming!
It’s much easier to be married to an enabler.
Me: Babe, I’m going to import another car from Japan.
Wife: It’s so cute!
Bam, that’s the end of that conversation. 🙂 It’s actually harder for me to sell a vehicle.
Me: Love, I think I need to sell my Honda Beat.
Wife: What!? But you love that car! Is there anything I can do to stop you from selling it?
I’ve managed to keep my collection to three cars these days, and I would give you advice, but I also have ten bass guitars hanging on my wall, all of which are either essential or sentimental, a couple of which are holy grails. I can’t lecture Jason either because I have a big stash of Atari 2600, Colecovision, Magnavox Odyssey II, NES, SNES, Genesis and PS1 games.
Anyway, congrats on making some tough decisions.
And I’m looking forward to an article next month about the Jeep you bought sight on scene.
Points for the Odyssey II.
The argument for those items is that they take up very little space that don’t require ongoing costs and don’t have to live in an outdoor environment where they degrade or take up garage space that could be put to better use while still degrading from lack of use. At least that’s how I justify 8 bicycles (I do need to get rid of at least one of them because I never ride it) and my rule is that they all have to serve different purposes, which is a bit of a lie as only one has a more specialized purpose (a road bike, actually a Specialized, and I rarely ride it), but they’re mostly customs with very different themes so it’s feel and aesthetic differences more than purpose.
We need the deets on the bass collection. Please. 🙂
Reading DT’s posts about trimming down the fleet due to life’s complications is giving me serious Navin Johnson vibes.
I don’t have kids and my life is much simpler than DT’s and the projects he is choosing to keep still seem overwhelming to me.
Basically the equivalent of eating 6 slices of pizza instead of 8 and calling it a diet, but its progress!
Also, completely forgot about your Nash….and also feel like there is a car in your fleet that you are forgetting. Wasn’t there a couple more in the last roundup?
There’s the van in Germany, but I don’t think I have any other cars?
Did you sell the cruck/’ute’ down under, aka Project Cactus?
Laurence has the Cactus now and gives us occasional updates on its adventures. Make sure you catch those articles!
What happened to that old van full of toxic stuff you were going to turn into an EV a few years back?
Corporate accounting gimmicks. That’s not his Aztec, it belongs to the company!
I’m impressed you still publish these thoughts with the battering you seem to take in the comments section. I’m totally on board with your decisions. They are clearly the correct ones, since no one else can understand the totality of your circumstances. I love how people act like you cant change your mind or have a change of circumstances and choose to let additional vehicles go.
This is the beginning. As I find I have less and less time, vehicles like the J10 will have to reenter consideration.
I don’t think people expect to change him. After all, he’s been at it for more than a decade and not much has changed. Despite claiming he’s going to fix up a bunch of vehicles, he still has a fleet of barely touched vehicles. Is the fleet smaller? A tad, but it seems to grow and shrink all the time.
I don’t want to act like I’m hating on him, I’m not. But to an outsider, it seems obvious he should at least be prioritizing what vehicle he actually wants to get done. Unless finishing just means getting it barely on the road and then not doing much else; in that case, he’s doing amazingly.
I say this as a person with a project car that I have done absolutely zero to this year because:
I get it, everyone has to balance finances, time, and family. To me, that seems easiest by greatly reducing the number of projects. Am I any better holding on to a project I haven’t gotten to compared to six? To some yes, to others no.
Let’s all be clear, though: I’ve completed a lot of projects. I rescued from the dead all four Moab builds and my diesel, manual minivan. None of them ran, one of them required extensive welding, most of them required engine work, and on and on.
The issue I’ve had is that I’ve not had time for my person cars since I’ve been buying article-fodder cars. Even now, I’m working on the Crosscabriolet and the Aztek and not on my own car. This will continue to be an issue, as we have a big partnership-build coming up; but that’s going to be exciting! Get ready!
Curious: what do the CC and the Aztek need?
We all love David; many of us are just trying to share the wisdom that we learned the hard way. I would be heartbroken if anything I ever wrote caused any of the staff emotional pain.
With that said, David is also a functioning, intelligent adult. He knows full well these articles generate traffic and reader engagement – and reader engagement means he winds up reading our opinions. As long as everyone keeps it civil he can handle it.
IMHO you still have a couple too many Jeeps in the mix. And I don’t know where you park all these things. Maybe behind Gilpin Ford? That’s a luxury few in LA have.
I have a condo garage that fits one Accord. My neighbor manages to squeeze two Minis into hers, but I don’t know why she has two Minis. I’ll have to ask her someday.
The important question…..does she have to drift them in sideways?
The garage and the door opening are quite narrow. So, I don’t see that working out very well.
I can fit six cars at my abode reasonably easily. I’m starting the migration out of the Galpin lot soon.
That’s pretty impressive in that part of that state.
Highly qualified to answer this one: the second mini is so I have something to drive when the first mini is ‘having a day’
Sorry that’s the answer.
Since Beau’s Fiskar Ocean is worth around $00000.00, remove the drivetrain and put in the J10. SMOG solved!
Check out the big brain on Brad!
Great idea!
Honest question:
Now that you have made the “final decision,” are you able to stay off FB Marketplace and CL?
I need to; that’s the key to success!
Ignorance is bliss (to your wallet and time management at least).
This “final decision” is like the word doc that every project has saved to the server “Report_final-revisedFINAL2024-updated07.2025 USE THIS ONE.doc” – we know we are getting another one of these articles in 9-15 months and we look forward to it.
That’s why it was in quotation marks. 😉
And I was probably too generous on the timeline – I am sure there will be a Fall/Winter 2025 edition in the series!
My inclination would be keep the i3, swap the YJ for a JL (because “I helped design this car I love” and being able to share that with your son is probably the best reason to ever buy a car), and keep 1 project (ZJ, XJ, or J10).
Mustang gets a free pass since being a good brother is worth some major positive karma.
YJ -> JL can wait, JLs will be depreciating as used cars for years and YJs are just starting to be seen as classics, the longer he waits to make the trade the more he’s ahead financially.