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
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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.
We eloped in our 1989 Toyota pickup, back in 1991, so understand the sentiment behind keeping the YJ. We still have the truck, only 385k miles on it. It’s 2WD, 4 speed, 22R not the 22RE so it’s not worth much on the market. Certainly worth more to us. Wonder how many Autopians still have their marriage carriage?
I have a theory that about 90% of remaining Metropolitans are going to die by attrition due to being the low car on the totem pole in most collections.
Glad to see the GMT400 go, can’t stand the things.
The J10 over the K1500 baffles me. The Chevy could be a great truck for another 10+ years given the VAST parts availability. I can’t imagine finding parts for a rusty, yes rusty J10 is all that easy.
You’re married. You need to include Elise’s Lexus as part of your stable.
Depends on the marriage. My husband and I very much have separate car collections. The only one with any sort of debatably shared ownership is the Lancia, which very much started out as mine, but he warmed up to over time and now uses the word “ours” for. He’s earned it by putting in his own sweat equity though. So depending on the specific vibe of the marriage, the Lexus could be 100% Elise (NHRN)’s.
I’m at 6 as well, and can’t really fault your list. Except the J10. As a fellow FSJ AND GMT400 owner, I’d keep the K2500 in a heartbeat over the much cooler FSJ.
I’m currently at four cars, all registered, running, and driving, but I’d really like to just have 3. It’s just that car #4 is the “stable” normal car that can get you anywhere in an emergency in relative safety. Car #3 was supposed to do that but turns out needs an engine!
The J10 is great but I’m with some other people that finding better storage for your brother’s mustang would be a good option. How often does he come back from HK?
I’m sort of in the same boat but with fewer runners. The “stable” car is the one I decided to part with, as I’ve decided I’m just happier when I’m in an old clunker, and with enough of them the reliability is less important.
if you can. Do a hail marry on the ZJ or somehow get the community to help. It’s going to languish unless its convenient and readily available for ou to tinker on it late at night. It would the great all arounder for the family if ever finished. Kids are time warp and that zj will be sitting for years before you know it.
The J10 is going to be pain for several reasons. SMOG and not enough room for entire family, plus does it have A/C? You are going to realize you will have to let it go, do it now. Give it a good cut and polish paint restoration and list it.