“David, can you please fix the garage?” my wife Elise asked me on Sunday. “You barely have any time to do house stuff, and today you’re free.” She’s right about the first part — The Autopian really does take up all of my time, and the garage does need to be fixed — but she wasn’t quite right about the second part. I wasn’t exactly free; I had a Jeep to look at.
Convincing Elise that me looking at another Jeep somehow made sense was… a challenge. Frankly, I was unable to successfully do it before heading out the front door, and that did weigh on me a bit as I drove my BMW i3 to follow my own advice, which I dished out last week in my article “Why The ‘Early’ 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee Is The Best Deal In All Of Jeeps.” I think writing that article altered my algorithm, serving me an ad for a gorgeous early-1993 Jeep ZJ for sale for just $2,300. The car looked minty fresh in the pictures aside from a bit of front-end damage and some sap on the paint.
“Surely this isn’t that clean?” I thought on my way to East LA to take a look. Upon arrival, my fear was confirmed: This thing looked amazing. A previous owner had repainted it, and though the paint job was probably a decade old and had plenty of small flaws, overall it looked quite nice. Plus, the ZJ was completely rust-free and had only 95,000 miles on the clock.
I negotiated a $1,700 deal, and before you knew it, I had been convinced by my own article to purchase an AW4-equipped Jeep ZJ (that’s the good Aisin transmission that basically lasts forever).
Why? What’s the point? While there is a possibility of this Jeep being yet another “It’s too nice, I’d rather just have a beater” situation that I’ve found myself in far too many times at this point, the idea to buy this Jeep followed a realization: My red “Holy Grail” ZJ project is simply never going to happen. It’s over.
The number of obligations I have these days is borderline overwhelming, and if I find myself with enough time to undertake the massive project that is my Holy Grail 5-speed ZJ, then I’ve somehow failed. My focus is on building The Autopian into the best business possible, and on my family, and after building a WWII Jeep from scratch in my driveway, I’m both fatigued and at the end of my wife’s proverbial rope.
Yes, I towed this red ZJ all the way from Michigan, but do I want it and its parts car (below) to sit another two years, four years, six years? No, the former has been sitting dormant for half a decade, and the parts car has been there a couple years already. Given how big this project is (the Jeep needs its engine removed and de-sludged, the entire interior needs to come out to be replaced, it needs a new exhaust, the fuel tank needs to be swapped, etc etc), it’s time to realize that blessings in my life mean there won’t be any time to make this project a reality. It’s gotta go.
To help soften the blow of this realization, I am welcoming the $1,700 low-mileage purple ZJ into my fleet. I’ll enumerate its flaws in a future article, but for now, as was the case with the sale of my beloved Gold i3, it’s time to make rational decisions in the name of The Autopian and my family. My decisions these days are going to prioritize long-term financial health for my family and this company, and free up time.
Hopefully this 1993 Jeep ZJ isn’t a steaming pile. More on it soon.
Top graphic image: David Tracy
Divorce is a hell of a thing. It takes away everything a man’s got, and everything he’s ever gonna get.
Commenters: David, make sure you take care of yourself in addition to your family and your business.
David: Done.
David! remember to bring your lawyer to court today. Said my soon to be ex-wife Elise (not her real name but a good fake name) as I was heading out to look at my 73rd. Used jeep. I suddenly realized I hadn’t bathed in possibly a week or so and that may have an impact on the custody….
As a portal for the Cat Distribution System, the Holy Grail ZJ has completed its appointed task. Its job is done.
She told you to “fix” the garage.
Now that you relapsed and picked up another stray, its perfect timing to clean that place up cuz you’ll be relegated to the garage once she finds out.
The never ending circle of David Tracy and his holy grail jeeps.
Despite what you wrote to try to convince everyone, I’m glad to see that the real reason you sold the i3 was to fund a Jeep purchase.
Probably should’ve put that $1,700 into getting a better i3 instead.
Just spitballing here, but what are the odds you could convince the likes of SWG, or some of the member horde, to aid in the wrench time of these vehicles?
Like, not that you’d be hands-off. But many hands makes light work, and could compress a month of solo tinkering into a weekend with the right crew.
I’ve contributed many hours of labour in exchange for beer, pizza, and good company.
Tomorrow, on The Autopian:
“I’m sleeping in this low-mileage Jeep until things smooth over and boy was it comfortable!”
G-d be with you in your quest, sir.
Next week on the Autopian, “So, California is a community property state…here’s how to register your assets to a corporation to protect it during a divorce.”
So yeah, getting her to downgrade to a Bees Forks ain’t gonna happen.
Yup, get her the Lexus RZ
David, no…
This was the cat jeep, right? It feels bad have called this, but unfortunately the eventual outcome was pretty clear.
It’s not that the cats made the car unfixable… They were a symptom of a situation that was not improving.
A [borderline worthless] non-running car, with missing body parts and no interior has everything stacked against it.
Resurrecting vehicles like that is generally not worth it unless you have literally NOTHING else to do with your time.
LOL, it’s a 33 year old $1700 Jeep. It cannot possibly be “too nice”.
So David, have you actually SOLD the Holy Grail ZJ and it’s accompanying parts vehicle?
Or are you just adding to the hoard?
David, don’t ever change!
Some day you just might find the “Biblical” Holy Grail!
Legendary, Holy Grail, Biblical, Sword of Justice, Holy Hand Grenade, Michigan Rust Free ™ Jeep Royale with Cheese
Can confirm: investing in more time is the best investment to make at this stage in life!
I followed the advice of “buy the best example you can afford” when buying my mini, which was a great move.
Cause with a situation similar to David’s, it took me 4 months to do what I previously would have accomplished in a couple weeks, tops.
At this stage in life, money has to be substituted for what used to be paid for with time.
Damn you, I’m looking for one in the northeast and ones for even 2X the price are in terrible condition.
Regardless of condition, it IS a $1,700 Jeep. Use it and abuse it (within reason) guilt-free. Build this one into the family overlander you were talking about maybe in the “factory plus” style you were raving about recently.
Solid choice, David. I think we as a car community need to normalize cutting one’s losses and getting rid of stalled project vehicles rather than keeping them in limbo forever.
The purple one looks like a much better start for a project.
I wish the Autopian made enough money that David would be able to pay some shops to do the work on the Holy Grail – while allowing him to dive in and do some wrenching when the spirit/schedule is in favor.
Eep. This is me and my 2,000-car collection (they are in 87th scale), of which circa 400-500 are handmade resin cast models which will need building. Maybe once the kids are in college…
Does it need $38K in repairs like a certain old LR?
That would be a lot of duct tape, and bailer twine.