Of all the cars I own, there’s one that seems to stop people in their tracks: My 1954 Willys CJ-3B. It’s unusual. Its tall hood — there because Willys-Overland decided to shove a more powerful overhead valve engine into a vehicle designed for a flathead, and didn’t want to do a full redesign — just looks bizarre and gives the Jeep a tall, narrow feel. It’s utilitarian, tough, but also friendly thanks to big, dopey round headlights. Everyone stops me at darn near every gas station to talk about this Jeep. But I just sold it — without question my most interesting car in the eyes of the masses. Here’s why.
I’m the happiest I’ve ever been thanks to a wonderful wife and baby boy, and yet, that happiness has required a shift away from something that has brought me years of happiness: having a double-digit collection of cars.
The one standout thing I’m learning about fatherhood is that there is no replacement for time. My baby boy sits there in his bouncy-chair looking at me with loving eyes. He kicks his legs, bounces back and forth, and just stares, waiting for me to make some funny face or to pick him up and fly him like an airplane through the air. I reach for my phone to reply to a work text, and I know he’s still looking at me. Every second I stare into the abyss that is my cellular device, I’m pained to know that my baby boy — a blessing by all measures, and someone whose formative infant years will fly by in no time — is there, desperate for my attention. It’s like this for 16 hours a day, with the other eight luckily going to a nice, healthy, trouble-free night of sleep each night. (A miracle to most parents, I know).
Luckily, my loving wife looks after Delmar when I’m working, but my return to my house — upon which he looks at me entering the door and smiles an enormous smile — reminds me daily of how much my presence means. It pains me to leave everyday. But it’s life; duty calls, and our setup is better than most; I’m grateful for that.
Time has become more precious than ever, and the way I see money has also shifted. Not only does our old house need some work (plumbing, most notably. It’d also be nice to have a fence to keep coyotes away; last night my wife took the trash out — something that I’ve tried insisting that only I do — and almost walked into one of two coyotes hanging out in our front yard), but I’ve got to provide for a family now in a way that single-me never had to, and then there’s the 529 college savings plan for my child’s future, health care costs, schooling and various club fees and on and on.
This, you can probably understand, represents a monumental shift in my obligations. Whereas before I literally bought any car I wanted, even on the modest Gawker Media Salary (thanks largely to the fact that I just bought broken versions of the already-cheap cars I liked, and fixed them up myself), now years later I cannot just buy a car. Doing so has significant effects on other people.
To be clear, my wife, Elise, has never told me not to buy a car. In fact, I think she’s promoted me buying cars because she sees the joy they bring me. But that joy can only exist without significant opportunity costs. I can’t have $9000 tied up in a 1954 Willys CJ-3B that I only occasionally drive (since its top speed is about 45 mph, it’s not a great daily driver for freeway-centric LA), and only by myself since it’s a deathtrap not suitable for a child seat. It’s pretty much impossible to justify when there are other needs here beyond my own desire to own cool old cars.
And so the Willys is now sold:
Will I ever own another Willys CJ-3B? Probably not. They’re too rare, and beyond that, I think if I own another flatfender it will be one that I off-road frequently. And for that job, I’d really prefer the lower-hood, more-easily-serviceable Willys M38. But not anytime soon.
A few days after the sale, I feel no regret. I don’t think I’ve ever regretted selling a car, and I think that owes itself to the fact that I have plenty of others to love. I’m whittling my collection down according to the plan I laid out last month in my article “Here Are The Six Cars I’m Keeping In My Collection, And Why.” As a reminder, here are the vehicles that made the cut:
2021 BMW i3S — The Futuristic Daily Driver
1991 Jeep Wrangler YJ — The California Convertible (And Also My Wedding Jeep)
1992 Jeep Cherokee XJ — My First Car (To Eventually Be Restored)
1985 Jeep J10 — The Truck’s Truck
1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ 5Spd — The Rare Holy Grail Overland Vehicle
My Brother’s 1966 Ford Mustang
Six cars is still a lot of cars! Four of them are projects, two can be reliably daily-driven (the i3S and YJ). This now leaves only the old Nash Metropolitan and the 1989 Chevy K1500 as the vehicles I need to offload.
I could see myself maybe holding onto the K1500 if there’s not enough demand on the marketplace. No reason to give away a perfectly good truck that could offer me utility in the short term, especially since I’m about to take on my hardest vehicle project yet.
Yes, I’m getting rid of some cars and hopefully bring the count down to six (plus my wife’s Lexus RX 350), but The Autopian just signed a business deal with an epic partner, and that deal is going to have me wrenching harder than I’ve ever wrenched, and against the clock. How I’ll pull this off with a child and while running a car website is… not something I’m 100% sure of, but I’ve got to figure it out. Maybe he can help me reach the tight spots. More on that soon.
For now, I’m glad my CJ-3B has a new home; the buyer, from India, was specifically looking for a CJ-3B, since it’s the Willys Jeep most common where he’s from given that Willys-Overland allowed Mahindra to build them in India under license for decades. He’s going to love my old machine in a way that, right now, I just can’t.
Cool to see you’re taking to fatherhood David ~ my son turns 47 in a few months, whew does time fly .
I’d hang onto that pickup because a decent pickup (i don’t know how good this one is) is worth it’s weight in gold and will always be useful .
Bummer you lost interest in the Nash Metropolitan, if you’d ever driven it you’d understand, I wish my health would allow me to put it back on the road .
It sounds like you chose a good wife, my ex never listened, she’s long gone and trying to get back ever since, my Sweet worries I’ll kill my self working on old vehicles but never says ”no” =8-) .
-Nate
Hi Nate… question: What about a pickup do you find most useful? Do I need a pickup that can tow, or one that can carry things in its bed?
For me, hauling, I can put either old engines / trannies etc. or a complete Motocycle in the bed .
My days of towing home projects are long gone .
A good 1/2 ton full size pickup can do both, don’t be a boob like so many and expect to tow at 75 + MPH then be surprised when some idiot causes a traffic situation that you cannot slow / turn rapidly enough from .
SAFETY KNOWS NO SEASON .
-Nate
Chose your new family over the old and dump that Mustang.
It’s not his, remember?
He treats it like it is. He dragged it From MI!
Keep the 1500. Having a truck around is extremely useful when you are home owner.
as a home owner, and a parent, there’s better places to spend time/money than keeping a vehicle maintained for a specific task, when you can rent one for the exact same task as needed.
but then, at the same time, if you’re going to use it once or twice a month, then it may be worth it.
Renting is a PITA though. If you got the room, keep the truck. Maintenance on a GMT400? Oil change 1x a year.
Is it a PITA? I rented a truck for transporting the stuff for my wedding and it was extremely easy, and the return was even easier.
pain in the ass… PITA. Glad it worked for you, thats great. Ever since I got a pickup, I’ve always had one in the stable. So handy to have, and they are cool too. Congrats on the marriage!
homeowner for 20+ years, and a small business owner for 12. for both the business, and personal use, I’ve needed to rent a vehicle larger than the small wagons and hatchbacks I own maybe once every 2 years.
even if I had to rent more frequently than that, I have to rent for my day job about once a month (if mileage is more than a rental would cost, I have to get the rental), the process is painless, quick and easy.
As a life long wrencher who was once in the exact position you are in today, let me give you some sage advice to consider. Do not sell that pickup truck. The utility value alone for household upkeep and emergency repairs already seals the deal. If you’re restoring anything, the bed of that truck may as well be lined in gold. You’re doing both.
Where do you see the value most? In hauling or towing?
This depends on your actual needs .
I mostly haul but my little trucklet can also tow .
-Nate
A sponsored wrenching project featuring the Autopain and our very own DT?? Way to bury the lede!
They will be fixing all David broke in that vehicle after he decided to change oil that did not need to be changed.
Wow so many more possible sold a car stories. So much hope for the future. Seriously could sell 3 more and not even notice.
Good move, David! My sisters and I were always so excited when my dad got home from work, and even more so after a business trip. The memories you’re making with Elise and Delmar (NTRN) are far more valuable than you may realize.
As much as cars matter, family matters more.
Or to quote a cheesy movie:
I don’t have friends. I have family.
If I recall, the Nash was gifted to you correct? I know you have no obligation to do so but perhaps you should find a younger member of the website and pay it forward? Would make a great family project for a budding Autopian.
If I remember correctly, David made some sort of commitment (pre-baby, pre-wedding, and maybe even pre-relocation) to transfer it to someone who always wanted one, and may have also made some other commitment to the previous owner to pass it on to someone enthusiastic about Metropolitans if and when the time came. If not, might I suggest that he reach out to Whit Stillman?
The Nash Metropolitan is/was world famous as I built it for my daily driver and it did that plus many road rallies for decades .
I hope the right person gets it next, David never was serious about it .
-Nate
Michigan me was serious about it. Then I got to LA and realized: I want something newer for these freeways. I rented the BMW i3 and the rest is history!
Nah ;
You weren’t ~ this Metropolitan was modified my me to not only handle like a sports car in the canyons but to easily cruise all day long at 75 MPH .
I tried hard to get you to understand this, you were stuck on how it looked .
Sad because now it’ll likely get scrapped, I had high hopes for you David .
-Nate
I would advise against the fence – if anything the coyote will find a way to get stuck on your side of the fence and not have an easy way to escape. The coyotes will not bother humans, but if you have a small dog or are a rabbit, look out. In my neighborhood the coyotes stick around for a while, until all the small wildlife is predated and then they move on.
I do recommend getting a thermal vision scanner to look for them at night – they are way further away than they sound.
I wouldn’t bet on them not being a threat to people, especially small people.
Known threat here to everything, even in daylight.
They like to leave a yard full of headless animals.
Someone asked me about coyotes here.
I just hope I have a rifle with me when I run into them.
I hear Acme makes several products that should chase off coyotes.
Or better yet, trick them into blowing themselves up.
That claim is subject to ongoing litigation …
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1990/02/26/coyote-v-acme
The documentary on this is being released next year.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Tears of laughter and all that. Thanks for posting this link.
Good moves, David.
Let Delmar pick the next keeper.
Kids grow up fast, at some point sooner than you think, they will be helping you out with projects. Some kids love it and some don’t(and that’s ok). I have a couple kids that want nothing to do with cars while I have a teen daughter harassing me to get started with her on the basket case Beetle we have as a lawn ornament.
This, don’t discount the girls. I’ve taught my daughter everything she was willing to learn.
As someone who was allowed to explore both wrenching and sewing as a kid (among other skills), I can say that saving a friend with a lost button or ripped pants looks very “mainly” when you do so with jhst the micro sewing kit you carry in your wallet.
Point is, I never understood how “mainly” men could sneer at survival/independence skills like sewing, cooking, child rearing etc.
Manly sewing: I was an Army parachute rigger and part of our training was repairing the parachutes. From darning a hole in the canopy to using a massive sewing machine capable of putting stiches in 1/2″ plywood to replace various straps, sewing was hugely important. The rigger demographic at the time was probably 99 and 44/100 % male. I’m still able to make simple repairs to apparel and sew well enough for various projects.
My mom taught me how to sew when I was little. I could hem my own pants, or fix the tear they’d just gotten from helping dad work on a car. Cooking was a family affair, with dad and I regulalry experimenting with different things.
My better half, despite all her claims of knowing nothing about cars, changed the air filter, cabin air filter, fuel pump, fuel filter, blower motor, and cleaned the injectors of the car she bought less than two weeks after doing so because it was running rough. We were discussing how she wouldn’t say no to me doing a BBK on my car despite thinking it’s a waste of money when I started complaining about bleeding brakes solo and she interrupted me, asked why brakes needed bled, and after explaining SHE started complaining that it had never been done with any of her cars and asked me to teach her.
I am very lucky haha.
My mum taught me to sew so I could sew my badges onto my Scout uniform. It’s come in very handy over the years.
I always say it’s like soldering; they both require close-up, detailed work, and steady hands, and they’re both useful skills to have for repairs.
Women with entry level training commonly out shoot men with similar training in gunfights.
This averages out with more training, still it’s interesting.
Wait, is this is a statistic on how well women and men shoot EACH OTHER after basic training? Which training is this, the NRA Gladiatorial Games?
Self defense is a real thing, and a human right.
Women’s advantage as beginners is not a minor anomaly, but rather significant.
Defending yourself while experiencing a massive infusion of adrenaline is very different from stopping a paper target.
Your hands might shake uncontrollably, your hearing may be impaired.
You can get your training wherever you can find it, but unless you train with the Taliban, you’ll find most training is based ultimately on nra courses in USA.
Urban criminals have their own approach, as may antifa. You have to make your own choices.
Women’s physical advantages in fine motor control may apply to other skills, is the implication.
I’m not surprised with women having an advantage, IIRC they also make for better pilots in the military. However, I’m not from the US, so I am really trying to understand how this statistic could’ve possibly been calculated. I assume this is not from the military, because why deploy to combat people with entry level training. So this statistic is based on results from self-defense courses where women and men reactions are measured against criminals and… antifa?
With additional training, skill levels of men and women average out, though perhaps for different reasons.
Some people take entry level courses with no real preparation or familiarity with firearms, so some results are dramatic.
Typical required training courses when laws restricting permits to only the rich and powerful were overturned in most states, have run four to eight hours, longer some places.
My state currently has different tiers, with the most strict qualifications granting reciprocity with most free states here.
Originally there was only one type including a required qualifications score.
One example of the kind of event happened locally with a couple living in the nicer suburbs outside the high crime city.
Arriving home, they had been followed home by at least two armed robbers.
Confronted by the robbers, the wife fled into the house, firing at the armed robbers from upstairs at a distance, she killed one of the armed robbers, wounded the second, and avoided injuring her husband.
If the gun had not jammed, she would have killed both robbers.
Additional training would have included preventing the gun jam in the first place, but also involves practice at clearing your weapon and getting it functional again under stress. So her limited training affected the outcome, but an extraordinary success for a newly permitted person.
For comparison I learned gun safety starting when I could understand it, and began shooting light arms at five years.
My formal training is hundreds of hours now, including active shooter intervention tactics.
Nraila has a collection of defense events under the name Armed Citizen.
Those can be very educational.
Antifa earned classification as a terrorist organization when they armed and began acting as one.
All right, let’s ignore the politics regarding antifa and NRA for the sake of the community. I just have to clarify one thing (and no judgement intended): you meant you took five years on training to shoot, or have you started to shoot light firearms at five years old yourself?
Five years old.
Small calibre and directly supervised by parents.
I knew gun safety by then.
Training traditionally starts early for safety.
There’s no obligation to fire a gun unless you’re interested.
I think my brother fired a gun once and never again.
Lack of safety training now by negligent parents has resulted in many common issues.
Friend of mine’s kid not only understands safety, but has learned the multiple states of charge for a firearm and which are safe and which aren’t.
He knows how to render them safe also, but his rule is to not touch until an adult is present.
He’s a big kid so by six he could handle an AK with supervision or on a tripod by himself.
He’s an adult now.
Time flies.
So many adults now manage to grow up without knowing safety practices, that new rules have been added that assume the other person is an idiot.
In other cultures, a friend got her permit for a VZ58 in Czech. Probably select fire too.
So very well said Sir .
Americans should get mandatory firearms training in grade school, then they’d not be swayed by silly videos, movies and TV shows, those who enjoy using firearms would be safer and those who don’t won’t get one because it’s ” ! COOL MAN !” .
-Nate
School training used to be common.
I learned how to strip an AR in middle school.
It was a special favor.
That school and one camp I went to had rifle practice each day. 22 shorts.
I wanted to mention that the primary human right weapons address is control over governments.
Among other groups, there is an organization called the Civilian Marksmanship Program that holds long range contests and trains young people.
They were cited by the Japanese military as one of the reasons to never sustain an invasion here. Our hunting rifles were considered military rifles in Japan.
All governments take note of these things because it matters.
The Japanese said, “We are not stupid enough to march into quicksand!”
thecmp.org
I have a very different take on the US relationship with guns, but I say we set this subject aside, since we won’t change each other minds in here.
But thanks for the clarifications, it is good to hear the perspective of someone who thinks differently in a nice, civil way.
When I had my first and only child nearly 13 years ago I gave up nearly every sport that I had been playing, most notably golf. A few short years later I turned 40 and my body broke due to age, so most of the sports other than golf were pretty much done anyways. I still don’t golf and honestly I don’t miss it.
I’d rather be home with my family.
My firstborn came two and a half months after my 41st birthday. I still like to believe that hobbies and sports are on “pause”, two years after that 🙂
Don’t underestimate your chances.
I know a guy that did triathlons for years.
He’s in his 80s now.
I’m confident he is still more fit than I was in my 20s.
I am planning to return to at least regular cycling (without electric assist) soon, hopefuly will continue from there to something more interesting 🙂
I think sometimes people will ride longer with an electric backup, but whatever works.
I have a Panasonic Giant with drive through the gears and an Italian hub motor.
I was supposed to get the whole Italian bike or kit, but I think I just have the hub now.
I used to have a red Bianchi.
For what it’s worth, very hard to injure yourself walking.
Coyotes won’t bother you. Your pet, sure, but they have plenty of better things to do than mess with humans. Probably a good idea to bang on something, though, when you go out there.
And then there were…. 8, right?
Keep the Jeep kittens indoors, for sure.
Or in the Jeep.
Originally I didn’t get the J10 being saved with the K1500 sold. But since this thing is apparently worthless in a rust – light state, you now have a collector vehicle that you don’t have to worry about “ruining”. A perfect car for Autopia, imo
We are in very similar stages of life – a new child, more cars than we need (in reality), new(ish) to home ownership and marriage. I don’t have quite as many cars but understand the sentiment just the same. Life evolves, priorities change. However, passions stay passions in one way or another! This is especially true with a supportive partner who understands the passion, even if they don’t directly share the wrenching or gearhead mentality. Time with your child can’t be replaced but holding off on a car project can. Plus as you already mentioned, the older they get the more they can help!
I think, for now, keeping the cars mentioned and focusing on them (outside of Delmar’s time!) is the right call. We all know it already takes quite a bit to keep a fleet of that many cars running properly and up to snuff on maintenance! Also I am in full support of keeping your first car – it’s not always about the car itself but the stories it holds.
“It’d also be nice to have a fence to keep coyotes away; last night my wife took the trash out — something that I’ve tried insisting that only I do — and almost walked into one of two coyotes hanging out in our front yard.”
Oh just wait till you startle a family of skunks hanging out by your trash cans.
There are skunks here.
They are completely indifferent to anything I do.
And indifferent in formal attire too!
Try charging at them. They’ll notice.
I haven’t tried that yet!
Maybe next year?
Why wait?
While I grew up in the city, I learned to handle horses at an early age.
There are horses here, though not mine, that I have to interact with, so it’s just natural to me to be calm with animals.
I even have three newly not feral Mystery Kittens outside ready for adoption, if anyone is in the market?
If anyone can tell me how to sign into discord, I’d appreciate it.
I can’t make it work!
Keep the K1500 and sell the J10.
While the J10 is a cooler vehicle, the K1500 is far more practical, especially since you’re renovating an old house. You can also beat it to hell and not feel bad.
You have several 4x4s that are more capable than the J10. I really don’t get why you’re so attached to it considering it’s from the rust belt.
Agreed! Keeping the Chevy is a no-brainer. Yes, it’s far more common and there were hundreds of thousands made (if not millions), but it’s a well-kept survivor that isn’t beat to crap. That alone makes it pretty cool and a conversation piece.
I don’t know, but it sounds like a separate post where David enlists the readers of this fine site to choose between the J10 and GMT400 in a winner-takes-all, no-holds-barred match is in order, no????
I’d lay easy bets the Chevy would win big.
Agree… and I used to have a ’66 J-3000 which I loved. The (more modern) Chevy is a much more useful truck, especially with kids (and their friends) plus serving the aforementioned house projects.
The GMT400 is honestly 2 decades newer and just better suited to modern life overall.