Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The Jeep

Dave Marsh and I went through almost all our army training together including Officers Candidate School. When we finished OCS, I went to Intelligence Officers school and Dave went to Helicopter Pilots school. We both ended up in Vietnam at about the same time.

When Dave got out of the army, he went home to L.A. and bought a new yellow Jeep CJ5. He took the Jeep from the dealer's showroom directly to a shop in L.A. that specialized in Jeep engine swaps. They replaced his Jeep 6 cylinder engine with a Chevy V8. At the same time he installed four wide tires on alloy rims.

About a year later Dave was on his way to Indiana when he stopped in Aurora Neb to say hello to my parents. My mother was blown away by Dave's yellow Jeep with the Chevy V8, wide tires, and loud exhaust. There was nothing like it around there and she thought it was the coolest thing she'd ever seen.

In 1972, Jeep came out with a factory V8 option for the CJ5. My parents bought a blue one about a year later with a roll bar and a black top. I bought them a set of wide wheels and tires to make it complete.

My mother just loved that Jeep. Guys would stop and stare as she blasted by with her gray hair flying under the roll bar, a big smile on her face, and the Jeep's top safely at home in the garage.