We bought this loverly vee-hickle in 2002 1992? I think? We bought it from a dealer in megalopolis (greater Detroit Metro off Telegraph Road) and it seemed to take an age to complete the transaction. I drove the the child with the ear infection home in the Exxon Tanker Valdez (our first of two Chrysler minivans). Little Cat Z rode in the new as yet to be named jeep with the GG.

I quickly learned to love the jeep — a basic Wrangler with five speeds and NO air-conditioning. We had some hot and windy rides in that car, kinda like when I was a kid and we didn’t own a car with A/C until dad bought the “banker green” Buick around the time he became bank president. My brother and I used to joke about that car. We were so young then. No partners yet and no kids. And he has been dead for more years than I am strong enough to count.

The GG had been hankering for a bare bones Jeep Wrangler for a while and I finally gave in. I took to it immediately and the first time I picked up mouse at nursery school in it, Teacher Annie was doing curb duty and she marveled at my new vee-hickle. I told her it wasn’t a car, it was a mid-life crisis. We were in our 30s then.

The GG’s brother Don (long dead, alas) decided we needed to name the jeep “The Indefatigable”. I was skeptical but that name stuck and wouldn’t you know, we drove the damn thing for 17 years. It taught our kids to drive on the two-track forest roads of the yooperland as well as many of their cousins and some friends. And they learned how to drive “stick” no less.

I can certainly drive “stick” although I don’t own a car with a manual transmission any more. I wonder if I will transition into the EV age. We’ll see. I’m an old dog but I can learn new tricks.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2025 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.