I’ve been obsessed with the Jeep Wrangler for decades. In the early 90’s, I was so concerned about the design direction Chrysler was taking the Wrangler that I wrote them a letter telling them EXACTLY what I didn’t like… EXACTLY.

You think they didn’t care right? WRONG. They wrote me back and confirmed my design suggestions. One of them was that I hated the square headlight they were using and wanted them to go back to round. They did and the headlights are still round to this day. Yes, I’m taking credit for that.

But now, Wranglers have all kinds of technology in them. That seems like an oxymoron to me. Is this the same Jeep that soldiers drove through mud pits during times of war? The one with no doors? The one that came in one color – army green? It is…

Today, you can get a yellow one… You can also get power windows and door locks, leather seat that are heated, a color-coordinated hard top and most shocking – a navigation screen that does more than just navigate. It has bluetooth and climate control and satellite radio… I call this the luxury Wrangler.

I drive a Land Rover and I felt like this Jeep was more heavily appointed that my Land Rover… Until I started driving…

Make no mistake – it has lots of new luxury appointments, but, it still drives like a bucket of bolts. You can confirm that with the innocent victims I tossed around in the many Wranglers I’ve test driven with them as passengers.

Along with my critical letters to Chrysler about EXACTLY what I think they should be doing with the design, I have consistently test driven the Wrangler and each time, I convince myself that this is it… I’m finally getting one. I quickly realize that I’m just too spoiled by automotive advancement. And I drive much too fast… I would for sure tip that thing over turning a corner at 30 mph…

I have a friend who bought a Wrangler almost 20 years ago and he still has it. He bought the one with the cloth top so he can drive it open air. He has a minivan as well. It has 30,000 miles on it. It’s worth the same thing today that he paid for it in 1997. Remember all of that if you think you want a Jeep Wrangler.

So the moral of this story is this… pipe dreams do still exist. This is one of mine. There will never be a perfect Jeep Wrangler, but, the luxury Wrangler is here…