It's not a problem of IFS or DC or GM or Ford, the problem is gutters. Back in the '50s there weren't paved roads to a lot of places. It was very common that a suburban auto would have to trot across an open field to get somewhere. And people wore hats and they required that a canoe and a trailer fit on their car because people were not going to buy a separate vehicle to go camping (horse trailer on a cadillac). Pick-ups were for farms, Jeeps were for construction sites, logging operations, the military. Jeep made the single largest line of factory PTO vehicles in automotive history (logsplitters, harrows, saws, cranes, stump pullers, ditch diggers, even Back-Hoes with outriggers). Even in the sixties and seventies the average American family took the family daily driver off-road to the extent that modern SUVs are designed for. Trucks and Jeeps were work vehicles. When the gas crunch hit, we turned to vehicles that were made for one purpose: driving on paved roads with maximum fuel efficiency. Thus: no gutters (they are aerodynamically ineffecient and no-one needs to strap anything to the top of their cars anymore anyway), lower rooflines (better aerodynamics and hats are out of style), smaller wheels . . . etc. It has only been in the last ten years that America has had the affluance to demand fuel inefficiency. Let's face it guys the average consumer stops at the campsites that we consider the start of a good run! These roads you can easily (and quietly and comfortably with the AC on and the CD softly playing) get to in a modern SUV (even the FWD like the CR-V and Sportage). Even the modern farmer doesn't use his truck for rough country (ATV's are considered a must for farm work). The modern truck needs to haul weight, but not over the rough terrain it once did. So, who does that leave on the market with the money and the necessity for a serious (as in solid axle, low gear, high torque) off-road capable vehicle? They aren't needed for logging, construction, mining or farming. That leaves us, a small enthusiast market with brand loyalty to a company that was swallowed and will soon be digested with Eagle and Plymouth. Unless, of course, we stop paving and improving roads. Hey . . . when did I get on this soap box?
Take nothing but pictures . . . Leave nothing but big tracks in the mud and paint on the rocks and trees . . . Kill nothing but time and shackles and an occasional rod or two . . .
