We’re continuing on with our look at some of the best stories of how Jeep_® brand fans came to fall in love with the brand. Tim Straub was first introduced to the brand when his stepfather, Chuck Chapman, let him bang around the neighborhood in a perfectly restored 1958 MB.  From there, it was only a matter of time before Tim found a Jeep vehicle of his very own.

“I began to imagine what it would be like to own my own Jeep 4×4 and what I would do with it, where I would take it.  I shopped, but being newly married, I didn’t shop too seriously.  For several years I envied Jeep vehicle owners, and met quite a few.  Through my step-dad, I met other members of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) and have since had the chance to drive a CJ3B, an M38, and had a lot of fun in the woods literally destroying a M151-A1 and putting a M151-A2 to very good use.  I kept talking out loud about getting my own Jeep vehicle.  One day Chuck told me, “you don’t find the Jeep 4×4, it finds you.”  By then I knew what I wanted, not a military Jeep vehicle, but something in the Wrangler class.”

Tim wanted a manual or nothing at all. Then, one fateful day, he called a dealer on a whim and found a used Wrangler with his name on it.

“It was a 2005, Wrangler “X” with the in-line 6 and the 6 speed manual transmission, only 22k miles, American Racing wheels and 31×10.5s.  I took a drive and with every shift of the gears I fell in love all over again.  This was the Jeep vehicle for me!  I called my wife and must have sounded like a kid at Christmas.  I am sure she could hear the smile on my face as I explained to her where I was, what I had just driven, and that I had to have this vehicle.  Less than two weeks later she was mine.”

Since then, Tim has added a two-inch suspension lift and new rubber for a mild build that serves as the perfect daily driver and weekend warrior.

“I use my hard top in the winter and prefer to go topless all summer.  She goes camping with us and anywhere else I can take her.  I just love driving my Jeep 4×4.  I tell everyone about the great time I had in my Jeep Wrangler on the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan.  The six speed manual is so much fun and very capable in the sand when the transfer case is in low range.  What a Blast!  I was up and down every dune that weekend.”

Even with all the fun Tim has had in his Wrangler, he’s the first to say that it all started with his step father’s old Willys.

“I can truly say that for me it started with the Willy’s MB, and that Jeep vehicle in my Step-dad’s garage holds a special place in my heart too. I guess it really is a “Jeep thing.”

Tim, fans like you are exactly why we work as hard as we can to build the best off-road vehicles ever created. We’ll see you on the dunes.