So we’re gonna talk about this Jeep for a second.
So this Jeep is a fictonal Jeep (though is exists in real life of course) owned by Stiles Silinski on the show Teen Wolf (great show, slightly worse title). I have decided that I’m going to one day own as near a replica to the this Jeep as I can, and as my first car at that.
First, we’re going to talk about the car itself, and why I love it. On the show, it’s basically how the show’s main characters get around (apart from the ones who have their own boring jelly-bean cars ಠ_ಠ). In the show, the Jeep is definitely a character of it’s own. Especially during it’s fifth season, this Jeep has a personality all of it’s own, and I love it to bits. The Jeep is a CJ5 from between 1971 and 1983 (not sure exactly but that’s the years after they added about four inches to the hood length). And let me tell you, these were by no means “safe” vehicles to drive. Off-roading, no problem. But on the road, be prepared for possible tip-overs, awful brakes, turning radius, awful acceleration, and the like. What kinda bothers me is that in the show, they drive it like it’s a normal car with normal brakes, normal steering and normal acceleration. Maybe they made their Jeep run well? Who knows. Anyway. Part of why I love this car so much is it’s occasional undependability (is that a word?). Especially during season five, when the Jeep was meant to represent Stiles’ anxiety, it was prone to breaking down or being unreliable, which is to be expected I suppose. Many people would argue that a dependable, boring car is much better than an unreliable, slightly less boring car. Having never owned a car before, I can’t really deliver an educated stance on that debate, but speaking from the many people who own CJ5s, they are fun cars. Sure, they can break down. But so can a beater car. If you treat them well, they’ll serve you until you let it get bad, which is what happened to Stiles in season 5 (so sad).
Now, let’s talk specs. Right off the bat, let’s talk about the top. When you picture a Jeep, it usually doesn’t have a top on it. And when it does, it’s usually fabric. This top is actually quite special. Hardtops are not uncommon by any means, but this kind is somewhat “rare.” From the extensive research I’ve conducted, it appears to be a Meyers (steel?) hardtop, with two auxiliary windows in the back (this was a factory option). Finding these is no easy feat. First, you need to know what year your CJ5 was from, because if it was from before 1976, your post-1976 top will not fit on your Jeep. This is due to the windshield being noticeably sloped back more in 1976. There’s your daily Meyers hardtop trivia.
As for body accessories, it’s pretty basic. You’ve got your pretty standard fender flares on front and rear wheel wells. Something commendable about the show Jeep is that there was no metal plating hiding rust. There does appear to be some body trim running underneath the door, of unknown material. In the rear, there does appear to be what I call a “double-tube fender.” The front is largely unchanged, apart from a yellow auxiliary headlamp centered on the front fender.
Here’s what I could use some help identifying. The front auxiliary headlamp, the rear “double-tube” fender, the body trim. And if anyone knows the car’s year, that would be awesome. Also, if anyone knows anything about the hardtop, please let me know because the angled back of it has me stumped. Email me at snappppstick@gmail.com if you know stuff and wanna share it!
Expect more posts about this Jeep by the way, it’s fun to knowledge-vomit.