The Story of the Greatest Car Ever Made

This here is a 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara with a blistering 3.8L V6 under the hood. Able to outrun ya? No. Able to overtake ya? Also no. But I love her nonetheless. This is the story of how she sparked a lifelong passion for Jeeps, the off-roading community, and general mud-pit tomfoolery.

This Jeep was my grandpa Royce's for the first six or so years of its life. I remember him letting me drive it back from Columbus, GA to Newnan for the first time while I had my learner's permit. He promptly fell asleep in the passenger seat within 5 minutes as I managed to navigate the "treacherous" I-185 to 85 exchange and drive us back home.

Papa Coker, as we would call him, served in the USMC during the early years of the Vietnam War, and was a Devil Dog through and through. He had all the t-shirts, stickers, hats, and other Marine Corps memorabilia that you could ever want. More importantly, he served his community like Marines do until the end of his life, establishing the Bartow County Toys for Tots program, which gives away thousands of gifts to needy families during Christmas-time all over the country.

I was given his Jeep after he passed away in 2014, and knew I had to honor him and his sacrifice to this country, as well as all veterans with the Jeep. It won't be anywhere close to repaying them for what they've done, but hopefully it will be a reminder that there are still Americans and others all over the world who are very thankful for the sacrifice veterans and their families have gone through.