But I've created a dilemma in pulling everything out of the jeep. When I first got it, I drove it around town all summer long sans rollcage, with the windshield folded down. I fell in love with that go-kart, zero-blind spot sensation, and I felt I lost a little bit of it every time I added something to the jeep. Initially it was just the roll cage that bummed me out. Then the black soft top hardware, and the lightbar, followed by the lights. I felt like I was getting boxed in, and that my gloriously-simple topless vehicle was becoming just another ordinary car. Now that I have everything pulled, I DON'T WANT TO PUT IT BACK TOGETHER! lol
The girls and I cruised downtown tonight, wearing WWII aviator goggles for a little experiment onto the highway (safety not guaranteed), but managing to drive slow enough the rest of the time to prevent discomfort from the wind. Taking the Ecto downtown is a fairly regular weekend activity for us. We cruise to a place to eat or out to a show, and revel in the shouts and screams of "Ghostbusters!" and "Holy shit!" and "That's awesome" and "Who ya gonna call!" That car is a dance party on wheels, and you get it down near the bars and traffic (both on foot and on wheels) just stops. People run out into the road for pictures, or to shake hands, and we thrill at causing mayhem with the drunks. This isn't the case with the jeep. The jeep, despite it's paint job, is quite inconspicuous compared to the Ecto. My enjoyment of the jeep comes primarily from the experience of riding in it, soaking up the sun and enjoying the Colorado countryside. Every so often someone takes an extra long look at it and will shout at us, but it's fairly rare especially at night. At stoplights we'll get people acting like dinosaurs or screaming "look out for the rex" or "must go faster," but you never get the "Holy shit!"s that happen as you just roll past someone on the sidewalk. I've never really figured it out. Maybe because the Jeep isn't eight feet tall, covered in antennas and emergency lights, or maybe because from the front and rear it looks like a very average 4x4. Who knows.
But not tonight. Tonight was different.
We rolled through the streets of downtown Denver with the cage gone, and the windshield folded down. Everyone lost their goddamn minds. Maybe because the Jeep stood out more tonight. I don't know. All I know is that we got several hop-ons, a ton of pictures, people running out into traffic to risk giving the girls high-fives, and even a cop coming on the PA to tell us "there are no dinosaurs in the mall" as we crossed 16th Street. Jesus christ. Now I am debating risking life and limb to drive a wildly unsafe, and amazingly awesome, Jeep around town, putting off replacing all the rollcage parts as long as I can.... oh jesus.
edit: Yes, I know I could add some tool boxes and a bloodied Jeff Goldblum for a decent #10 jeep
