Jan. ’75, “CJ-5 Economy Run”
The Political, Legal, and National Climate
“One of these concerns is recut or regrooved tires. As of September, this type of tire will become illegal for use on passenger cars. This will affect both 4wd rigs and dune buggies which are licensed for street use.”—Mar. ’66, “Editor’s Report”
“American Motors Jeep agree with the Mile Hi Jeep Club that the general public needed information about the true purposes and activities of four wheeling….Jeep Corporation agreed that a film about the nature of this recreational sport would help eliminate these misconceptions.” —Jan. ’75, “Four Wheel World”
“There is a continuing controversy regarding catalytic converters on 4WD vehicles and the possibility they may be fire hazards.”—Dec. ’75, “Catalytic Converters: Emission Stoppers or Fire Starters?”
“The use of a driver’s license as identification for everything and anything has been reviewed and criticized many times in the editorial pages of automotive magazines.”—Aug. ’76, “Four Wheelin’”
“Now a new group, called the ‘Committee For Common Sense Speed Laws,’ has been formed in California. The purpose of this committee is to gather enough signatures on a petition to put the 55 mph speed limit to a referendum vote of the people in the November election.”—Sept. ’76, “Four Wheelin’”
“…that by imposing minimum mpg limits of 15.8 for 4x4s and 17.2 for 2WD pickups, panel trucks, vans, and utility vehicle…”—Aug. ’77, “Will Strict New MPG Standards Dictate Future 4x4 Designs?”
“American Motors has a new theme for Jeep Corporation for 1979. Called “Leave No Tracks,” this new idea bears watching for all its implications and ramifications.”—Feb. ’79, “Leave No Tracks”
“Shades of 1973-74! Everywhere you go these days you see long lines of cars spilling out into the street from service stations. Long lines of cars waiting for gas. Gas stations are only open limited hours; closed on weekends. There is, we are told, a gasoline shortage.”—July ’79, “Four Wheelin’”
“At the time this is being written, debate is over and the measure has passed both houses in Washington. Chrysler will get its loan guarantees, with some stiff concessions by the UAW.”—Mar. ’80, “Four Wheelin’”
“On Sunday evening, December 21, 1980, The CBS Television Network’s popular news magazine show, 60 Minutes, presented a devastating attack on the handling and stability of the Jeep CJ-5.”—May ’82, “Jeep’s Turn at the J-Turn”
“Four-wheel-drive owners may be subjected to slightly more grief than the average two-wheel-drive motorist should they try to be tested at a facility using a dyno.”—July ’84, “Investigative Report: The Olympics of Smog Control”
Nov. ’84, “Hail to the Jeep”
“Be aware, there is a growing trend to eliminate all tall trucks throughout the nation. Tricked-out trucks built to capture attention have succeeded, with disastrous side effects.” —Nov. ’84, “Looks Can Kill”
“This year the White House formed the President’s Commission on American Outdoors to review outdoor recreation policies, programs, and needs.”—July ’86, “Letters”
“Vehicles equipped with suspension lifts and body lifts came under increasingly savage attack by safety-minded legislators in 1986.”—Jan. ’87, “So What Happened?”
“It’s possible some of you may have heard of a show called Dateline. Dateline is the NBC tabloid TV show known for rigging an explosive in a Chevy pickup truck to generate footage that would support the premise that the truck had an unusual propensity to burn in an accident… In a February episode, Dateline aired a segment in which lifted trucks were portrayed as accidents waiting to happen.”—June ’96, “Random Input”
“Some months ago, Consumer Reports declared the Isuzu Trooper…unsafe in a series of side-by-side maneuvers.”—Dec. ’96, “Random Input”
“Some of you may have seen a recent ABC 20/20 segment, in which the trend toward sport-utility use was highlighted. The thrust of the segment was to reveal the life-saving information that SUVs do not handle like cars, and that drivers who don’t appreciate that fact are capable of hurting themselves.”—Dec. ’97, “Random Input”
“Citing concerns about impact on soils, vegetation, cultural resources, and scenic quality, as well as threats to the recreational value of travel routes, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)…is placing interim travel restriction on off-highway vehicles and mountain bikes.” —June ’01, “RPM”
“For those of you in the eastern U.S., where public lands are scarce, an increasingly popular option is to pool your resources, purchase some undeveloped real estate, carve out a network of trails, and start up your own OHV park.”—May ’07, “Limited Articulation”
“The one, BIG problem that hides behind the veil of a new year…is the subject of land closures.”
—Jan. ’77, “Four Wheelin”’