[shekaran]

Our Family Lawyer was shouting at me, when he saw my jeep after the 1st coast of paint. he called me insane, and said all kinds of negatives, all scuffy remarks people will think of - when they see me driving a jeep in town, all these...for a full half hour. i repeat for a full 30 minutes, LOL.

People who dont have a jeep either criticize negatively or ask insane questions - its all part of owning a jeep, so my friend, dont worry about these remarks/comments, just ignore them...owning/driving a jeep automatically makes you "the man who has arrived".

what i feel is that every man loves to own/drive/showoff his own jeep, but circumstances/situations do not make them to pursue their love for jeep, so in essence, their negative remarks are from their hurted ego rather than their heart or mind.

Best regards.

[starter]

Speedz, Congrats on the JEEP!
If i remember right, Tarkesh had a sort of a camouflage soft-top right? What happened to it?

: The place where you have clicked the below pics, are they from an apartment complex called Sukhwani or something in Viman Nagar, Pune? If not, please forgive me.

Cheers,
Deepak

[Jaggu]

Congratz Speedz, i assume you are the same person from the 2 wheel forum. Welcome to the 4x4 world, i shall repeat what someone told me when i cut the deal for my current 4x4.

Your trouble starts now!

[SunnyBoi]

Congratulations Speedz! Fantastic buy

Its been a long long time, we should catch up soon

[sreejeshmp]

Congratulations Speedz! Nice buy Welcome to the world of 4x4s and the endless modifications..

- Sreejesh

[pvrajan]

if I remember correctly, he was/is doing "writing" for a living. so no surprises on the writing skills.

and he is probably feeling lil modest abt admiting it, so the anticipatory bail on silly mistakes on grammer, et all..

welcome speedz.

[shazikon]

Congrats Speedz on buying an awesome JEEP. It looks awesome. It is such a great pleasure to and see this 550 every day in our office parking..I end up staring at it for 4-5 minutes before getting in and out of office.
Now that I know what you are with vintage 2 wheelers waiting to see the same magic and your attention to detail on this Jeep.

[narayanang76]

Congrats speedz, looking forwad to your upcoming posts and story

Amazing - is what I felt while reading through your story so far. Now the rest please!

[speedz]

Whoa small world indeed. I am seeing all the old names from my RD days.

@ pvrajan...No sir, no anticipatory bail for me. I was just trying to evade unkind remarks about the linguistic blunders present in my posts. Although I do not intend to provide this writeup as 'sample' writing to my future-employers. I am afraid they wouldn't look too kindly on this style of writing as 'appropriate skill' for the work place.

@ Jaggu, yes one and the same. I do remember you recounting the experience of bringing in those flatties through Mumbai airport. No end for travails for building up our RDs eh? I guess I am already baptized into troubles of the two-wheeler kind.

@ Shazikon, Thanks for the appreciation. I must admit, without false modesty clouding my vision, that it does indeed look quite handsome amidst the run of the mill sedans and hatchbacks; a Goliath amongst a myriad of Davids.

I will be putting up a few more posts with some more information about the Jeep.

[speedz]

To continue my journey report;

What I did receive, in plenty all along the drive, were appreciative glances, compliments and comments which made my day and nights as well.

At an almost deserted toll gate just a few minutes before dawn, a toll gate attendant asked, “Sir, military gaadi?”
“Yes, it is bought from the military”. As I responded, I smiled a ghastly smile with all teeth bared; crazed Siberian wolves and Tasmanian Devils would have had milder, angelic countenances than mine.

Note to the reader: The reason for my mysteriously haunting and deviously scary smile will be unveiled, if you take the trouble of reading this post through to its logical conclusion.

The visibly shaken and stirred attendant responded, as he bravely tried to hide his shock at having encountered a highway Dracula look-alike, “Very nice Jeep, Sir. Isn’t it very cold in this open Jeep? Would you like have some tea with us?”.
I said, “Thanks for the offer, it is not all that cold”.

And with that conversation ringing in my years, I drove off into the proverbial sunrise.

The teeth clattering and shivering started again as soon as the admirer was no longer visible in the shaking rear view mirror .

The ghastly, dentist’s dream, all-teeth-bared smile was in place not to instill the fear of death in the hearts of the highway pirates but to prevent the violent coming together of my teeth.

The 'chattering of the teeth' sounds far milder than the actual battles that were being waged between the different 'tooth armies' in my oral war ground. But credit is due to all teeth for keeping rhythm with the Jeep’s engine note and gusts of bone marrow chilling cold winds.

In hindsight, I am glad that I refused the tea in that semi-frozen condition. I would have never been able to drink tea out of tiny cups; I would have needed a straw and some steady hands, belonging to someone else, to place the two ends of the straw in the right places.

Having well/ill placed confidence in my driving skills and on the Jeep, my well-bundled friend hibernated and roared (snored) through the night only to wake up for an occasional, " Have we reached yet?".

[ramkya1]

Hai Speedz,

Love your way of writing and congratulations.

The Jeep syndrome is pretty serious and I understand as a co-sufferer. My system is contaminated too, don't know when the threshhold would trip and let loose the bats from hell

Awaiting stories of your trials and tribulations with Jeep Syndrome. Have you located the nearest workshop to your residence, I've heard Jeepers have this thing to spend time with their beast in workshops on and off. Don't know how ture this is!!

--Ramky
=====

[madhkris]

Hi Speedz! Congrats on the buy and happy upgrading! Dude your writing style is very captivating and makes for a great read. Please keep posting your experiences. I too purchased an '88 MM 540 a month ago and work's on. Its no longer a Jeep bug; its a Jeep Epidemic!!
BTW am a dentist and loved your references of "teeth armies" and "oral war". Hilarious.

[speedz]

Originally Posted by madhkris

BTW am a dentist and loved your references of "teeth armies" and "oral war". Hilarious.

Thanks for the kind words. Err doc, for any dental disasters like vibration induced cracks and fissures, will you be offering discounted treatment? I mean being a fellow Jeep aficionado and all that?

@ Ramky, my apologies for not having been able to catch up with you after my Himachal adventure. The Jeep is the reason for that. Have been running around like a maniac to research and find and buy my Jeep.

[Thar4x4]

Hey speedz,

Congrats on your new possession 4x4!

This is very well restored MM550, I have followed the whole restoration thread by Tarkesh, this is restored in Kolhapur (if I am right).

I am inspired by this and looking for one now.

Enjoy your ride.

Thanks,
Vishal.

Thanks,
Vishal.

[Shubz]

Good buy Speedz! and if you are still in the hunt for a good mechanic, I could share my new discovery of an old man who has been in the business from a generation or two. Do pm/email me if you need any details.