It's a Jeep Thing

Logan Cooper’s cousin, Wiley Cooper, had a car dealership in Salem, Indiana and sold Jeeps.  In 1962, Logan purchased a used 1946 CJ 2A from Wiley, and the Cooper family love affair with Jeeps began.

Having served in WWII, Logan “Pap” was quite familiar with the versatility of a Willy’s Jeep.  He used that first Jeep as a farm implement.  When a trailer was hitched, it was used to haul wood and hay from all over the hilly farm.  A broadcast seeder with a motor was attached and grass seed was sown.  There was also a fertilizer spreader to pull behind it.  When it wasn’t being used for farm work, it was driven to go fishing or just for a pleasure ride around the countryside.

In 1966, Pap upgraded to a 1965 CJ5A Tuxedo Park Mark IV.  It was like a mountain goat and could go anywhere.  If you’ve seen Coal Miner’s Daughter (and if you haven’t, you should), the scene when Doo drives a Jeep up a Kentucky mountain to pick up Loretta is exactly how Pap drove his Jeep.  He loved to scare me and my sisters by driving straight up hills and dodging trees.  The more we screamed, the more he laughed.  That Jeep was around the farm until cousin Tim Cooper took it and restored it to its original glory.

In the early 70’s, my parents bought a 1965 CJ5 Hurricane 4 F Head.  My sisters and I bounced around in the back, while we went for rides in the country – once all the way to Corydon.  There was no back seat so they put a bedrail in the back window to keep us from falling out.  In a moment of practicality, the Jeep was sold in 1975 to help pay for the building of our house.

Super Jeep found its way into our family around 1980.   Someone offered to sell my dad a 1948 Willy’s dually for $500.  Because it was a Jeep, dad assumed dually meant dual exhaust, not two back tires.  Those tires threw mud and cow manure everywhere, and it had no top!  We only had it a couple of years, but it worked its way into our hearts, and my sister Tracy cried when dad sold it.

I think Dad sold Super Jeep because around that time, he acquired Lester the mail Jeep.  It was also a 1948 Willy’s and had been used by Lester Cummings to deliver mail in the Norman area in the winters when the weather was bad.  Naturally we named this Jeep “Lester”, and it’s still around.

In 1984, Dad bought a 1978 CJ7 Levi’s Edition from Terry and Barb Fish. (If you know Barb, ask her about getting a grill in that Jeep.) It was originally owned by cousin Lowell Cooper, who regrets his decision to sell it to this day. Manufactured by American Motors, this Jeep has a three-speed manual transmission with a 304 V8 under the hood. Despite being just six years old, the floor and sides were already starting to rust.

This Jeep became our “family” car. We drove it to Nolting’s IGA to get our groceries and crammed them in the back. One slick and snowy night, Dad was driving us home from the store, and the Jeep did a 360 when we went around a corner. Much like Pap, Dad liked to drive a little crazy to scare us, so we assumed he did it on purpose. Much to our surprise, he did not, and we were lucky not to slide into a creek.

I got my license shortly after we acquired this Jeep, so I claimed it as mine. I loved riding around with my friend Christy, listening to John Mellencamp, Prince, and Motley Crue. One time, after a weekend “mudding” on Polk Patch Road, the brakes went out, and I crashed into a tree. The Jeep was fine, and so was I, so I walked to the nearest house to call my dad but ended up getting Pap. I immediately started crying, which he had no patience for. Once I calmed down and told him where I was, he came to get me and brought little Jack Gilbert along to drive the Jeep home. I continued to drive this Jeep at high speeds and occasionally took corners on two wheels until I went to college.

Tracy was lured in by a Jeep in 1998. Her story:
“I was working the 2-10 shift at Hoosier Christian Village and was driving a 1985 Grand Prix. A snowstorm came in one evening and snowed enough that it was not safe to drive it home. Erik was home with the kids and couldn’t come and get me. I was in a panic! I DID NOT want to get stuck in that nursing home for all of third shift and wait for roads to be cleared for me to get home. I had been through that before – not good times. I called my dad to come get me, with no thoughts or cares about leaving my car in the parking lot stuck in the snow. Dad came and picked up me and Rita Reynolds and took us home.

That next week, I was in Seymour and drove by Ruddick's and saw my Jeep. I stopped, looked at the sticker price, and went home and told Erik I was going to buy it. And we did. I never got stuck at work again.

Hindsight – not a great family car when I found out I was pregnant with #3 several months later.”

In 1999, my dad bought cousin Steve Cooper’s 1981 CJ5. Steve bought it new when he was in the Army, stationed in Colorado. Once he started a family, the Jeep went into storage for 10 years before he decided to sell it. Dad restored the Jeep, and to this day, he is continually replacing and repairing parts. Dad has driven this Jeep out West as far as Wyoming five times! Even more impressive when you take into consideration that he only took a “bikini top,” and half of his cargo space was taken up with tools and parts just in case of breakdowns.

When my kids were two and four, I convinced my husband that we needed a Jeep. In 2002, we bought a 1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ with a five-speed manual transmission and a 4-cylinder engine (not enough power!). We loved it, and so did the kids. We thought we were a super cool family until one of my friends said we would be a lot cooler without two car seats in the back! The kids grew out of the car seats, and we kept it until 2018, when I sold it to my sister Stacy. They enjoyed it for a few years, but it met its demise when my nephew wrecked it not long ago.

Stacy and her family also had a Jeep back in 2004. On weekends we loaded up the family and went for a rides. We caravanned around the area, stopping at places like the swinging bridge, Tunnelton, and Spring Mill Park.

Today, I have a 2019 Jeep Wrangler JL that makes me happy. About a year ago, we invited friends to Clearspring, and I took them for a Jeep ride to show them the farm. They are also Jeep owners but haven’t done much off-roading. I decided to take them up one of the logging trails in the woods – but I got confused and took the one that was mainly used for horse riding. It was narrow, steep, and winding. Secretly, I was terrified, but outwardly, I tried to appear confident. We made it to the top, and my guests were impressed. Hopefully, they don’t read this and realize I didn’t know what I was doing.

What do Jeeps have to do with raising beef? Not much other than using them to check the cows.  The “Jeep Thing” is something my nephew and business partner Jim Baute does not understand.  But he raises tasty beef, so I guess I’ll forgive him.