Can You Help a ’48 Willys Make It to Moab?

Attempting to Drive From Detroit to Moab in a Rusty ’48 Willys Poses Quite a Few Challenges

There’s an old adage: “You won’t know if you don’t try.”

Or is that: “If you don’t try, you’ll never know?”

Either way, the point is, sometimes you have to step out on a limb if you really, really want something, regardless of how crazy the idea might seem to others. Such is the case with our fellow Jeep lover, Jalopnik‘s David Tracy.

You see, David has been busy trying to get a rusty 1948 Jeep ready to drive from Detroit to Moab for the Easter Jeep Safari in April, a project he candidly admits he probably should have abandoned months ago. But determined not to give into frustration, David’s decided to reach out to people who might live along the 1,800-mile route to Utah for help.

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What kind of help? Well, from the sound of it, it could be anything from a couple quarts of oil to an entirely new transmission. Also, considering that the Willys Jeep is missing doors, a roof, and a heater, David might need a place to crash, as well. Not to mention the fact that even if the Jeep was in pristine condition (which it isn’t), it would only have a top speed of 45 mph.

Not surprising, David says many of his friends don’t think he’s going to make it out of Michigan. David, of course, remains pretty optimistic about it all. But he clearly has some concerns.

“The idea that a two-man team wrenching in an ice-cold garage with a hilariously low budget can get a horribly maintained, structurally non-existent barn Jeep ready for a problem-free, 2,000-mile road trip is borderline delusional. But I’m gunning for it anyway, and I don’t plan to give up until this thing is in Moab,” he says.

Regardless of the odds, we wish him the best of luck. He’ll obviously need it.