It-themed TJ Jeep Wrangler Is a Mobile Fright Fest
Kentucky man creates blood-covered, clown-filled tribute to Stephen King’s iconic novel using 2005 Wrangler.
Halloween is almost here. Everyone has their own way of celebrating it. Some throw costume parties. Others stay up all night watching horror movies. Andrew Johnson, a mechanic in Louisville, Kentucky, is marking the occasion in a totally unique way: by driving around his It-themed 2005 Jeep Wrangler, complete with fake blood spatters and a 6-foot, 3-inch Pennywise the clown doll (modeled after the character in the modern movies) in the “driver’s” seat.
It all started when Johnson crashed his Jeep. He went looking for another one to replace it, but the only one on his dealer’s lot happened to be right-hand-drive. He enjoyed the way it drove so he bought it. Then people began to ask questions. They wondered why no one seemed to be driving his Jeep even though it moved down the road. In the video below, Johnson tells the Courier Journal, “My brother and I came up with the idea of putting a skeleton there [in the left-hand seat] and everybody went crazy about that.”
After that, he knew he had to come up with bigger and better ideas. Over the past six years, Johnson has transformed his TJ Wrangler and his other Jeep into rolling homages to various films, including those in the Resident Evil franchise and The Nightmare Before Christmas. His Shark Week build featured surfboards and a driver who looked like Robert Shaw’s character Quint in Jaws…at the end of the movie. Ouch.
Johnson’s latest creation is equally dark and elaborate. He covered his Wrangler in quotes from the book and movies made by his friend Wendy Taylor, a school teacher. There’s a pair of hands reaching out from the seven-slot grille and dragging a raincoat down into the shadowy depths — a reference to Pennywise pulling the unfortunate character Georgie down into the sewer.
The rest of the exterior is covered in random patches of theatre-grade fake blood that drips when rain hits it. Pennywise himself sits in the left-hand seat holding a red balloon.
The combination of the unexpected right-hand-drive configuration and Johnson’s commitment to a good scare has been beyond effective. If he needs to go somewhere in his Jeep, he has to budget extra time so people can take pictures of it. He’s even had people chase him. “I had a guy follow me up to Indianapolis so he could get pictures for his kids. I was like, ‘Dude, this is really weird.'”
One woman was genuinely horrified. “I had one lady praying to Jesus,” wondering why a menacing clown was driving Johnson’s Wrangler, he said.
For better or worse, the reaction to Johnson’s creation from his fellow Kentuckians has been strong. But his Jeep has also gotten a sort of official thumbs-up. Tim Curry, the actor who played Pennywise in the 1990 “It” miniseries, was so impressed by Johnson’s Wrangler that he sent Johnson an autographed photo.
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