Is this sweet-looking Jeep a future money pit or a summer must-buy?

If there’s ever been an ad that really drives home Jeep’s deep connection to our military heroes, this would be the one.

The Hendrick last name is normally associated with racing, but the NASCAR championship-winning team does more than just build stock cars; they build one of the meanest military-grade Jeeps money can buy.

Somehow though, against all odds, this 1941 Willys Jeep, built on the second day of production, has managed to escape a scrap metal fate. Even more impressive is that it’s been a work truck since 1941, and that continues to this day.

The “Sarge Grille” is more than just the icon of the Jeep Wrangler; it is an icon of the American Soldier. The long-serving “GP” Willys is a testament to the ingenuity, integrity, and spirit of our Greatest Generation. The Jeep Toledo Assembly Complex has restored one of them, and has it displayed at a memorial dedicated to our armed service men and women of all generations.

Changing a successful product is a real catch-22. If you alter it too much, you risk alienating your original customers; however, if you just leave it as is for too long, consumers might accuse you of being out of date. At the Road & Track offices, that’s the situation in which Jeep finds itself with its 2014 Wrangler Oscar Mike Edition.