“Smile more.” That’s the motto of popular Youtube prankster Roman Atwood. It’s also something that’s easy to do in a Jeep Wrangler.
In fact, it’s possible to smile more when you’re outside of a Wrangler and just looking at it, especially if it’s part of a silly, light-hearted prank.
In the video below, Atwood gets his wife to distract a JKU-owning mutual female friend and a buddy to help him pull one over on her. Instead of putting shaving cream behind the door handles or putting glitter in the HVAC vents, Atwood and his pal – after figuring out how to put the top down – fill the interior with more than 17,000 toilet paper tubes.
Atwood’s friend takes it with good humor. The best part for her? She doesn’t have to clean up the mess and she gets a free detailing for her Jeep. Those are certainly two reasons to smile more.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
