Checkout | 28. Jun 2021

Driving Betty Draper

You might still see that legend in movies or TV series that are either old or pretend to be playing in a different era. Let´s say: The Sixties. That Wagoneer model, one of the first SUV´s produced by Jeep, became an instant hit among soccer moms - and those with a personal outdoor ambition, as "Mad Men"´s Betty Draper and her horseback riding.

You easily realize that the woman driving a wagoneer has a sense of style compared to those mostly desperate housewives in the suburbs driving their station waggons; the image-lift to a more adventurous or at least physical advanced driver inside always was included as a basic quality of that car.

Those days are gone. Jeep, as any other car company, tries to catch up with our times by selling cars that drive more ecologically and look as ugly as all the other cars around.

The last new Jeep Grand Wagoneer was built in 1991.

But for those who still rate looks higher than function you´d call Leon Miller, the founder of Wagonmaster, based in Kerrville, Texas; sweet restorations and rebuilds are still hitting the road.

I wouldn´t do that, as much I´d still have a crush on that car.

How I´d wish I would not have to buy an ugly car to drive on modern standards! Why aren´t there engieers and designers to work on those looks we all yearn for. We would all do the right thing then, wouldn´t we?