Like everything else, there needs to be balance. I personally think that balance comes from opposing forces in tension.

THIS is exactly the point I was making when I commented in the "Tell me the Range Rover isn't the perfect vehicle" post a week or so back.

I do love the old XJ Cherokee, but if we're being honest that mark has been missed since the Liberty came out in 2002. I doubt we'll ever go back to the XJ formula. Solid axles work with the Wrangler, but with the Cherokee you have to consider handling and ride and fuel economy.

I'm putting the FJ Cruiser down because it was targeted against the Wrangler, missed the mark and has been discontinued. And I don't think it's because "people" failed to somehow realize its inherent greatness or bash it solely on appearance. It's because it flubbed two things that most make a Jeep Wrangler a Jeep…

Didn't realize it was that close dimensionally (also was the Unlimited even a reality when ti came out?) Proportionally, it came out awkward. I mean, the windshield was so short that it needed three wiper blades.

Eh. I feel like Toyota flubbed the FJ Cruiser. Too big, goofy looking and expensive.

The problem with the Range Rover stretches back 20 years. Hell...it's not even a problem so much as a path not taken.

It's simple. We want to know things, but we also love surprises.

This trailer isn't doing it for me.

Whether the contact patch widens depends on the tire involved, length of the contact patch certainly increases, however.

If by natural causes you mean "violently drowned in a ship swallowed by heaving seas", then yes, natural causes.

Also, bigger for a Mini is extremely relative. My Countryman S (love Minis, needed the four doors for car seats, this wasn't available last year etc) is a full 11 inches shorter than the Ford Focus I traded in for it.

"Want me to call Armando" needs to become the go-to email reference when clients, partners etc suddenly change plans in a way that completely screws your projects.

Not pictured: the inevitable C-130 Hercules as well...

Weak list is weak.

When you turn your passion into your job, it becomes work, and you do it to make money. It's a fundamental shift in why you're doing that thing at all, and you may find that something you enjoyed as a simple passion makes you miserable as an actual job.

Eh. The cynic in me takes note of the fact that the US usually sucks pretty bad at low-intensity guerilla/insurgent warfare and thinks we should let them bulk up with aircraft and tanks and other recognizable military hardware. THEN take them the hell out.

Drove it into a concrete barricade on a closed highway going ~50MPH.

since the book features Canada as a power player, I think Chapters would be apropos.

I hear ya. Sold mine back in 2005 and, even with its quirks like catching on fire on the highway and swinging the passenger door open in left turns, it was an absolute blast. Maybe once the kids get older I'll track down a vintage one to restore.