When Pat called me and asked if I wanted to spend my Sunday off driving down to Barstow from Vegas for a photo shoot of 100 grand worth of Jeeps, the first thought that popped into my head was; He and Norm had weighed the comforts of Pat's hammered Toyota Xtra-Cab vs. the comforts of my new  Expedition. I can hear Norm's voice now, "Let's con Dune into driving!" I held out for Pat buying the gas and beer as well as breakfast (since we were leaving at some horrendous pre-dawn hour). And the deal was made.

   Now, I'll be the first to admit, I ain't a "Real Jeep Guy". Yea, I've owned my fair share. From a '73 CJ5 to an '86 CJ7 with a few in between. But Jeeps were never my "prime directive." I'm a dirt bike/ATV guy. Asking Pat how many Jeeps would be there to comprise the 100 G's worth of AMC/Chrysler iron (figuring to myself about a dozen). I was floored when he told me... Two!

  Two Jeeps? You mean as in two? 2? Dos? Now I'm good at math, 20 plus years of being in automotive finance gives me a leg up on this stuff. Quickly doing the calculations in my head I determined that was 50 G's per Jeep. "Hold your horses Patrick!" I said, "That's 50k a Jeep! I gotta see this!"

   With the cruise on the Expedition set at a comfortable 85mph and some Metallica on the CD,  Norm, Pat and I blasted down the 15 freeway headed for Barstow. The usual bench racing and road trip B.S. was being exchanged, but soon the conversation turned to what the hell a 50 grand jeep looked like? We guessed,   speculated, even pontificated about what these rigs had in, on and about them. But even the wildest dreams of avarice would fall short...

   Turning into the Del Taco parking lot we were greeted with an eyeful! You couldn't miss this Jeep! Bright red and on a matching red flatbed, towed by a '99 F350 Crew Cab 4x4 (red of course!). The endless chrome was reflecting the morning desert sun in dazzling flashes of light. I fumbled for my sunglasses so I could look directly at this bad ass ride. Woo Hoo! This is one gorgeous piece of iron!

   Parked behind the big red machine was another Ford Crew Cab, this one was white and pulling a matching enclosed race car trailer... I bet Pat 50 bucks that there was a bad ass white Jeep sequestered within, wisely he declined my offer. Hopping out of my truck we introduced ourselves all around.

   We met Duffy Ladd Owner of Jeep Trix Off Road Creations and "Mr X" one of Duffy's customers (we will be featuring Mr X's Jeep in an upcoming issue). While we were deciding where to go for the shoot, Duffy gave us a quick walk around his rig. Every single millimeter of it was detailed flawlessly. This Jeep is a showstopper! We quibbled over location for a few minutes and Pat suggested a spot a few minutes away on the old Barstow to Vegas course that had some boulders to hop.

   We convoyed over to the course and got ready to do some crawlin'. When Duffy fired up that Jeep, the ground shook! 400 plus horsepower of Chevy small block has a way of grabbing one's attention...