70 Years of Bestop. Wheelin with Mark Allen, the Designer behind the Jeeps you Love
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Bestop has been making tops for Jeeps for 70 years and to celebrate they are giving away a restored 70 year old Jeep CJ3B flatfender to one lucky winner. And as part of that give away I'm doing interviews in the Jeep with people influential in the off road scene. On this episode I'll interview my good friend Mark Allen, the former head of Jeep Design. We'll discuss his passion for cars, the iconic Jeep styling, and both of our love for the small town of Moab, Utah.
Next episode airs in 2 weeks.
to find out how you can win this 1954 Jeep CJ3B visit:
www.bestop.com...
The Mark Allen interview was just awesome. Thank you for sharing it. As a long time Jeep enthusiast, it was so intriguing to hear all the stories. Thank you.
As the owner of quite a few products that Mark Allen and his team influenced over the years, I'd like to extend a personal and sincere 'thanks' for all that he did for the brand. Best of luck to you in all your future endeavors.
We love our YJ!! Really cool Jeep history I didn’t know about
Ya know Fred, these Jeep'n interviews are so informative & entertaining! You could be the next Jerry Seinfeld. Actually, you could call the series "Jeeps and Java".
That would be a fun Jeep to run around in town in! This is the 2nd time for me watching this one. Love the history lesson. Now we just need more long form content from 4x Fred.
Love my yj. The problem with Jeeps now is they are so expensive with all the car comfy stuff. Most people that I've talked to that has bought new 4 door jeep has never and will never take it off the pavement and doesn't even know what the term " Jeep life" mean.
Great video, enjoyed that a lot!
Mark was excellent with Jeep.
Awesome video, absolutely love this Jeep👍
Great interview
We have the same top on our CJ3B...fits nicely even though the body on our jeep isn't perfectly in line. One complaint, we live in a humid environment and the clear plastic windows seem to absorb moisture and go opaque and get cloudy...it's so bad that we have to unzip the door windows in order to see clearly out the side...wiping the windows makes no difference, it's some type of internal reaction within the soft plastic itself.
I'm one that would buy a 2 door Gladiator and it wouldn't be a third vehicle. I'm still driving my '95 Chevy S10 ZR2 2 door short bed. A 2 door Gladiator would be the ideal replacement for my S10.
Why don't you make guest appearances on motor trend? Just wondering thanks.
👍
Great video covering so much ground and not rushed and nice to see Mr Allen able to speak freely and not limited by the interests of corporate.
This would be a fun series. Fred interviews awesome and interesting people in an awesome or interesting Jeep!!! Keep up the great work!!!
It is a series👍
@@tedlivingston thanks Mr obvious
Ok, that was a really cool interview! Thank Fred!
Imagine if this guy had free reign, and wasn’t at the mercy of Daimler and Stellantis (even worse) all these years.
Awesome video fred it was like a jeep history lesson 👍
I love this! Especially when it gets bumpy around 9:31 and it's so very hard to pay attention because I'm too busy laughing 😃.
Great video as well as a great interview. Mark’s sketch is fantastic!
Great interview! I have a lot more appreciation for the YJ now.
25:33 Was that DirtHead Dave on his new bicycle kick?
I wasn't sure I'd be able to stick with an hour long video, but I really enjoyed all of it! Mark left a legacy of some very cool vehicles. One of my favorite concepts was the CJ66 in 2016.
Amazing episode ps I wanna win it
i actually like the 3JB design, the high hood gives a meaner stands..
This is great. Love the design clues.
Great vid, would love some more with him
This was awesome, what a great video
What an awesome video! Loved hearing about how the YJ helped save Jeep! The XJ helped some too!! Mark is the Jeep Man
🤦♂️
These interviews you’re doing like this are fantastic. The Peck brothers one was great. Stumbled into this one. Honestly I kinda with following the dirt daily stuff.
Man I really really appreciate this video. Great discussion and so informative
Mark! Love my JL :)
I heard that the YJ saved the Jeep brand, but the "story" was murky on details. The other one that I heard to save Jeep was the XJ it's good to actually hear from someone who knows. Many thanks to Mark Allen and you.
When mark said he’s got the weirdest hot rod, I immediately thought, he’s gonna say…AMC, then he mentioned javelin lol
Great video of the modern history of Jeep.
On a side note. Popping out of 2nd is a sign of your synchro assembly going bad. Same happend to me in my 3b.
Late model CJ7’s were the best jeep ever made. Definitely no tipping over. The TJ/LJ the last great Jeeps.
That's really subjective. There's a lot of features of later CJ7's that aren't great. The two-piece AMC20 rear axle is weak and prone to shearing keys. The computer-controlled BBD is an utter disaster. Some of the transmission options weren't great. I have a T176, which is the best of the 80s. but is also very prone to shifter issues. The SR4 and T5 are just garbage. The lack of any rust prevention at all means it's rare to find one that isn't completely rusted away at this point. "Best Jeep ever made" is a very debatable subject.
I'm particular to the TJ's and especially the "LJ's" myself too, but definitely like my JT. My Comanche actually my first Jeep, my early experience with Jeeps was the full size lineup J10,20, SJ's and seen limited CJ's. It wasn't useful in some areas, a luxury vehicle, as Mark said. The handling of the YJ was much better than any of the CJ's ever had, let alone for someone who is over 5'8" tall.
Ask him what he thinks of "Angry Grilles".
Any plans to build a Soft Topper for 1st gen 4Runners?
Fuel injection saved everything
That was interesting, fun stories.
this is amazing! Allen is THE best. going to be impossible to fill his shoes.
I agree 100%. Simply look at the EJS concepts under Mark, and the ones now. No comparison.
Thanks Fred for the interview.
Love the history lesson!
It's ironic that the YJ saved the brand by providing an entry point as a "cheap convertible" selling for under $10K at the time, which is around $26,000 in today's money. Jeep has moved so far away from that segment that there's nothing remotely like it today. You can't buy a cheap Samurai or YJ today when the cheapest JL is close to $40k. The industry has abandoned that segment, and it's ripe for the plucking when someone comes out with a cheap basic 4x4.
nothing is cheap nowadays. material and production costs have gone way up, and there's not really a way to make a "cheap basic 4x4" anymore. there's too many standards when it comes to safety, fuel economy, emissions, etc. think of a YJ, it basically had no safety features, a gas guzzling engine, and was a rolling brick of sheet metal. theres too much that goes into development to make things legal.
it also comes down to demand. like they said in the interview, people complain about 4 door wranglers and how jeep didnt make a 2 door gladiatorb but when you look at sales, 2 door trucks just arent selling enough to justify the cost of development. not many people want a stripped down bare essentials vehicle nowadays. anyone who does, isnt going to buy a new one, theyre going to buy an old cheap one.
so its not that "the industry has abandoned it" as much as its "the market isnt interested"