So what's a country to do with a mess load of Jeeps left by an occupying liberating army? Why, they decorate them with chrome and retrofit them to hold a few extra passengers. Enter the Jeepney, a Filipino tradition. Or at least it's been a tradition for the past 60 or so years. Yay, America! [via VBS.tv: Part I, Part II]
Jeepney: The Filipino Dekotora!
6:00 PM on Mon Jul 16 2007
By Ray Wert
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8 comments










Comments
I wish i still had pictures of the rotary powered "Jeep" from the Philippines. haha hard to beat that.
My peeps!
Oh the things Filipinos can craft from scrap steel/aluminum/tin/whatevs.
Heh, my gramps used to drive one o' them jeepney-things when I was still a freshly-baked rugrat. I can't believe those things can reach 120mph (probably due to all the surplus 'Merican and Japanese mills lying around all over the country.) True story this was, me and my wife rode into one of these jeepneys and the driver was high on happy juice and meth (we could smell it from way back of the jeep,) and the crazy bastard was speeding through mountain roads and cliffs for 45 minutes. My old lady was holding on to the handrails and I was having the sweetest time of my life. The jeepney, slightly better aerodynamic properties compared to a brick, but a precision guided weapon of vehicular hoonage in the hands of a Jalopnik.
Look for it on a future 24 Hours of LeMons.
yes, and don't forget about how the majority of these ride on bald tires and that they are usually packed with 30 people or more, and maybe chickens, depending on where you are.
but, man, holding on to a handrail for dear life, packed in like sardines, praying you recognize your stop so you can yell "PARA!" and get off this thing...priceless.
actually... I'm half-American, half-Filipino, which makes me sorta like a jeepney I suppose...
Only visited the Philippines once, though I've gotta say that the Jeepney was my favorite form of transport
@MarkVictorArnold:
I don't know man, I definitely preferred the family car and driver loaner to the semi-public jeepney thing. But I did go for a ride on one just for the experience...scary and fun.
@smilingtarget: 120mph? Must have gotten a new gearbox and rear end, too. Maybe it just felt like 120. My grampa's CJ46 can only muster 55-60, but with SWB and solid axles, yikes.
The original Jeepneys must have had American engines, but the ones I saw in Manila last year all seemed to have Japanese diesels. The ride was fun, but in the "hang on for dear life" department, the Thai tuk-tuks have them beat.
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