MR.GADGET

Chris Schenk's 1967 Jeepster Commando and its rear-steering trailer

- Jered Korfhage

It all started when an unlucky driver plunged their brand-new '71 Jeepster Commando into a water hole near the ocean. Attempts to crank the waterlogged engine were futile and the Commando was swallowed by the rising tide. To the insurance agency, the vehicle was a total loss. To a junior college-age Chris Schenk, it was a $1,000 despite the amount of ocean that entered the engine, the automatic transmission was in fairly good shape. "In two weeks I had it going again," he recalled. That Jeepster became the motivator behind endless fun rides through Oregon logging roads and with every bump in the trail, it shed a little bit of sand from that almost-fateful ocean plunge.

Chris eventually sold the Jeepster, but he held onto the memories made exploring 4x4 trails with the once-totaled rig. Years later, Chris' son purchased an M38A1, which he was intent on restoring and using to travel the backcountry. This was the nudge Chris needed to reenter the Jeep world and he gave the classified ads a cursory search to see if anyone local was selling a Jeepster. He found two, neither in running condition, and brought them both home. One was a '67 Jeepster Commando that was really just a body and frame and Chris thought "wouldn't it be fun to put in a diesel?" And so began the modifications.