Daniel J. Bowie, Maryland Finally, one of our readers offered to be thrown into the Spotlight. He definitely deserves to after you see his jeep and read his story. We'd like all of you to meet Dan J. and his 1989 Jeep Wrangler Islander, GPZILLA. After reading Dan's story, you'll see how much time, effort and money he has spent on his ride. Emag: What type of Jeep do you own? Dan: GPZILLA is a 1989 Jeep Wrangler Islander with an extremely modified 357 cubic inch Chevy 4 bolt small block. It can be seen with one of several door and top combinations depending on the weather, time of year and what I feel like. E: Name three things that can ALWAYS be found in your Jeep? D: Snatch strap, 6 D-cell MAG-LITE AND Marine fold-up entrenchment shovel. E: If your Jeep could talk, what would it say? D: Sports cars are just moving speed bumps. E: One thing you can't stand to be without. D: Power tools. E: If you could ask a celebrity one question, who and what would you ask. D: David Duchovny - Why did you drive such a wimpy stock TJ in the movie Evolution. E: When and what got you started with Jeeps? D: I think I was about 15, and I went with my dad to a client's house (perspective contracting job) in Western Maryland. The guy's house was inaccessible with a regular car due to the terrain, washouts, and dirt path through the woods up the side of this mountain to get to his house. So the client met and transported us with an old CJ2 (I rode in the back) up the side of this mountain. It was then, I realized, if you needed to go where no car has ever gone - you could do it in a Jeep. In 1994, the 1989 Islander was offered to me for $5500.00, during my Navy tour in Spain, it booked for $10,500.00 and had never seen a wax job. The rest is history. E: One food you can not live without. D: Surf and Turf. E: What do you enjoy doing for fun when you're not at work? D: Working on or driving GPZILLA, or driving my 68 GTO, or 72 Catalina convertible. Wood working is another hobby, and participating in scouting activities with my two high-school students and my wife (taking GPZILLA off-road). E: What is your biggest pet peeve? D: Wimpy all season radials, or street tires, on a vehicle that was designed to go anywhere. E: What would people be surprised to know about you... D: After seeing and meeting me; to find out my oldest daughter is 21, I'm a Navy retiree, and that my day-job is an "IT professional". E: What music could we find in your CD player or cassette player right now? D: My CD changer sports an assortment of Rock and Metal with 80% of it being top hits in the last 4 years, and a few that could date back to the late 70's. E: In one word, describe Jeeps... D: Patriotic. E: What is your favorite season and why? D: Don't have one - GPZILLA doesn't care, but it is nice to throw on the Islander top and Safari doors in the summer, with the 400 watt amp drowning out everything around, as I'm cruising to and from work through the week. E: If you had $1,000, how would you spend it? D: Buy a rear drum to disk-brake conversion kit for GPZILLA, and a set of those remote air adjustable shocks. E: What is the scariest thing you encountered while in your Jeep? D: Getting stuck in a river in West Virginia, with no one around, and a submerged tree trunk that my tire kicked up and wedged it between my frontdrive shaft, frame and engine, causing me to twist my front driveshaft off 8" in front of the transfer case. Try holding your breath under water only to find out that your drive shaft is in two pieces. No one was around, but my 8-year-old son. My wife and 9-year-old daughter were at camp, and we were almost four hours from home. E: What is the funniest thing you encountered while in your Jeep? D: The look on my wife's face when she came home from work and saw that I put GPZILLA through the middle of both our garage doors while they were closed (it was still there), because the accelerator stuck while I was in 4-LOW, and couldn't get the ignition shut-off in time. The next speed bump would have been our family room. E: If you were stranded on a desert island, name three things you'd have with you. D: A Victoria's Secret model :-), Magnesium fire starter with striker and a Marine entrenchment shovel (nothing compares to the functionality of one of these). E: Any last minute comments, suggestions, ideas, etc... D: If you had a vehicle like this, would you keep it at home and wipe it with a diaper? I didn't think so. If you have the means, I highly recommend getting one. Special thanks to Dan for letting us put him and GPZILLA into February's Spotlight. You can definitely tell Dan is 100% committed to his jeep. He is a true jeep fan! Also, check out GPZILLA's website for more info, gpzilla.com. So, are you still debating on whether or not to submit yourself or someone else to show off in the Hot Seat? Stop being so shy and just do it. Submit yourself, your jeepin' buddy, someone from your jeep club, your neighbor, etc. You won't be sorry. In fact, you'll be thanking us for making you famous ;) Find out how you can nominate yourself (or someone else) to be featured in a future issue of our magazine. CLICK HERE