Make/Model: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Six-speed manual, all-wheel drive.

Horsepower: About 285 from the engine and 160 from the wheels (currently stock).

Current Mileage: 44 thousand.

Cost: $26,000.

Backstory:

Originally from Bordeaux in France, Enzo Collado was “born into cars,” as he states. He lived in a small town named Saint Aubin, and his cousin’s family owned a business that evolved around cars. They had their own gas station, a body shop, a Fiat dealership, junk yard and a tow truck company.

His thirst for muscle cars, especially the Mustangs, came about when a yellow V6 convertible and a white coupe GT pulled up at the family-owned gas station one day to get fuel. There was a Ford plant not too far from them, and the Mustangs were frequently test driven. Their station was the closest place for gas.

The boys admired the cars and asked the gentlemen if they could go for a spin in them. With the permission of his cousin’s mother, they got to do just that. According to Enzo, Mustangs were a beautifully rare sight to see in France since they were American-made cars. This upped the muscle-car thrill factor for him.

He and his family also went to car meets. When he was about four years old, he went to his first meet. A lot of his childhood also was spent in the family’s junk yard. He and his cousin would mess around with the trashed cars. In fact, one day they took a Jeep for a run on a motocross course that his cousin’s brother had built in the junkyard. It was his uncle’s old Jeep from the ’70s or ’80s.  Since they lived in the back country of France, they took the Jeep mudding first. Blasting through the dirt, mud was flying so high it went over the roof. “We came out of it, and the car was still running,” chuckled Collado.

That’s when they decided to give the motocross track a go. So, the boys went for it. Pausing a bit to explain this part, Collado says they managed to flip the Jeep over on its side with two wheels in the air. The story gets better, though, because not only did they flip the Jeep over but his uncle had no idea what had happened to his Jeep, and they wanted to keep it that way. With no time to spare, they put their heads together and found a used bulldozer from the junkyard to attach to it. They stepped on the gas and rolled the Jeep back on all fours. It was placed back in the garage before his uncle arrived, and all was well. “We never touched the Jeep again until the next maybe 10-15 years,” he adds. The whole experience left Enzo with the impression that you could have one heck of a field day in a Jeep.

Prior to his Jeep, he owned a 2010 Mustang, 4.0 V6 in grabber blue. He also had a Ford F-150 that was traded for his current ride. He has had his Wrangler for about a year and a half now.

Mods: Painted the trim on the inside a dark grey color. He installed LED lights. There are four flood lights on the bumper. There are halo eyes installed in the headlights. He has wheel spacers and red, painted brake calipers and lug nuts. The whole theme is black and red. The interior has red seat covers as opposed to the original black. The Jeep also has mud tires and a high lift.

Future mods: Collado is planning on painting the wheels to match the black and red color scheme. He also is looking into placing a cold air intake in it. He’s put about $2,000 into the Wrangler so far, but if he doesn’t have to spend money on the mod, he will do it himself.  

Future/dream car: “I’m planning to jump back into a Mustang,” says Enzo. He truly misses his old Mustang. As for his dream car, he replies, “Honestly I don’t have one dream car, I have a few hundred.” The list goes as follows: 1968 Shelby GT, 1969 Boss Mustang hatchback, Ferrari Enzo (after his name, of course), 2014 Ford Shelby, 770 Equus Bass, 1958 Corvette Stingray, 1968 Charger and Challenger, and a classic Chevy. “I’m mostly into classic cars,” he says after going through his wish list.

What makes this car yours? For Enzo, he likes to think of his Wrangler as different from the others one would see on the road. He wants to make his Jeep unique in ways others would not modify it. The bumper is different, and the lighting is different. There will be more to come as Collado does not plan on getting rid of the Jeep anytime soon.