Turning a passion into a profession

JOE KNYCHA FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Jerry Dadoun (left) and Stuart Sukerman take a break on Sukerman's TJ.

Joe Knycha

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

What began as a quest for basic transportation by a long-haired, 17-year-old high school student soon bloomed into an all-consuming passion for Jeeps and into a business that today serves Jeep owners and used-Jeep buyers across North America.

Jerry Dadoun was still in high school in 1987 when he landed a summer job supervising lifeguards at 25 Mississauga swimming pools.

"I needed a vehicle, but wanted something that was inexpensive, fun to drive, versatile ... and convertible," which was a tall order for a kid on a tight budget.

He settled on a clapped-out 1979 Jeep CJ, for which he paid $4,500. It came with two sets of tires, "regular and really big," and broke down frequently. Rather than borrow money from his parents for repairs, he bought a second junked Jeep CJ for inexpensive parts to keep his first one running.

He discovered, quite by accident, that the doors and hardtop of the CJ fit perfectly the model that replaced it, the YJ, as did many other parts. "I could buy an old CJ for $500, triple my money by selling the doors and hardtop, and sell the rest for parts."

It wasn't long before his parents' North York driveway was spilling over with old Jeeps, some of which found their way into neighbours' driveways and a nearby shopping plaza.

City officials eventually came knocking, insisting the Jeeps be moved. Dadoun found a 3,000-square-foot shop at Dufferin St. and Finch Ave. and over a couple of days dragged the Jeeps to the new location with his CJ, a chain and some rope.

He set to work dismantling them for parts. The shop had no shelves, compressors or torches; he put everything in sections on the floor, placed an ad in Auto Trader, "and was doing business from day one."

Starting Just Jeeps primarily as a used-parts business, he eventually moved into selling used Jeeps as well as new custom parts. He quickly learned why no two Jeeps ever look the same: customers started asking for new customized parts, most of which he had to source from the U.S.

Some customers wanted him to install the parts for them, "so I found a mechanic and put in a hoist."

The Jeep mystique and the endless possibilities for individualizing them had Dadoun hooked from the moment he bought his CJ, which today stands (and drives) as a monument to customizable possibilities.

"I'd had other cars before, but they didn't inspire me to want to personalize and upgrade them the way the Jeep did." he said.

Just Jeeps (www.justjeeps.com) sells about 50 used vehicles a year, mostly older models like CJs, YJs, TJs and JKs, some stock but many customized in one way or another.

"Sometimes we buy them built and sometimes we build them," he says. "A lot of the time we'll offer a stock Jeep for sale and the customer comes in with a list of stuff to be done before taking it away.

"We really don't sell army-issue Jeeps because we don't know them that well. We have access to all the parts for them but don't claim to know what would be the best avenue for their owners – they're a special breed and also have virtually their own community."

The most popular customizing requests are for suspension lift kits, wheels and tires.

The wildest modification he can recall was on a brand new Jeep Rubicon. "The customer wanted us to make it as fast as it could be. We ordered and installed a RamJet 350 V8 with all the bells and whistles, but it didn't stop there. We had to make sure that all the computerized parts worked with the engine and on-board computer."

It took about two months to get it all in and working like a stock option. Then the customer decided he wanted a supercharger installed.

"He wound up spending about $30,000 with us over four months and then renamed it Rubigone."

General manager Stuart Sukerman came to Jeeps from the sports car scene.

"I had gotten myself into a bit of (speeding) trouble and wanted to slow myself down a bit. But I still wanted to have fun."

His 1999 TJ bears little resemblance today to what it looked like then. "It's got real four-wheel-drive – none of this all-wheel-drive stuff – for the winter and for going off-road, and I can take the roof and doors off in the summer."

Service manager Alex Bailey relishes weekends when he can take his highly modified 2004 Wrangler Rubicon to remote places that are inaccessible to all but the most able of vehicles.

"It's seen a lot of trail," he says.

Older Jeeps generally see more extensive modifications than recent ones, Dadoun says, largely because of their simple designs and uncomplicated mechanical systems.

"Once Daimler got into it (Daimler-Benz of Germany bought Jeep parent Chrysler Corp. in the 1990s), they became a lot more sophisticated," both electronically and design-wise, making Jeeps more difficult and costly to upgrade.

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