Amsterdam is home to waterways, Rembrandt, beautiful architecture and... Jeeps? In April of 2010 Jeeptruck.com was contacted by Steve Attersol, an avid Jeep truck enthusiast from Amsterdam, The Nederlands (aka Holland). Steve has an uncommonly authentic collection for someone living in Europe. It is comprised of a Gladiator J-Truck and "The Diggler", a 350ci V8 Kaiser CJ 5 from 1960.
But for Steve and his friends putting their Jeeps to the test requires crossing the border as the Dutch government is not fond of handing out 4x4 permits.

Steve recalls such an excursion abroad to Joinville, France. "We were there on a week-end trip with approximately 60 Jeeps." Steve said. "France, for Dutch people [is] quite a distance and also the language barrier is often a problem. Not so many people speak French in Holland." He reports.
"The morning started and we Jeepers started our



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By Tom Smith; JeepTruck.com
engines among many Japanese and English so called Jeeps." Said Steve. "People looked and shook [their] heads [as] if it was the start of an invasion." The Jeepers traversed many trails and Steve vividly remembers the sound of mud
"smacking" onto his tires, which he likened to the sound of butter. "At a certain point we
entered a black spot on the road-book [map]." Said Steve, describing a feature he and the others had noticed earlier but paid no attention to. "The black spot was a small forest with no entrance, anyway not an entrance we noticed. We decided to go in, my Jeep "The Diggler" [in] front." "I smacked carefully [into] some small trees and stopped
after reaching a big Second World War bomb pit of three meters deep!" The forest was littered with such blast holes which 'The Diggler' successfully navigated without the use of its winch, except to help others.
"I told the guy I would give him a pull, but he refused. He told me (in French) he didn't [want] to be helped by a Jeep, because a Jeep would not succeed in this occasion."
Steve later told the man to get back in his truck and hold the wheel while he and 'The Diggler' pulled him out. "I started my engine and gave him a pull while I was in low gearing." Said Steve.
When three hours had passed the group reached the end of the forest, only to enter another via a small trail. "On both sides were trees, we couldn't go left nor right." Steve said. Here an English Land Rover got stuck. "The owner (alone in his car) was trying and trying but went only deeper in the mud." Steve said. After a cigarette break waiting for the imitation Jeep to dig its way out, Steve and the others offered there support.
With this the Land Rover flew out of the hole and the frenchman dizzily got out of his truck (he had hit his head on the steering
wheel).
"He told us he couldn't believe that Jeeps were that strong."

"One of our guy’s didn’t hesitate to tell him that it was
Steve also mentions that there are numerous similar four-wheeling trails in the North of France and in Ardennes, Belgium where memorials to the First and Second World War can be found.

"We all carry a warm [heart] to all of those who left their lives to bring us freedom. We will never forget!"
because of the Jeeps that he could speak French, otherwise everybody spoke German and would be driving a VW beetle and carry a small mustache!" Steve said, pointing out that American-made Jeeps helped repel the Nazi invasion of France.
Steve and his pals get down and dirty.
Steve Attersol

Gladiator specs:
1969 Kaiser
Type J-3700
Indentification number : 200871
6 cylinder 232 CI engine
3 shift gearbox.

"Diggler"
Kaiser CJ 5 from 1960
350ci V8
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Steve's Gladiator
The 'Diggler' on location.
'The Diggler' (and Steve's Harley)