Eventually I'll be able to construct a complete, yet broken Jeep from the trophy parts on my desk.

My office in the Petersen building is pretty swank by most accounts.  On a clear day I can just see a little sliver of ocean, I've got a real door that I can slam shut when feigning disgust with my fellow workers, and I've got this cool wrap around desk on which I permanently store all sorts of digital and slide photos, catalogs, and the broken trophies of my early days as a magazine editor.

Here are some items that conjure fond memories.

4 Dana 44 stub shafts: mementos from my '85 Ramcharger. I broke something in the Dana 44 every time I locked the hubs and dropped the t-case into low range.  Usually it was an axleshaft.  Apparently stock D44 parts don't like a heavy truck on 37s and a manual tranny.  The pile was bigger but I came to my senses and threw most of it away.

1 Fragmented Lock-Rite Locker: again, from the Dana 44.  This one broke in Moab's Dump Bump because I'm an idiot and for no other reason.

Klune-V mainshaft: It's an early 2-piece prototype shaft that I was running in one of the first Klune-V cases.  It somehow wound up in my Dodge and met its end in Moab.  At least it shattered with the Klune in 1:1 High range.  Otherwise it would have been a long ride home to LA

Dana 44 open diff: I don't even remember

Toyota 22RE Piston and rod: I fragged my '85 4Runner's engine on the I-5 at 70mph.  The rod punched a fist-sized hole in the block and the oil and fuel spray started a small fire under the hood.  It still ran on 3-cylinders.

Various bomb components:  The dry lake out at Johnson Valley is an old WWII aerial gunnery range.  After a rain you find all sort of bomb fragments, bullets, and stuff like the arming paraphanalia that's on my desk.