Resurrecting a dying legacy

Deeply ingrained in the Filipino culture is the iconic image of jeepneys. A spin-off of the World War II relic, jeepneys more than epitomize the colorful Filipino heritage.

The jeep we know today, however, evolved from the original "MacArthur type." And because of Pinoy ingenuity, we now have the Jiffy, the owner-type stainless, M151s, and M38s among other variants of the original WWII vintage.

"Jeeps were the rage before the Filipinos developed an affinity for branded cars," said Rommel Juan, vice president for marketing and sales of M.D. Juan Enterprises, Inc.

M.D. Juan, the pioneer in machine pressed metal jeep parts in the Philippines, is a wholly Filipino, family-owned business engaged in the manufacture and export of military and civilian replica jeep bodies and parts.

However, the influx of sports utility vehicles Asian utility vehicles and foreign automotive manufacturers has significantly diminished the popularity of the jeep. Now only few can be considered genuine jeep enthusiasts.

At present, majority of M.D. Juan’s market are jeep restorers, collectors and museums in the United States. "Now only 10% of our market are Filipinos. M.D. Juan dreams that someday there will be a resurgence of Pinoy affinity for the jeep." M.D. Juan hopes the jeep will not be forgotten so part of our mission is to continue the legacy," said Juan.

Juan hails from a family of entrepreneurs. The grand patriarch, Maximino Dionisio Juan, practiced dentistry for two years before his business "calling" beckoned.

With his in-laws’ assistance, the older Juan set up an automobile spare parts trading company. Eventually he started his own business, M.D. Juan, and moved to importing surplus jeeps which he sold locally.

Realizing the need for jeep spare parts, the older Juan. Doc started tooling up for replacement bodies of the jeeps he sold. This gave birth to the manufacturing arm of M.D. Juan Enterprises, then called NORCO or Northstar.

The company is now run jointly by the second and third generation Juans.

"Before I would report to the office because I felt I had to. It seemed back then that I was just going through the motions," said the younger Juan until he entered the graduate program in Entrepreneurship at Asian Institute of Management in 2002. "It made a big difference. Now I’m more passionate with jeeps.

"We intend to promote the hobby of jeep restoration and introduce it to a wider Filipino market, particularly the younger generation. As it is, only the post-war generation appreciates this pursuit," said the younger Juan.

The Juan family recently established the Philippine Jeep Restoration Foundation for this purpose.