Ok , First off what is wrong with having ones "off roading center" as you put it based in the country they live in? Should it be any different? I understand in Europe there is a lot more travel between countries but that is not soeasy here in the USA. Not everyone has the financial means (especially in a country the size of America) to travel abroad nor do they necessarily have the time. Let me give myself as an example. I am an auto mechanic at a small 2 man shop. We get 2 weeks off per year plus a 3 day weekend if a holiday falls on a monday or friday. The two weeks are not consecutive , it is one in the summar and one in the winter. No way am I able to just take the luxery of weeks off, or to "drop out" and travel for a year or something. This is the cards I'm dealt with in life and I'm not complaining, just giving you an example. I would find it odd in my case (or many people like me) to have my "off roading world" cenetered in places I will never visit. I am however aware of other places. I routinely buy Australian 4wd magazine and I own the Land Rover Book "60 yerars of the workhorse" I find the diversity of 4 wheeling/off roading as well as travel adventure to be above and beyond any other country when you consider we have anything from sand dunes to swamps to 14, 000 foot mountain passes and our Camping opportunities can be extremly remote unlike so much I see in europe.
I imagine any vehicle not from a given continent will have more trouble obtaining parts for than a vehicle from that continent. Try getting land Rover parts here in America, unless you're in a major distribution point you're probably waiting a few days to get something shipped across the country (Say living in Arizona and getting a part shipped from the east coast).
I'm currently an auto mechanic and have been employed as one since 1993. In my experience the Jeep platform is everybit as reliable as any other make, expecially the pre 2005's (when they started putting in v6's instead of I6's and did IFS to all but the TJ's/JK's. Although to be fair I do not see many of those having problems any more than new Toyotas) and I'm talking Cherokees, Cj's, TJ's, Mj's, Willy's the whole nine yards. The biggest thing is that they are easy to work on and they can be run into the ground and still keep running. Many parts are interchangeable between models and years.
I myself drive a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I'm a fan of older Toyotas and Land Rovers as well. the older Jeeps had a minimalist quality to them I find very appealing, more so than any other vehicle brand I've personally seen in person. That in my mind makes a great "backcountry" machine. One that has a good chance of being "jerry rigged" when need be, because face it they are all going to break and have problems.
It seems at least from looking at wikipedia that Jeeps have had a presence around the world for some time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep#Jeeps_around_the_world
For the North American continent and our diversity of terrain it's a perfect vehichle.
As far as lockers go I do not believe any company has offered a true locker until very recently (i think Jeep Rubicons had the option of the Eaton electric locker from the factory around 2004). All the others have been LIMITED SLIPS, very similar but not a true 100 percent locker. That is a moot point though. If you are familar with any American backcountry or the history of Jeeps then just think for a second about all those 2 track "roads" in the mountains of Colorado, or any place but let's use Colorado as an example. Rocky , muddy narraow shelf roads at 10, 12,000 feet and I'm confident those were first driven by Jeeps with open differential front and rear and little skinny military tires to boot! Beyond that most trucks in America up until the late 80's were generally Open/Open from the factory Jeep offered a limited slip back in the early 70's, maybe late 60's but it was generally gearing back then.
Unless you're living in the Australian outback or Mongolia, or some such place to say Jeeps only get driven off road occasionally or driven down a paved raod (in your final paragraph) is a "joke" as you put it compared to a vehicle living it's life off road then I think you don't have any clue into the American history of Off roading. Where are you based by the way?
I've worked on some 1970's Land Cruisers from a Ranch up in the mountains near Tucson Arizona where I live, these were ranch "trucks" and were driven as such their whole life. two of them needed significant welding along the frames where the steering gearbox mounts because of stress cracks (this was about 15 years ago so my memory is not as clear but I believe they also needed the radiator supports welded and one might've needed firewall work where the clutch master sits). They all have problems is my point.
Finally the whole "Overlanding" LABEL is kinda ridiculous. I joined the forum because I like the outdoors and travel (even if it;s just virtual travel and adventure). but this mentality that you (not you literally but some members in general) view yourself as an "overlander" is corny. In my mind Overlanding is just a label and a relatively new concept, in the past we knew it as "traveling" or "exploring", or maybe an explorer. My point is that just because one might take a two week or a two month trip (no matter what the details are, be it traveling in ones own state or in another part of the world) does not make you a "Overlander" no more than the guy going camping overnight an hour from his home does not make him not an "Overlander".
I'm heading to Colorado with my Jeep for a week in late July and I'll be camping out for three nights and probably motel it two nights. I will hike, explorer Ghost towns/mining camps and do about 2,000 miles total trip, just me and the dog. I will not be "overlanding". i will be going on a vacation.....a road trip...camping......
