As I went for a leisurely drive down Badger Road last Sunday, a fully grown cow moose sprinted onto the motorway as I traveled nearly 60 miles per hour. The beast narrowly missed a well-dressed couple and their F-150 before barreling into the front driver’s side corner of my 2014 Jeep Cherokee as the back half of the animal crushed my rear wheel well.

Sadly, the moose had to be destroyed by an Alaska trooper.

As I emerged from the vehicle with a face covered in glass — the moose also created a large hole in my windshield — the first thing I noticed was that my driver’s side mirror was intact, despite taking a direct hit from an animal I hear can produce up to 400 pounds of meat.

My immediate thought was: “Man. This thing is a tank.”

I have always made fun of people who give their cars names as though they are a pet or a child. But now, my Jeep and I have the shared trauma of being assaulted by the only megafauna still native to North America.

I now call him “Tank,” and this thing really is a tank.

In June, it made the 3,400-mile journey from my hometown of South Bend, Indiana to Fairbanks, surpassing the 100,000 mile mark somewhere in the Yukon Territory, with virtually no problems. Tank then made it from Fairbanks to Homer and back without even a tire pressure light.

I have owned cars from Asia, Germany and the U.S., but nothing compares to American engineering.

First developed for U.S. Military use in World War II, Jeep has been an iconic representation of what it means to be an American: being able to get in your car and drive from sea to shining sea, no matter the distance or terrain.

When I think about the ongoing United Auto Workers strike, I am reminded that it was union labor that built a car able to protect its driver from a charging 1,000-pound animal. I escaped from the accident completely unscathed. For that, I am grateful.

After repairs are complete, I hope Tank will successfully make it through the impending winter and several years beyond. But when he does eventually expire, I plan to purchase another Jeep Cherokee. It’s the safest car I know.