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Photos from the 2018 Great Willys Picnic

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Rick shared photos of this year’s wet and rainy Great Willys Picnic. I’ve added a few pics from Bill Reiss, too. Bill captured the rain pretty well during the morning caravan to the event.

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Here are Rick’s photos:

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It looks like this Flattie has a predator engine installed in it:

2018-willys-picnic82018-willys-picnic7I’m curious about th jeep at the end. Is it raced?
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One last photo from Bill Reiss.
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10 Comments on “Photos from the 2018 Great Willys Picnic

  1. CraigInPA

    I applaud those who attended. It was raining buckets where I was (30 minutes away from Kempton) all day, without stop. I sat inside wearing my “Alaska or Rust” T shirt and a frown all day.

  2. TJ Kistner

    David,
    Your comment about the racing Jeep makes me think about your early Jeep exposure. One of my “old” friends was here last week, the one in the 1972 racing poster I sent you awhile back. He was under the 3B while I was plumbing the master cylinder and and all new lines for the 4 wheel disc brakes. It was interesting to see how much he knew about these things, having raced and built so many over the years. Too bad all that info and experience in the automotive world is lost as time goes on.

  3. David Eilers Post author

    TJ .. We’ve been losing a lot of racing vets over the past few years. Some of the engines and modifications folks were testing and playing with were pretty interesting.

  4. Matt

    Gotta love the first photo with the towel shoved in the corner of the windshield. I have experienced the same many times in the rain driving my Jeeps… with the trusty towel either holding back a leak or handy for the gush of water when the door opens. Thanks for posting!

  5. TJ

    David,
    Very true. I was reflecting on when Jerry told me about the 340 Mopar that he had in his Jeep, I was pretty impressed. And then he told me about the supercharged 289 Studebaker Avanti enginehe ran for a while, which was even more impressive.

  6. John North Willys

    real vintage jeepers don’t drive in the rain — water never touches my jeeps — I wash them with a shop towel soaked in WD-40 — why do you think mars is red ?

  7. Bill

    Lots of rain, but still fun. Thanks to Seth & Family for putting it all together!

    Matt- yes, the stupid venting windshield leaks. The beach towel on the floor was just as soaked

  8. Windyhill

    Those who attended had a great time! Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and you have to just deal with it. We still had almost 40 Willys show up and a great number of people selling parts! “REAL VINTAGE JEEPERS” know how to make the best of it even when it rains! Thanks to all the die hards that came out! Next year will be our 20th Reunion, spread the word! Lets see if we can hit 100 Willys!

  9. Glennstin

    Came 550 miles from dry Maine to enjoy wet PA and see real Jeepers do their thing. Even though the trailer queens stayed home, Bob W. and Seth stayed true to form and carried on. First rainy event at GWP I remember. Big show stopper for me was original, unrestored 1960 Pink Surrey 56337 17373 with Engine # 3J166362 all the way from Mansfield, Ohio. Story time: The owners were driving it at a Michigan intersection when a jacked up – modified Jeep driver came along side and yelled ” What a disgrace to Jeep that thing is!”. If he hadn’t opened his mouth, we would have never known. Our DJ3A Production / Survivor List proudly lists this as one of the best very original Surreys of the approximately 1100 made. These folks work very hard to display their long family owned Surrey at Willys events. I’ve seen it several times and it is the prime example to copy if you are trying to duplicate what a Surrey should be. Only REAL Surrey I’ve ever seen at The Great Willys Picnic. Made my day!!

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