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1944 January Drive in a Ford GP

• CATEGORIES: Bantam-FordGP-WillysMA-EarlyJPs, Features, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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A side photo of Smiley, John Henkels ‘new’ Ford GP.

The January 30, 1944, Sunday issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune made John Henkels and his son front page news for the purchase of their 1941 Ford GP from Wilensky’s auto parts. What a cold drive back to Fulda, Minnesota, that must have been!

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Clipping from Star Tribune - Newspapers.com

 

3 Comments on “1944 January Drive in a Ford GP

  1. Joe in Mesa

    That’s a great article, Dave. Maybe a bit dubious in parts… not sure I believe 30 miles per gallon unless it was downhill with a tail wind. And I didn’t understand “five speeds forward”; did the Ford GP have a different transmission and transfer case set up? Still, I could certainly relate to the attention they got. Both my GPW and MB still turn heads and get waves, and people typically come over for a closer look when I park anywhere. I just don’t have to freeze in Arizona like they did (do) in Minnesota :-).

  2. David Eilers Post author

    Yes, some dubious MPG and transmission-gear-option numbers. It just demonstrates how little the general populace understood these new fangled machines.

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