This issue of jeep news included a handy index to locate information within earlier editions of the newsletter. That would have been handy to have for the regular Jeep News issues as well.
Features Research Archives
1963 Jeep News Volume 9 No. 3
The 1963 issue of Jeep News, Volume 9, Number 3, is only eight pages. I was surprised to learn on page one that the Kaiser-Jeep headquarters was established in Oakland; I didn’t know that had happened. Lower down on page one, it was interesting to see that despite the new name (Kaiser-Jeep), dealerships were to be listed under ‘Jeep’ in the “phone book”. For those too young to have used a “phone book”, ask you parents what that strange device was and how it was used (and, while at it, ask them about the Sears Christmas Wish Book, too).
Page two begins with an overview of the Fourth Annual Arizona Jeep Jamboree, sponsored by the Phoenix, Arizona, Jeep Club. I don’t have a sense of how popular this became or when it was halted (I assume it was halted?). Page two also contains a look at some of the upcoming Jeep ads. Page three notes the expanded presence of Kaiser-Jeep at fairs across the country.
Page four highlights dealer issues. Page five reports on the industry recognition Kaiser-Jeep received for the new brochures. Lower down on page five is the story of a Wagoneer climbing Mt. Haleakala in Hawaii. Page eight contains a variety of jeep photos from auto shows around the world. There’s also a photo of an FC-170, truck, and Wagoneer with campers.
November 1959 Jeep Service and Parts News
This November 1959 Jeep Parts and Service News contains a couple small notes on column shifters. In particular, there were two different steering column assemblies used on the two-wheel-drive jeeps (wagons, sedan deliveries, and DJ-3As). The full assemblies can be swapped, but the parts cannot be swapped.
Nate’s Playing in the Snow
Thanks to Maury for spotting Nate’s snow video. While he plays in the snow, we are surviving the cold. First, our re-done trough water delivery froze, then our well-water seems to have frozen, which remains a mystery as to why. Anyway, we are dry camping at home for the time being. Temps start trending up today, so hopefully this cold snap will be behind us for the remainder of winter.
1963 Volume 9 No. 2
At some point in 1963, Jeep News stopped adding a month to the printings, so we must use volume and numbers to delineate the various Jeep News issues. This issues, volume 9, Number 2 in 1963 is eight pages.
Page one has a neat photo of an FC-170 with an extended rear and an extra axle. That looks pretty handy! Page two contains some upcoming ads, along with a nod to some Argentinian jeeps. Page three shares the news of more jeeps in more movies, including “The Nutty Professor”, The Ugly American”, “Donavan’s Reef”, and “My Six Loves”.
Pages four and five contain dealer news. Page six continues the coverage of the Hatari! movie, this time internationally. Page seven shows police and police-dogs lined up in front of DJ-3As purchased by the Philadelphia police. Page eight covers some international updates.
June 1959 Jeep Service and Parts News
This issue of Jeep Service and Parts News is one of about twenty issues I obtained. This is the earliest one I have. I am unsure when these bulletins began, but given this is volume eight, then this must have started someone around 1953? These likely were tossed or destroyed pretty quickly.
Oct 1968 Review of the Wagoneer V8
Kaiser-Jeep must have arranged to have this article, originally printed for Four Wheeler Magazine, printed as a stand-alone ad piece for dealers and prospective customers. It’s printed in black and white, rather than color, and is eight pages. The form number is 69-02, suggesting this run was printed in Feb of 1969.
Jeeps @ Barret Jackson Auction
John shared this link for the Barret-Jackson auction, which shows the various jeeps for sale. There are only a few pre-1980 jeeps being auctioned:
This modified 1954 M-38A1 is the earliest jeep being auctioned:
Oct 1968 Review of the Wagoneer V8
Kaiser-Jeep must have arranged to have this article, originally printed for Four Wheeler Magazine, printed as a stand-alone ad piece for dealers and prospective customers. It’s printed in black and white, rather than color, and is eight pages. The form number is 69-02, suggesting this run was printed in Feb of 1969.
March 1963 Jeep News
This March 1963 issue of Jeep News is once again eight pages. Page one announced the name change, with the company shifting from Willys Motors to Kaiser Jeep, while the Willys Sales Corporation was changed to Kaiser Jeep Sales Corporation and Willys-Overland Export Corporation changed to Kaiser Jeep International Corporation.
Page two continues a story from page one about the Chicago show and it introduction of the 1963 Gladiator and Wagoneer. Page three includes a nod to Tom McCahill, who praised the new Wagoneer in a review of the new jeep.
Page four has more about the new models. Page five discusses the results of the Sun Carnival race in El Paso, Texas. Page six shows the continuing efforts to market Hatari!. Page seven contains several FC-related images. Page eight tells the story of using jeeps on a 27,000 acre ranch in Nebraska.
Before Canyonlands Was a Park
“Before Canyonlands Was a Park” is a story built around a presentation given by Alan “Tug” Bates in 2014 and published January 07, 2024, by the Canyon Country Zephyr. It includes a variety of jeep photos from the Canyonlands area.
You can read the story and see pics here: https://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2024/01/07/1950-before-canyonlands-was-a-park-the-other-place-no-one-knew-by-tug-wilson/
One excerpt is particularly interesting:
“In the first 10 years of exploring what would become Canyonlands National Park, we encountered a total of five people: We encountered one party of two in 1952; Dad gave them directions to find what later became known as Angel Arch, the icon of Canyonlands. Once, in 1953, we came across a lonesome cowboy, on his way from the West fork of Salt Creek to Cave Springs. And finally, in the fall of 1958, we met up with Kent and Fern Frost. They were in their green jeep, in Horse Canyon, checking out the area for future tours. But that was it…. FIVE.”
When my ex-wife and I moved to Utah thirty years ago (Yikes!!) in the summer of 1994 the population was 1.9 million (by comparison, as of 2021, the population was 3.38 million and the state is still one of the top five growing states). Lacking a jeep at that time, I got to explore southern Utah when you could still hike Desolate Arch in Arches NP and not see anyone! The experience Bates describes was mine at times. There were no signs stopping me from unrolling a sleeping bag on a piece of slick rock outside Moab and spending the night (now, lots of no-camping signs), which I did several times, with stars so bright I didn’t need a flashlight. And, if off the beaten path, you were guaranteed to feel all alone in desolate country.
Thirty years later, the Utah I experienced has changed dramatically. The restaurants are way better, the culture more diverse, the events more varied, but the resulting traffic and the crowds have become, at times, too much for my tastes. I guess I am getting old!!
December 1962 Jeep News
The December 1962 issue of Jeep News was eight pages. Page one shares the news that sales jumped 56 percent, thanks in part to the new jeep models. Meanwhile in El Paso, Texas, organizers of the Sun Bowl planned to host a Jeep Derby as part of the Sun Bowl festivities. Page two shares some photos from a 300-person jeep caravan to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (created in 1907).
Page three contains a variety of miscellaneous stories. Page four includes a great example of the Jeep Herders logo. The club was located in Sheridan, Wyoming. Page five shared the story of Frank Kuboski and his San Juan Scenic Tour Jeep business operating out of Ouray, Colorado (editor’s note, Ouray is pronounced “Your-ay”, as my son likes to remind me .. I always mess it up!).
A highlight from page six was the announcement that Oakland, NJ, Police Chief purchased a wagon with a matching boat and trailer for rescue work. An unusual article on page seven explored Hollywood’s Lloyd Bridges’ views on raising kids, while lower on the page the Jeepster Club of America celebrated their fourteenth anniversary. Finally, on page eight, came the report of a radio newsman delivery his show from the bed of a CJ-5.
Kam the Motoring Elephant Poster on eBay
UPDATE: An original post for Bertram Mills Circus featuring Kim the jeep-riding elephant is currently on eBay for $510.08.
View all the information on eBay
“Origional Bertram Mills Circus poster illustrated with KAM the elephant driving his Jeep, a great Jeep man cave item.
51cm x 74 cm. (20″ x 30″)”
In addition, a new search brought up this old photo from 1957:
And, finally, after the jeep Kam drove e a Landcruiser. Here’s a short video of Kim at work:
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Originally posted December 18, 2012:
Kam the elephant starred for the Bertram Mills Circus during the 1950s and into the 1960s. Initially, Kam drove a modified MB/GPW. It looks like it had an updated motor. Unfortunately, the only images I have found of Kam on the jeep are from the above poster and from page 240 of “The Jeep” book (a black and white photo which I don’t show). In the photo, as in the poster, there is a hump in the hood, which I assume is the result of the engine swap. The jeep has the usual WWII attributes: tool indents, rear floating hubs and other details. Unlike the poster, the photo shows the fenders were left stock and flat, rather than rounded as shown in the poster.
Eventually, according to the site Silodrome, the circus bought a 1959 Series 1 Land Rover and modified it with a “central steering wheel and a huge, padded seat over the rear axle”. The picture below is also from Silodrome. Here is a very short video of him driving it. Kam’s customized Land Rover has been found and is being rebuilt.
Various Photos
- Blaine shared this photo of a Bell Telephone engineer working in Europe during WWII.
- Blaine also shared these links for the teardrop Mustang, developed in the late 1940s. While many of us have seen these pics, what I didn’t realize was that the Mustang utilized some jeep steering parts. As this MotorBiscuit article notes, “McCarty wanted to build his car with existing components adapted to his unique vision. He decided that the steering from a Willys Jeep, a Continental or Hercules engine, and Spicer rear axles would be the basis for his car.”
- This photo of a customized GPA was posted to g503 by Morihisa Ochi:
- Grant Howe shared images of his customized jeep on Facebook, built for bird hunting:
1959 Lighter Celebrating the Building of Jeeps in Canada on eBay
The starting price for this unusual lighter is $49.99.
View all the information on ebay
“1959 Dundee Lighter promoting the FIRST CANADIAN BUILT JEEP® August 21, 1959. Back reads: WILLYS of CANADA Ltd, Windsor, Ontario. Scratches from storage. Blue, white and black enamel shows very little if any wear. Needs a cleaning. Being sold “As Is” as we didn’t have any fluid or flints to test.”
October 1962 “Extra” Jeep News
This eight-page October 1962 issue of Jeep News introduces the Gladiator and Wagonneer. So, it may not be too surprising that this entire issue covers these new jeeps.
Israel-Kaiser Compact Tender Literature
UPDATE: I found what I believe is another Israel Kaiser brochure which highlights the Compact Tender design. This truck looks more like a modified wagon than a truck. The bed does not appear independent of the cab.
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Original Published Dec 05, 2010: Congrats to Or who spotted some information from a “Kaizer-Ilin Industrys Ltd” marketing document at the Israel Cars forum. He and I have both searched for any official piece of evidence that the vehicles we were seeing were really produced and this represents the first step in that process. We still don’t know how many were produced, nor how many years they were produced, nor in how many countries they were produced (though they have appeared in both Israel and the US).
The document below is from 1963. Or translates it the following way:
1. Tender Willys
2. “Station Car”
3. Compact Tender
4. c’hamp 1963
Moreover, Or spoke with some of the folks at the Israel Cars forum and discovered that the Compact Tender is built on the Panel/Wagon frame (104.5″ wheelbase) rather than the long pickup frame (118″ wheelbase).
Thanks to the guys at the Israel Cars forum for posting this Ad:
October 1961 Jeep News
The October 1961 issue of Jeep News was eight pages. Page one included a couple photos of the FJ-3A from different angles. Willys Motors also announced that eleven TV commercials would hit the airwaves over the coming months. I am not sure sure if all these commercials have been saved to YouTube or not.
Page two shows the results of the second annual Las Cruces Jeepathon. The event featured fifteen racers and 8500 spectators. An article on page two also noted that the October 1961 issue of United Airlines Mainliner magazine featured four images of jeeps, including “a lavatory truck, Surrey, FC-170, and a conventional one-ton pickup truck”.
Page three shows a small elephant in the back of an FC-170 along with Joan Crawford with an DJ-3A Surrey. Page four shows two ‘comparison-data’ brochures, one for the truck and one for the wagon. Another of these was published for the CJ-5 and DJ-3A and is available on eBay.
Pages five and six are mostly dealer information. Page seven is highlighted by Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida and their movie ‘Come September’.
Page eight shares the story of Evie Durant, a church worker who uses her jeep for a variety of tasks in Alabama. Also on the page is a surprisingly robust rebuild of a CJ-6 into a swamp maneuvering, oil searching rig. Finally, there’s a short story of some college graduates and their training with the Audio-Visual wagons prior to their departure of Africa.
Jeep-A-Trench Parts List on eBay
Unclear how many pages this is. The starting bid price is place at $80. It contains some useful assembly images.
“THIS AUCTION IS FOR A RARE, ORIGINAL “JEEP-A-TRENCH & JEEP-A-TRENCH GEAR-DRAULIC PARTS LIST MANUAL”
PRODUCED BY AUBURN MACHINE WORKS INC, OUT OF AUBURN NEBRASKA
WILLYS JEEP SALES LITERATURE, AND OTHER VEHICLE MAKES AND MODELS.
ORIGINAL – NOT A REPRODUCTION.
GOOD COLOR AND GRAPHICS. SLIGHT WEAR FROM AGE,STORAGE, USE. SOME SLIGHT SMUDGES ON COVERS BUT PAGES ARE CLEAN AND CLEAR.
COVERS MANY JEEP-A-TRENCH ASSEMBLIES:
DIGGER CHAIN, BOOM, FRAME, HYDRAULIC DRIVE, SPEED REDUCER, MAIN HOUSING, AUGAR, ELECTRIC LIFT, HOIST, REDUCTION, OVERLOAD, CRANK BEARING AND BELL CRANK, CLUTCH THROW-OUT, HYDRAULIC DRIVE CONTROL,
TRAVEL CONTROL, TRACTION DRIVE, WINCH, RATCHET
GEAR, NO. C100 AUBURN CRUMBING AND GRADING ATTACHMENT.
COVERS JEEP-A-TRENCH GEAR-DRAULIC ASSEMBLIES:
NO. 200 CRUMBING AND GRADING ATTACHMENT, FRAME, BOOM, AUGAR, MAIN SHAFT AND HOUSING, OVERLOAD AND TRACTION DRIVE, TRANSFER GEAR DRIVE, REDUCTION DRIVE, HYDRAULIC LIFT.
HAS TWO INK STAMPS ON FRONT COVER:
PARK “JEEP” SALES, HIGHWAY 7 AT WOODDALE, ST. LOUIS PARK, 16, MINN, WEst 9-5111
JACK BALLANTINE, TRENCHERS AND TRENCHERS PARTS, RES 127 W 68TH ST MPLS, FACTORY – CONGER, MINN.”
1956 Truck Newspaper Metal Print Block Stamp on eBay
UPDATE: At bottom is a printed version of the plate listed on eBay. A few of the pics show the truck with the high middle cross piece on the grille, which helps date it.
View all the information on eBay
“8 x 6 x 1 inch
“Let us demonstrate America’s lowest priced 4-wheel drive truck”
“4-Wheel Drive Jeep Truck”
“Willys…world’s largest makers of 4-wheel drive vehicles”
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Originally published April 14, 2013: The ad is from 1956.
“Original newspaper ad , 8 x 8 .”
June-July 1961 Jeep News
The June-July 1961 issue of Jeep News is only six pages.
Page one shares news about the FJ-3A, which the company planned to introduce in the fall of 1961. Interestingly, the paper refers to it as The Commercial ‘Jeep’ Fleetvan. Page two includes another example of an FC-170 with a custom camper on the back.
An articles on page three highlight the use of jeeps at Lake Placid, New York, and the continued use of DJ-3A Dispatcher surreys as part of the Pepe movie promotion. Page four shows how an FC-170 was converted into a horse carrier. Page five is all dealer news.
Page six shows some images from a jeep club meet at Kaiser Steel, while a pic at the bottom shows a militarized FC-170 with it’s top removed.
Koenig Body-Extension (or Hardtop) Data Tag Size
Claus is curious about the size of a Kong body-extension data tag size. Anyone have one they can measure? Alternatively, anyone know the size of a Koenig hardtop data tag?
Using photoshop, I was able to figure out that the body-extension data tag size is about a 2-1 ration, meaning if the height is 2″, then the width is about 4″. My guess is that the tag may be 1.5″ x 3″.
Here is a body-extension data tag example:
Soul City Dry Goods Jeep shirt in Missoula, MT
Jake shared some pics of a t-shirt he found at the Soul City Dry Goods store in Missoula, Montana. The shirts do not appear available on line. I also don’t know the price or how much inventory the store has.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/837017479769475/permalink/2683153998489138
Happy New Year 2024!!
Welcome to 2024!
This upcoming year of the Dragon marks the seventeenth year of eWillys; it continues to be the longest ‘job’ I’ve ever had. The site seems to have its own inertia that pulls me along. Despite all the posts, approaching 65,000, interesting new stories still appear, which keeps me energized, as I think it does you all.
To that point, in 2023 I spent more money on old docs than ever before, mostly in the form of Willys and Jeep News issues. I’ll be publishing more issues throughout January, into February. Most of the issues are early to mid 1960s, so you’ll see more full-size jeeps, but most still contain information on the older jeep models as well.
My goal for 2024 will be to continue on the every-two-day or three-day-update schedule. Now that I have so many Willys Jeep News issues, my hope is to weave together interesting stories that span across the various issues. Two post that I know I will do are 1) a post on the range of custom campers built from FC-170s and 2) the wide range of ice cream jeeps. I also hope to create more of an index, so that jeep news, brochures and other documents can be arranged along a timeline. Again, we’ll see how things go.
With the chaos of family illnesses and death behind us for now (fingers crossed) over the last six years, I had more free time to read in 2023. At six hundred pages, “And The Band Played On” by Randy Shilts, a book about how HIV and AIDs unfolded in the 1980s, is one I just finished and proved the most interesting book of the year, even though it was written in 1987. Another fascinating book is a new one by Kashmir Hill called “Your Face Belongs to Us”, which highlights the scary way in a company called Clearview can locate your image in videos based on the company’s ENORMOUS database of video and still images (I can guarantee it is worse than you think it is). Big Kibble was another interesting book, this one covering the history of dog food (I like history-of-food books). Other books I read include Deluge, Zoobiquity, Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive and American Wildfire, Sedition Hunters, Angle of Repose, among others.
Speaking of books, it’s crazy that this year will mark thirteen years since I published my first book, Finding Virginia, and seven years since my last one, Slag. I have returned to researching my next book about Rossiter Raymond, once the pre-eminent mining engineer in the world. I’m still looking for the right narrative to tell his story (maybe I can sneak in a jeep?). We’ll see how things go.
On the jeep front, work has begun on the FC Tour Jeep. I’ve removed all the rear seating and carpet. Given I want to raise the rear bed to a point that more closely reflects the original tour bed, I must decide whether to build atop what’s there or remove all the rear bed and build a new rear floor altogether, then reimplement the existing sides and rollbars. Also, I was able to secure a set of original FC-170 seats (thanks to Craig) that can be reupholstered, so that’s one less thing to worry about!
Meanwhile, the race jeep gets started and run once a week. It still needs some graphics, but that’s pretty trivial. I hope this spring to take it somewhere local to give it a few workouts. When I was driving it around our pasture last fall, it seemed to be missing slightly in the high end, so I want to test it a little more to explore that more once the weather warms.
As for 2024 trips, Ann will likely be in DC at some point in January. She has spent the last two months working on a bill for the existing victims of state sponsored terrorism, which attempts to fix and tighten an original bill passed by Congress in 2015. Later in the year we may be in Sea Cliff, New York, so that I can give a presentation as part of a museum exhibit related to my family’s history in Sea Cliff. Of course, we also plan to attend a few weekend jeep races here in the Washington State this summer. Depending on what happens over the next couple of months, we are considering a trip to Europe, but we’ll see how that goes. If we don’t go to Europe, and if the FC Tour Jeep gets done in time, we may take it to one or more summer events. However, finding someone to stay and manage our property, and especially our dogs, is our biggest hurdle to travel.
That’s all for now. Stay safe and have a wonderful 2024.
March 1960 Jeep News
This eight-page Jeep News was published in March of 1960. On the front page, the company announced the 1960 ‘Jeep’ Approved Equipment Sales Program to further push third party equipment sales, which rose 33% in 1959 vs 1958. Willys Motors also welcomed a new Jeep Approved Equipment sign.
In addition, the front page highlighted the Surrey, noting that Pepsi had purchased 100 surreys, making it the largest Surrey purchase to date. Eighteen of those went to Tulsa in custom colors of Code N-57 Pepsi-Cola Yellow and Pepsi-Cola Creamed Striped Vinyl, but it is less clear to me what colors were used for the other surreys. Finally, the front page noted that the Surrey would appear in “Seventeen” Magazine on April 04, 1960 (see full ad in black and white here).
Page two referenced three different brochures. The first brochure was highlighted to announce that an updated version of the value-rater with 1960 data had been published (view the 1959 version here). The second two brochures were intended as mailers for a targeted audience of contractors, engineers, and other building trades people. The first mailer was titled “When The Weather Outside Is Frightful” (DM60-01), while the second one was “Building Up? Or Down?” (DM60-02). At least nine 1960 DM60-XX brochures were produced, though I am still missing DM60-05, DM60-07, and DM60-08.
A story on page three describes the use of a Surrey by the fashionable “Togs for Women” stores as “a trailing fashion show, with a trailer loaded of the latest in women’s clothing.” Pages four and five cover the rise of jeep clubs from across the country, both for fun and for community service. Pages six and seven have a variety of FC stories.
Page eight has another Bonners Willys story, this time highlighting a DJ-3A Dispatcher, though the hardtop on the dispatcher looks most like a very early Willys Overland top like this one. Meanwhile, a different article shared the news of a thirty-two Dispatcher purchase by Sommers Drugs, a San Antonio, Texas, drug store chain.