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1943 Photo of Jeep Transporting Wounded on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Thats’a full load.

View all the information on eBay

1943-02-09-new-guinea-transporting-wounded1

1943-02-09-new-guinea-transporting-wounded2

“1943 Press Photo New Guinea – a jeep & crew transports wounded Allied soldiers
This is an original press photo. Wounded Allied soldiers are shown being carried to the rear from a fighting front in New Guinea. An American (left) and an Australian …. bumper of the jeep.Photo measures 9.5 x 8.5inches. Photo is dated 02-09-1943.”

 
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1950 Wagon Brochure: Selling the Unseen Values on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Interesting brochure. It includes a quiz.

View all the information one eBay

“Original salesman’s part color catalog , 8.5 x 11 , 12 pages , 3 file holes at edge , also includes non color sales sheet , 8.5 x 11 , 2 pages , shows various Willys features , descriptions , etc .”

1950-selling-wagon-brochure3 1950-selling-wagon-brochure4 1950-selling-wagon-brochure5 1950-selling-wagon-brochure6

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A. J. Parson’s Generators & Compressors Brochures on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

These aren’t the greatest brochure examples, but I’ve never run across brochures for A. J. Parsons equipment. Also included are a couple go-for-digger plow documents. The price is crazy.

View all the information on eBay

parsons-mobile-welder0 parsons-mobile-welder1 parsons-mobile-welder2

Plow:

go-for-digger-blade1 go-for-digger-blade2

 
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1950s? Woman, Jeep & Eskimo Pies Sign on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Women & Jeeps • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Steve shared this ice-cream related photo.

View all the information on eBay

golden-state-dairy-woman-eskimo-pies-pic

“WOMAN w ICE CREAM TRUCK JEEP @ GOLDEN STATE DAIRY 50’s photo ESKIMO PIE SIGN
Vintage original snapshot photo, circa 1950’s.
Dimensions: 5″ x 3 1/2″
Condition: Good, surface creases/wrinkles, bit of album paper remnants on back, see scan.”

 
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1943 Photo of WACS in Jeeps

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Women & Jeeps This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Fort Belvoir was happy with the WACs they had and was hoping to recruit more. An article in the July 25, 1943, issue of the Sunday Star covered the recruitment program.

1943-07-25-evening-star-wacs-jeep

 
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Early Willys-Overland Booklet for the CJ-2A on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Maury shared this one. It isn’t pristine.

View all the information on eBay

“Universal Jeep Willys-Overland Sales Brochure. Undated. 32 pages. With photos. See photos. Creases and stains.”

early-cj2a-booklet

early-cj2a-booklet2

 
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Jeep Reconditioning Programs in the U.S & Europe

• CATEGORIES: Features, International, Ordnance - Remanufactureing This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE II: Some additional photos of the Esslingen, Germany, recondition facility posted to  Facebook. The first one is similar to the final photo in this post, but the details show it’s a different photo (probably earlier given these have soft tops and military markings.

esslingen-photo3 esslingen-photo2 esslingen-photo1

UPDATE: This was originally published in 2013.

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The Bechtel-McCone Remanufacturing Process rebuilt from an article in issue #122 of the Army Motors Magazine Winter ’08 by Lloyd White

One topic that appears in my new book is the 1941 attack on Russia by Hitler.  Called operation Barbarossa and named for the medieval Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa it was the largest invasion in the history of warfare. It included three million soldiers, 600,000 vehicles, and 750,000 horses.  For comparison, the D-Day invasion force was approximately 150,000 men.  Even a month later, only a million men had landed on the beaches of Normandy.

Supporting these huge numbers required plenty of logistics. For example, the German military had 250 companies of veterinarians that, at the height of the war, were capable of servicing almost 100,000 horses a day.  Near the end of the war, horses became vital for the Germans on the Eastern front, as the terrain was often too inhospitable for vehicles, if they had any running vehicles at all.

What does this have to do with jeeps? Well, despite their disposable nature, many people don’t know that the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Department created special facilities to rebuild jeeps (and other vehicles).  Facilities were located both in the U.S. and abroad.  Here’s some information about the US divisions.

I spent time last night, probably too much, gathering and organizing some information about these programs.  The idea and much of this information came from Maury Hurt’s efforts to gather and document reconditioning programs.  There are a variety of threads about these at G503.  However, what I didn’t see was a place that gathered the information together as I have below. I expect to add to this post over time with more information about the international programs.

washing-jeeps-remanufacturing-bechtel-mccone

Steam cleaning jeeps at Bechtel-McCone’s remanufacturing facility in Birmingham, Alabama.

UNITED STATES REMANUFACTURING:
The following companies remanufactured a total of 16,176 jeeps in the United States according to Charlie Weaver via Jim Allen’s book “Jeep”. There are examples of the data plates applied to the dash of jeeps by the companies below.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find examples for all the companies. Next to the companies are the number of jeeps each is credited with rebuilding.

1. Bechtel McCone 4,986
2. Allison Steel Manufacturing Company Plate 2,865
3. Moore Equipment Co plate and a second one and a third one. 2,443
4. Higgins Plastic Corp 1,850
5. Stewart & Stevenson 1,750
6. W.A. Bechtel plate 1,555
7. Bishop McCormick & Bishop (no examples found) 343
8. International Diesel (no examples found) 267
9. Vancura Motor Company (no examples found) 66
10. A.M. Meyerstein (no examples found) 49

I found these plates in several locations (documented in the links above) and then organized them as you see. I thought it would help people who run into plates, but don’t know what they have.

remanufactured-jeep-plates

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1941 Photo of Ford GP

• CATEGORIES: Bantam-FordGP-WillysMA-EarlyJPs, Features, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This March 02, 1941, photo from the Evening Star appears to show the original Pygmy.

1941-03-02-evening-star-blitz-buggy

 
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Carl Jantz’s Super Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This article, titled SUPER JEEP: A 1942 WILLYS THAT CAN’T BE KILLED, ran a couple years ago on driving line.com, but is still an interesting look at a unique build.

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/super-jeep-a-1942-willys-that-cant-be-killed/

carl-jantz-super-jeep-2016

 
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Just a Few Posts Today

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Just a handful of posts today.

So, I’m supposed to fly out of Virginia on Thursday AND I’m flying standby (hey, it’s free). However, there’s one hitch. An unusually massive snow fall/blizzard hit the Pasco area (well, a good portion of Washington State), which has caused airport and interstate closures. Another heavy snow is supposed to arrive there today and additional snow will arrive Tuesday and Wednesday.

The question is, will I make it home if I leave Thursday? I can probably make it from Richmond to Minnesota (that’s my transfer point), but whether I can make it from there to Pasco remains to be seen, as the closed airports will likely force passengers to filled up subsequent flights.

I like the adventure of it, not knowing if I will get stranded in Minneapolis or not. Stay tuned!

 
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1941 Article Introducing the Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Old News Articles • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Mario shared this article on Facebook from the May 25, 1941, issue of the Des Moines Register. A report describes his experience riding in one and imagines how it might be used. I find the claim that it would go “87-miles-an-hour–without opening it up” a stretch, but that was likely just a propaganda plug.

1941-05-25-desmoines-register-fordgp

 
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One Way to Clone Vintage Knobs

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Maury spotted this idea for cloning vintage knobs.

 
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2019 Willys-Am-Tegernsee Willys Convention July 12-14

• CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

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Ceepee announced this year’s Lake Tegern Willys event. This is one I hope to get to some day.

die Planungen sind abgeschlossen. Der nächste Willys-am-Tegernsee wird vom 12. bis 14. Juli stattfinden.
Der eigentliche Willys-Day in bewährter Weise am Samstag, den 13. Juli.
Eintreffen und gemütliches Beisamensein bereits ab Freitagnachmittag.
Ausklang, kleine Ausfahrt und Brotzeit am Sonntag.

July 12th through 14th we’ll have this year’s Willys-Convention on Lake Tegern.
Save the date and get ready to join in!
Like before the main event will be on Saturday, July 13th.
Beginning on Friday afternoon we’ll have the oppurtunity for jeep talk either on arrival or at the dinner right on the banks of the lake. For those, who want we’ll have another small tour on Sunday morning before we’ll have a Bavarian Brotzeit.

Wie bisher auch Willys MB, Ford GPW und Hotchkiss M201 only!

In der nächsten Zeit wird’s dann weiteres Details geben.

Stay tuned for further details!

Let’s keep’em rolling!
Euer/Yours
CeePee

 
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Maury’s Vintage Tire Post at the EarlyCJ-5 Page

• CATEGORIES: Features, Tires and Rims This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Maury has created a vintage tire post for the EarlyCJ-5 page. I expect it will expand as more folks visit it.

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/old-school-mud-snow-tires-and-vintage-look-radials.134511/

maury-vintage-tire-post-cj5-site

 
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Anyone Recognize This Hardtop?

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Several of us have never seen this type of hardtop. Anyone recognize it? The top fits an early to mid CJ-5s, while the doors are made for a post 1975 CJ-5s.

odd-hardtop

 
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August 1942 Letter-to-Editor Discusses Jeep Name

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This summer of 1942 article highlights some of the confusion surrounding the jeep name and might be one of the first documented instances of someone claiming that GP became jeep. As I’ve argued, I see no reason to believe that’s the case.

1941-08-life-magazine-comments-jeep-name

 
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Highland Hammock State Park Jeep Trains, Sebring, FL

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: There’s another Hammock State Park postcard on eBay. The original post is from 2013.

“This is a very cool black/white postcard that shows a jeep “Conducted Tour – Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring Florida” It is unused, but has a hand written date of 1955 on the back. It is in excellent condition.”

View all the information on ebay

hammock-state-park-cj2a-1955 

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Original Post from 2013:
Highlands Hammock State Park ran tour trains from at least 1948 – 1962.  As the first photo shows, they started with a CJ-2A.  It looks like a set of benches on a platform with wheels.  By 1962, the park shifted to CJ-5s.  It also appears they added sides.  I images that was safer.  These are all from the State Archives of Florida.

http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/56346

hammock-state-park-cj2a2

http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/56343

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http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/78488

hammock-state-park-cj5

 

 
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Video Tour of Jimmy Strauss Jeeps

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Roger Martin shared this tour of Jimmy Strauss’ jeep shop.

 
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WWIIAfterWWII’s Post on Cleaning Up After WWII

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

While doing some research for my upcoming book, I found a wide-ranging, long post that touches on the issues surrounding the clean up after WWII. There are several photos that include jeeps, but mostly it’s about the challenges of collecting unexploded ordnance, recycling endless salvage, and repurposing made-for-war items.

https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/cleaning-up-after-wwii/

wwii-jeep-body-salvage

 
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1943 Color Photo of Coast Guard Fire Fighting Group

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

How about his neat 1943 photo from the National Air and Space Museum!

1943-coast-guard-fire-fighters-lores

The photo’s caption: “View of four U. S. Coast Guard firefighters dressed in white asbestos suits with helmets and face plates, two riding in a jeep, the other two on the high pressure water pump and hose it is towing, jeep also carries carbon dioxide fire extinguishers, Hall PH-3 in right background, water in left background, 1943.”

 
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Starting the Morning off w/ a Bang

• CATEGORIES: Features, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Tom shared this video short of 105mm Recoilless Rifle mounted to an M-38.

 
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1946 CJ-2A Newspaper Ad

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This “Jack of all Jobs” ad was publishing in the April 7, 1946, issue of the Sunday Star.

1946-04-07-Evening-Star-jeep-ad

 
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Escape From Burma in Ford GPs

• CATEGORIES: Bantam-FordGP-WillysMA-EarlyJPs, Features, Magazine, Old Images Jeeping • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

During a 75,000 mile adventure between 1940 and 1942 Life photographer George Rodger photographed the growing war across Africa, Europe, and Asia. During the latter part of his adventures he found himself using, then abandoning, Two Ford GPs sent to the Chinese as he and his fellow adventurers escaped Burma. He reported on these adventures, through photos, in the August 10, 1942, issue of Life Magazine.

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1942-08-george-rodger-75000k-fordgp-photos-65 1942-08-george-rodger-75000k-fordgp-photos-66 1942-08-george-rodger-75000k-fordgp-photos-67

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1955 DJ-3A Postal Brochure **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, DJ-3A, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay

(03/20/2016) Here’s a hard-to-find single sheet brochure.

“Here I have a Single Sheet Flier for the Willys Jeep mail Dispatcher from 1955.
This has some wear and a small tear on the bottom (See Scans) but still displays Very nicely.
Will ship in a protective Sleeve with backing board.
Nice item for the Willys Jeep Collector!”

1955-dj3a-postal-dispatcher-brochure1

1955-dj3a-postal-dispatcher-brochure2

 
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1948 Ad for the CJ-2A

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This “Power for the Job” ad was published in the Evening Star on May 19, 1948.

1948-05-18-evening-news-jeep-ad