Features Research Archives

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Our ‘New’ San Juan FC Tour Jeep

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

This is the big surprise… Jesse and Andrea have agreed to sell us the San Juan FC Tour Jeep that Jesse built from the cab up, along with the trailer. You can see more pics from the build here: https://thefcconnection.com/jesse_ybarra’s_tour_jeep_journal.htm

We consider this a great honor and can’t thank Jesse and Andrea enough! Jesse was instrumental in encouraging us to visit the round-up for the first time in 2012. Ever since that first visit I have wanted an FC tour jeep, but given there are only three of them, I never thought it would be a possibility.

Much more about this later, as we have a long drive home in front of us!

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Snow + Passes = Hotel Stays

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Me telling Ann, “trust me honey, the is a short cut to Arizona” … I don’t think she believe me! (the dually barely fit on the bridge).

Over the last four days we’ve encountered more snow and bad weather going into and trying to get out of California than we have in all of our other trips over the past 12 years combined!

On Sunday we drove from Prosser to Eugene, Oregon .. no problem!

On Monday we drove a few hours, but then stopped in Medford for an In-N-Out burger and some Harry-and-David store shopping. That’s when the snow started falling. Knowing we had a 100 miles of mountain passes to cross, we thought that even though it was only 1pm, it would be best to spend the night in Medford and tackle the passes on Tuesday.

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2023-02-28-medford3It sounded easy enough, but then I was feeling a little off, like I was really anxious or stressed and my heart was racing a bit. I just didn’t feel quite right. Then, about 4pm, Ann got a call that her aunt had suffered an aneurysm and was on a breathing tube. There was some confusion and we thought she had passed. So, given the way I felt, Ann said we should go to the local ER. So, we spent a few hours in the ER. They did some tests. We talked to the heart doc. I was perfectly fine. It’s all very embarrassing, but sometimes it’s good to share the embarrassing stuff along with the instagram-perfect messaging.

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An unflattering pic of me in the ER … Ann took a variety of pics; she was almost enjoying herself.

hmm … our conclusion is that I was having some kind of anxiety attack. Why, I don’t know. Was I nervous about snow in the passes? Nervous about the trip? Was I nervous about the feeling itself, afraid that I might be having a stroke like my father, which created a feedback look of nervousness? I have no idea! Whatever it was, things settled down that night and I’ve been fine ever since.

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July 1955 Jeep Jamboree Report from Willys News

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

UPDATE: This post originally appeared August 14, 2015:

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1) Lining up on the first really flat ground they have seen on the entire caravan, the Jeepers stop at Miller Meadows for their Sunday lunch.

This 1955 article in the 1955 July/August issue of Willys News covered the recently completed Jeep Jamboree. The author reported that as part of an awards ceremony, the award for the oldest passenger went 68 year-old Mike Millard who was a former Rubicon Springs-Lake Tahoe stage coach driver. He must have had some great stories!

On another front, compare photo #5 to an original at the online archive of California. There it is dated 1958. Given this appears in a 1955 Willys News I’d say their date is incorrect.

1955-july-aug-willys-news-jeep-jeep-jamboree-text

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Jeep Not So Hot on the Farm

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

UPDATE: This article was originally published May 29, 2016:

This Canadian article from the November 20, 1944, issue of the Maple Leaf broke the news that the jeep didn’t test well on the farm.

1944-11-20-themapleleaf-jeep-not-so-hot

 
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Twenty Year Old Girl Jeeps Through South America

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

UPDATE: This story was originally published August 29, 2016:

A story from the September 20, 1962, issue of the Toledo Blade (and a similar story on the 10th as well) shares the tale of Lou-Bette Herrick’s three month trip through South America. The Richmond Virginia native entered into the adventure after responding to an advertisement placed by Hilary Dunstervile for a companion to drive back to her native country of Venezuela. I did a little research on both women, but didn’t find any updated information on them. It doesn’t say what kind of jeep they used, but there is a reference in the article to camping out in the jeep, so it might have been a wagon.

1962-09-10-toledo-blade-herrick-south-america-adventure1 1962-09-10-toledo-blade-herrick-south-america-adventure2 Continue reading

 
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1946 Jeep Trip to South America

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

UPDATE: This article was originally published September 12, 2016:

This article appeared in the October 8, 1946, issue of the Southeastern Missourian. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Kenyans, Mrs. Katherine McGregor Wallis and her daughter Miss Trinket, planned to travel all the way to Tierra Del Fuego in a CJ-2A. I could only find one article and one photo, partly shown below. You can see the full version of the image at Getty.

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Caption: Katherine MacGregor with Friends Before South American Trip To South America In A Jeep. Chicago, Illinois: Putting the finishing touches on their jeep before they leave for a year’s trip in South America are (left to right): Mrs. Katherine MacGregor Wallis, Mrs. Anne Knehans, Irwin Knehans, and Miss Iranket Wallis of Quito, Ecuador. Trip To South America In A Jeep. Chicago, Illinois: Putting the finishing touches on their jeep before they leave for a year’s trip in South America are (left to right): Mrs. Katherine MacGregor Wallis, Mrs. Anne Knehans, Irwin Knehans, and Miss Iranket Wallis of Quito, Ecuador.

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Toledo Blade Unveils the CJ-2A

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

UPDATE: This article was originally published April 9, 2015:

On July 19, 1945, the Toledo Blade published an extensive story about the unveiling of the CJ-2A to reporters. The paper is also full of interesting stories, such as the sinking of the Ticonderoga, the identification of a returning GI with amnesia that turned out to be a Nazi Agent, and the jailing of a Walnut Grove, California, woman who threatened a returned Japanese American soldier who was a POW in Germany.

A small part of the CJ-2A story was published on page 1

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The majority of the story was on the front page of section 2.
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Jeffrey Mareck’s Trip of 30,000 Mile Trip in 1966

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

The September 28, 1966 issue of the Milwaukee Journal shared Jeffrey Mareck’s 30,000 mile trip through Africa and all the way to England.

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1965 Diamant Family Trip through the US

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

UPDATE: This article was originally published April 11, 2015:

In 1965 Brits R.M.E. Diamant, his wife, and three children completed a five month drive around the United States in a Jeep Wagoneer Camper. Mr. Diamant intended to publish stories of their adventure in travel magazines in the UK and the US, but his article in the 1966 Jeep News was the only one I found.

I’ve created this rough map of their journey based on the places mentioned in the article.

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1944 Article about a Soldier’s WWII Story

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

UPDATE: Originally published March 27, 2015: 

Interesting story from the St. Petersburg Times if accurate.

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Fall 1979 – Winter 1980 Jeep News

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

This is the last of the Jeep News issues from the 1970s and early 1980s that I have. I hope folks have found it somewhat interesting.

1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-1 1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-02-03 1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-04-05 1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-06-07 1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-08-09 1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-10-11 1979-fall-1980-winter-jeep-news-page-12

Flyer 1:

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Flyer 2: 

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Our Gang Ice Racing Video

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

The Our Gang 4 Wheelers in Georgetown, Colorado, have one more race this weekend (unless the ice holds a while longer). This video gives a short overview of their sport. The club also has an updated website with lots of images.

https://ourgangiceracing.com/

 
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Jungle Larry’s African Safari Post Card on eBay

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

Here’s safari tour jeep train postcard from Jungle Larry’s African Safari out of Naples, Florida. It looks like the CJ-5 jeep is pulling a tram.

There is also a website devoted to the memory of Jungle Larry and his wife Safari Jane.

View all the information on eBay

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This photo is published on the Jungle Larry website on the store page. I don’t believe it is the same CJ-5 as the stripes are a little different along the driver’s side and the rear bodies are different (along with the lack of top and windshield).

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Hemet Jeep Club Photo CJ-6 on eBay

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

This 8×10 black and white photo shows a Hemet Jeep Club member climbing a hill in his CJ-6. It may have been taken as part of one of their annual cavalcade events.

View all the information on eBay

“Vtg Photograph Hemet California Cavalcaders Jeep 4 wheel Club By F.J. Wiff 8×10. Cool Vintage Photograph Of a Hemet California Cavalcaders Jeep 4 whelling club get together sometime from late 40’s early 50’s i would guess. Photo is an 8 inch by 10 inch Photo By F.J. Wiff or Wift im not sure.”
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Hickey Dual Rear Adapters on eBay

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

These Hickey dually adapters are priced at $775, but seller will consider offers.

View all the information on eBay

“They are like New never used . There are no marking on adapters.
Set comes with 2 adapters, 5 left hand thread studs and 5 right hand studs.
Flat Shipping is $95 usd. Worldwide . may ship from other locations.

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1955-1958 Willys Motors Brochures on eBay

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

This collection of eleven brochures (did I count correctly?) and one postcard appear to be from between 1955-1958.

View all the information on eBay

“Vintage Lot Jeep Willys Automotive Dealership Advertisement Brochures
New Jersey Based Dealerships
Delivery Wagon Truck Jeep FC-150 FC-170”

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UPDATE to Updates delayed

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

UPDATE: I *think* things are back to normal? Well, not so much normal. I will do a few updates before our trip, then a few scattered updates plus some reruns during our week-long trip. 

Due to ongoing updates to the site’s software framework, no updates Thursday morning.

 
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Fall 1978 – Winter 1979 Jeep News

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

This issue is only 12 pages.

1978-fall-1979-winter-jeep-news-page-1 1978-fall-1979-winter-jeep-news-page-2-3 1978-fall-1979-winter-jeep-news-page-4-5 1978-fall-1979-winter-jeep-news-page-6-7 1978-fall-1979-winter-jeep-news-page-8-9

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Early Warn Winch Brochures

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

These three Warn brochures are on eBay.

  1. This brochure for the 6000lb winch includes on the back a reference to Kelly Manufacturing as a distributor of Warn winches in the eastern US. I believe the print date is July 1968.
    View all the information on eBay
    warn-6000lb-winch-kelly-brochure1 warn-6000lb-winch-kelly-brochure2
  2. The print date of this brochure for the 8000 lb winch appears to be December 1970. It does not include a reference to Kelly.
    View all the information on eBay
    warn-8000lb-winch-kelly-brochure1warn-8000lb-winch-kelly-brochure2
 
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Broken Facebook Images and Google’s WEBP

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

For a couple weeks I’ve been having problems loading some images from Facebook Marketplace in my safari browser (I can load the same pages successfully in other browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome). This is an annoying issue because, obviously, it means I can’t see some ads for use on eWillys.

I finally determined  that Facebook is experimenting with using Google’s “.WEBP” format for some pics. The solution is to update my Safari browser. Okay, that’s doable.

My problem is that the WordPress version I run (the platform under the eWillys skin) won’t let me post those files, which means I have to move those images to a photo program, then resave them as jpegs.Well, that’s a pain I don’t need!

So, I need to update my WordPress instance, but sometimes that breaks things. So, if Ewillys goes down, I tried updating and things didn’t go well. (I have other sites that update just fine, but my eWillys webhost has locked down the eWillys files tightly, which is both good (for security) but bad (for me manipulating things).

Anyway, if some of you also have the problem with broken images in some Facebook Marketplace ads, that’s likely why (Only seems to happen in some auto ads).

 
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1979 Spring Summer Issue of Jeep News

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

UPDATE: I had this as a 1978 issue, but I think it may actually be from 1979.

After a year of 20 page newsletters, this one and the next one were cut to twelve pages. This includes an extra flyer advertising jeep equipment. The readers letters section (pg 2-3) contains descriptions of clubs that match my memories of being in a club.

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Winter 2022-2023 Issue of Dispatcher Magazine Has Been Released

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

I received the latest issue of Dispatcher Magazine yesterday. In it, John Gunnel discusses Howard Tibbal, his huge circus model, and circus jeeps, while Barry Thomas shares how Henry Ford saved the jeep.

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Willys Jeep-A-Trench Sandia Park, NM No Price

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

Andy shared this one.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/913713532976990

“Willy’s Jeep-A-Trench Price is just a placeholder Open to all reasonable offers Located in Sandia Park”

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Klairmont Kollection’s CJ-2 #6

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

Barry Thomas let me know that this rare CJ-2 #6 has found a new home. Keith Buckley and Brandon  from Jeep appear in a video discussing the jeep. Check out the video on Barry’s Farmjeep site:

https://www.farmjeep.com/farm-jeep-history/agrijeep-in-the-beginning/

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Photo courtesy of Farmjeep.com.

 
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Davis Scenic Tours Brochure

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

I purchased this rare Davis Scenic Jeep Tours brochure from eBay. According to the CJ-3B page (which has a brief history of the company), Davis Scenic Tours was launched in 1946. It was eventually sold in 1959. At that time, the name was changed to San Juan Scenic Jeep Tours.

The brochure is 5.5″ x 8.5″ (half sheet of standard page) and folded in half. So, it’s pretty small.

The brochure’s cover photo of the CJ-3B isn’t very good, so below is a pic that shows how the modified-stretched CJ-3B actually looked, courtesy of the CJ-3B page:

davis-scenic-jeep-tours-cj3b-page Davis-Tours-brochure-ouray-colorado-tour-jeeps1 Davis-Tours-brochure-ouray-colorado-tour-jeeps2 Davis-Tours-brochure-ouray-colorado-tour-jeeps3