Paul spotted this unique slat grille M-38A1 at an Alaska outdoor car show. I think it is pretty well done.
Paul spotted this unique slat grille M-38A1 at an Alaska outdoor car show. I think it is pretty well done.
I found this interesting article from the St. Petersburg Times in 1994. Island Cruisers was a Clearwater, Florida, company that refurbished old right-hand drive postal jeeps for export to island countries where people drive on the right hand side.
Jan and Robin Stach started the company. By the time this article was written, the company had sold 35 jeeps to the Bahamas, Grenada, Aruba, the Cayman Islands and Cancun. They were generally used for rentals. The company had another 30 jeeps in process. The Stachs feel that demand was huge and they hoped to mature into a company capable of producing 500 jeeps a month.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find any additional information on how successful (or not) or for how long the company operated.
Note: Another company started about the same time on the west coast called Safari-Kars
Jim Allen wrote this great article about CJ-2 Agri-Jeeps on the Fourwheeler site. http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/1507-the-oldest-restored-civilian-jeep/
You can also see more photos of agri-jeeps and other jeeps from the 2015 Midwest Willys Reunion here. The photo below shows the four agrijeeps.
Neat card, but crazy price!
“Vintage 1942 Hallmark Greeting Card. Oh so Patriotic!!! Little Boy and Girl in Jeep with fabric American flag. Card measures approx 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches. It is in Great Shape- Still attached to card stock from scrapbook.”
All proceeds from the auction of this 1957 wagon are being donated to “Marines to the Mountains” program. The auction is expected to take place August 7, 2015.
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1957-WILLYS-JEEP-WAGON-186024
“For sale at auction: Lot #3000 – This 1957 Willys Jeep 6-226 4×4 station wagon embodies all the charm of one of the first production SUVs. This vintage beauty is powered by an original 226/115hp 6-226 Super Hurricane inline-6 flathead engine with 190 ft/lbs of torque, a 3-speed manual transmissions and 4-wheel drive. Continue reading
Johnny had some skills back in the day!
“1947 Press Photo Johnny Price of Indians Catches Flies Upside Down in a Jeep
This is an original press photo. Johnny Price, Cleveland Indians comedian, demonstrates, with the aid of a jeep, how the outfielder of 1950 will chase flies–even while upside down. Price showed how before exhibition game between Indians and New York Giants at Tucson, Arizona.Photo measures 9 x 7.25inches. Photo is dated 03-15-1947.”
Great photo.
“1944- U.S. Marine and U.S. Navy Seabee shaking hands in front of sign erected by the 3rd Marine, 2nd Raider Regiment on Bougainville which reads:
So when we reach the Isle of Japan
With our caps at a jaunty tilt
We’ll enter the city of Tokyo
On the roads the seabees built.”
Paul Barry from Willys America and his wife Jane discovered these two jeeps on the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. Moored at Pier 45 in San Francisco, it’s the last unaltered Liberty Ship from WWII. These days it operates as a living museum teaching tourists. You can learn more at the SS Jeremiah O’Brien website.
Roger shared these photos from his Midwest FC Gathering. He reported that the weather was great. He had more than 30 people and 9 FCs at the event. He also wanted to acknowledge & thank everyone for all the spontaneous help with food.
-Linda & George “The Grill Master” McGuire
-Sharon & Walter “The Grill Master” Calhoun
-Dan Laity, Dutch Oven “Chef”
-Everyone who set up canopy’s, tables, chairs, and helped clean-up.
He’s already looking forward to next year!
Steve shared this funny story about the seizure of jeeps in Paris to put a halt to free rides for pretty French girls. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3316764/posts
The prisoner doesn’t seem all that upset about being captured.
“1943- Wounded German soldier is brought down from the hills around Salerno in a jeep ambulance for treatment at a dressing station behind Allied lines.”
These old photos I bought off of eBay show aren’t the best. They capture a weekend of jeeping somewhere in California, possibly the Rubicon.
According to this story, Buddy Cowger lost the use of his legs due to cyanide poisoning. That didn’t stop him from driving the backroads of Utah in search of Uranium. He was a friend of Charlie Steen, a famous Uranium hunter out of Moab.
Richard Michalsky builds “mini-jeeps” out of his shop in Bolivia. These jeeps are all metal. The first vehicle, an MB look-a-like was completed in 3 years. It is 25% Smaller than the original vehicle and is 2WD, but has made of the same details. It is powered with a 3 Cyl engine from a Kia 1000cc. It weighs around 1250lbs.
This second jeep is a civilian model. It’s styled different, but appears to be built in a way similar to the MB-like jeep. It too is only 2WD. They look like a kick to drive around.
I spent far too much time in the sun today. I could have used an umbrella like this!
“1943- British Signaller W. Bale working on his jeep using an umbrella for shade on Sicilian beach.”
Don shared these photos of jeeps from his visit to the the New Mexico Museum of Military History Albuquerque, New Mexico (That is the Facebook page … it’s website doesn’t appear to be working). This place is only about a mile away from the jeep dealership that has the CJ-2A in it. Note the Ford GP! Don sent a selfie this time 🙂
Anyone familiar with West Virginia’s Top Kicks Military Museum? If not, it’s worth a look. Merlin stopped by the other day and filed a detailed report on his blog. The museum has an extensive Jeep collection that even includes a copy of the CJ4 Jeep and a 6 wheeler.
https://hansonmechanical.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/a-million-jeeps/
Pete from the Old Willys Forum shared this news with me. Click on the links to learn more.
Joseph is working on his high school senior project this summer. He is planning to build a CNC Mill machine that will mill wood, plastic, and aluminum. He just launched a Kickstarter Campaign to sell his Willys Station Wagon LED tail lights as a kit, to fund the purchase of the CNC parts.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192462920/willys-station-wagon-led-tail-light-kit
Once he has the CNC machine together, he will use it to produce the circuit boards for the LED tail lights, and other small parts that he can sell to help fund his ’51 Willys Wagon build.
http://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2989-Joseph-s-51-Wagon-Build
He is hoping to sell 25-30 sets of the lights to fund the CNC project. It is an ambitious senior project for a 16 year old kid, but he has already raised 2/3 of the 30 day campaign goal in the first 10 days… There has been lots of interest in these lights on www.oldwillysforum.com and hopefully from others who might not visit the forum to find the info on them.
Even folks don’t need a set of the lights, they can support Joseph’s Kickstarter campaign by pledging $25 or more and get a cool shirt he designed for the project. If they are feeling philanthropic, they can donate any amout to the campaign…
Here is what comes in the “kit”, for each tail light, which bolts in to the stock Willys tail light bezel.
A couple days ago Glenn Byron was driving to a local Parking Lot Hot Dog Stand Display in his DJ-3A “Miss Willy” when a 90 year old driver pulled a left turn right in front of his bright yellow Jeep. The driver claimed the sun was in his eyes and he didn’t see glenn. Glenn hit the brakes, leaving about 5 foot skid marks from all four wheels before impact.
A nearly new Subaru was the victim, hit on passenger side, side air bags deployed, and probably totaled. The impact caused Miss Willy to flip onto her drivers side and slide a very short distance.
Miss Willy has bent frame, broken windshield, whole nose screwed up, and who knows how much more.
Fortunately, Glenn seems to be okay, though he did get hit on the head pretty good, causing him to be a little foggy. He’s not sure, but he believes he was ejected. No one seems to know of for sure.
Miss Willys before the accident:
These two photos were taken at Kendall’s Rare Bird Farm in 1948 showing Frances Freeman. It has since closed, though I have no additional information. Note the odd rear rim.
Field Marshall Sir Thomas Albert Blamey was memorialized in a monument in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. It shows him standing while gripping part of a jeep windshield. The way a July 1955 Willys News described it, I thought there’d be a whole jeep!
This was part of the training exercise at the Air Force’s Advanced Glider Detachment in Mobile, Alabama.