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Recent Trip to Hells Canyon on the Border of Idaho & Oregon

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Ann loves her selfie stick! Here we are in front of the upper reservoir of Hells Canyon along the Snake River.

We had a good time during our recent trip to Hells Canyon. It wasn’t hellish at all!  From Boise, we followed I-84 north until it reached the juncture of US-95. We followed US-95 until it reached the tiny town of Cambridge. From there we followed State Highway 81, a curvy and hilly (some 7% grades) road. Given we were driving the motorhome our trip along that road was pretty slow. We followed it over hills and through valleys until we dropped (steep drop) into the Brown Lee reservoir (fed by the Snake River) and found the Woodhead Campground, one of several campgrounds operated by Idaho Power in the area. We didn’t look at the campground too closely, but there were trees and manicured grass among the camping slots.

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An overview of our drive from Boise to Copperfield on Friday the 19th. We camped at the Copperfield campground then drove on Saturday home via Richland, Oregon.

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This map shows more details about the drive from Cambridge, Idaho, to Richland, Oregon.

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Above the Brown Lee Reservoir with its treeless hills.

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Above the Brown Lee Reservoir looking south.

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1948 Ad for the Universal Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Artists/Drawings, Features, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Sandifur Motors posted this ad in the April 1, 1948, issue of the Spokane’s Spokesman-Review.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P1wVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=juUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2268%2C238227

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Jeep Pedal Car Hercules, CA **SOLD**

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

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $140.

I’m not sure which model this is.

“Jeep pedal car for kids
Made of steel with knobbed tires. Smooth turning adjustable pedals do easy steering.”

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December 1958 Kaiser Willys Ad

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

This neat vintage ad from the Toledo Blade, December 28, 1958,  tries to root the jeep in wooden rollers and early wagons.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pWFOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2QAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7629%2C729250

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Smokey Bear Music Box

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

Some folks were interested in more photos of the Smokey Bear Music Box, so Marty Tilford shared some good photos of his.

The music box is a convertible CJ-5 jeep and Smokey Bear with 2 cubs riding inside.  The CB radio cord is rubber but all other material is resin. Music box plays “TAKE ME HOME COUNTRY ROAD”, which is a John Denver song.  Measures about 4-1/2″ tall and has a base measurement of 6″ x 4″.

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1947 Photograph of Bountiful Posse on eBay

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

This is a great photo.

“1947 Press Photo Merk Christensen Pres.of Bountiful Jeep Posse with fire machine
This is an original press photo. Abroad one of the Posse 25 Vehicles. Photo measures 9.25 x 7inches. Photo is dated 09-30-1947.”

View all the information on eBay

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1941 Photo of Soldiers Fixing Jeep on eBay

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

Great photo, but I wish we could see more of the jeep. This is in San Francisco.

“1941 Press Photo Soldiers make repairs on the new Jeep – orb18604
This is an original press photo. When a minor adjustment was necessary to make this army jeep operate perfectly these huskies merely tilted the little vehicle on its side while one of their number made repairs. Three dozen of these vehicles were issued to the 524th Military Police battalion. For duty as traffic cops when the army moves northward from California for war games.Photo measures 9 x 7inches. Photo is dated 8-13-1941.”

View all the information on eBay

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De-Winterizing the Motorhome — Boise to Hells Canyon

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

We are currently visiting family in Boise in order to make sure my mother-in-law’s motorhome is working correctly. We plan to head out on Friday for a trip towards the southern end of the Hell’s Canyon and spend the night in Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains. We had planned to drive a backroad from Halfway Oregon through the middle of the Wallowa Mountains to Enterprise, but the road is currently being rebuilt. So, we’ll look for a remote campground in the mountains north of Richland, Oregon.

I expect there will be no service out there, so I’m scheduling this prior to our visit there.

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Canadian Adventure — Wrangler or Classic Jeep Needed

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

Stevie Welsh of Strike One Media wrote me looking for involvement in a Canadian road trip. A couple european fishing stars, Matt Hayes and Babs Kijewski, will be filming some fishing adventures in Canada. Along the way, the show will showcase not only the fishing but the history, parks, waterways , geography, wildlife, people, culture and experiences available to travelers.

What they are looking for is the use of an “iconic Jeep vehicle such as a Wrangler” for the trip from Thunder Bay to Toronto in August. If anyone wants to learn more, you can contact Stevie Welsh:

Stevie.welsh@icloud.com
00447970676806

http://issuu.com/strikeonemedia/docs/ultimate_rod_race_-_canadian_roadtr/1

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Belgian Military’s Hotchkiss

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

Charles shared these color photos of the Belgian military using their Hotchkiss jeeps.

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Pics from Charles

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

These photos show the Belgian military in the desert doing maneuvers. That river seems a little too deep for that first jeep!

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Roy’s Old Jeeps and a New One

• CATEGORIES: CJ-3B, Features, Racing • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Roy Wililams shared some photos of his jeeps. The first two photos show the lightweight bobcat body Fred Weis built for Roy, the first lightweight racing Bobcat body Fred made.

Here’s a look at Roy and his racer. Great photo!:

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This photo of Roy racing his jeep I found in a 1976 Sunfair booklet. The Sunfair was a 300 mile race near Yakima, Washington, that was first held in 1975. In 1976, Drivers met on Saturday, September 11, at 9am for tech inspection. At 10pm the drivers gathered to parade through downtown Yakima on their way to the course. Racing started at noon. Racers drove either 10 or 12 laps depending on their class. Based on the map below, it appears each lap was 23 miles.

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Among the racers here is Don Bray. Roy and the Brays raced a few times over the years. Don’s son Ed shared these photos.

This is a CJ-3B Roy used to own:

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Roy recently purchased this CJ-5. I’m looking forward to seeing it and meeting Roy in person!roy-cj5

 

 
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Italy to Toledo in 2013 — Now the Turin Museum in 2015

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

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UPDATE: You might remember the 2013 adventure of a pair of Italians who bravely drove their MB from Italy to Toledo. Ann and I nearly met them along their trip to the east coast, but our timing was a little off. Well, the pair received a post-trip honor. I’ll let Gregory explain:

A couple of years ago you were kind enough to publicize a trip undertaken by two half-witted Italians to drive back to Toledo an original Willys to MB so that it could celebrate its 70th birthday in its hometown.

Some in the Ewillys community might like to know that the adventure has found a degree of official recognition by being included in the “Modus Vivendi” (Way of Life”) exhibition which runs until 27 September at the Turin Auto Museum, in company of vehicles which have raced the Panamericana, re-enacted the Beijing-Paris race or crossed Africa from Algiers to Cape Town. Our New York to Toledo drive was among the shortest, but also the one performed by the oldest car and the only one by enthusiasts with no sponsorship.

I am attaching a couple of pictures of the display and a description of the exhibition. Sadly the Museum website is rather thin on details, but more information about the trip, car and crew can be found on our “A Jeep Comes Home” blog and the similarly-titled Facebook page.

Thanks for your excellent website and the services it provides to the Jeep community worldwide.  –Gregory Alegi

As you can see in the photo, the jeep shows pretty well against the backdrop of some fancier vehicles (Note to Ann — Honey, if this isn’t a good reason to go to Italy, I can’t think of another ….)

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Photos from the 2015 Great Willys Picnic

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

Tim shared these photos from the 2015 Great Willys Picnic in Kempton, Pennsylvania.

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1995 Safari-Kar Press Release

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

Here’s an interesting bit of history for those interested in the Safari Kar. The seller marks this as a released in 1996, but given it is introducing its 1995 line, I think it was printed earlier.

“Original typewritten press release , 8.5 x 11 , UNILLUSTRATED , describes 1975 to 1983 remanufactured US Post Office Jeeps . This was printed in 1996 by Safari Kar .”

View all the information on eBay

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Bumble Bee Ramjet Missile Carrier

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

How about this unusual missile carrier spotted by Steve? I like the way it is ‘held’ in place. You can view the entire article here:

http://friendsofibsp.org/docs/bumblebee.pdf

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Craig’s 1943 GPW Rebuild

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

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Craig recently inherited this 1943 GPW from his deceased father. His Honda Racing shop will be rebuilding this. The goal will be to keep it’s original look. He plans to have it completed in two months and share some photos when completed.

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Here is a list of items to be done:

Body (tub) removed and sandblasted
Rust locations repaired and sealed
Repair rear bumperettes
Underbody and frame powder coat black color
Body to be painted in either original OD green enamel or we may color match that and paint with acrylic
The problem is we are not allowed to use enamel in our spray booth legally
We will not have any decals except for a small one on the back which says “1943 Ford GPW”.

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Directions for Building a Ride-on Mower

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

Joe spotted these online directions out of the UK for building a ride-on mower.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Gas-petrol-powered-jeep-from-ride-on-mower/?ALLSTEPS

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Odd Jeep Mower

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

Speaking of jeep mowers, Bob spotted this unusual jeep-looking mower.

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Sidewalk Jeep Design from Popular Mechanics (Jeep for Sale)

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features, Magazine, Models, toys, Wood bodies • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Harry Warholak’s father built a Sidewalk Jeep from the plans in Popular Mechanics when he was a kid in Detroit. Ten years ago he restored it. It spent a year at the Chrysler Museum. Now he’s interested in selling it. You can contact him at 586-996-4103 if interested. He’s located in Georgia.

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PREVIOUS POST (February 2013): This kids jeep design was published in the January, 1948, issue of Popular Mechanics and available for free at Google. It is powered by an electronic motor.  It looks as difficult to build than a standard jeep!  The notes added to this particular issue are interesting, too.  The top note appears to reference a 1949 Christmas Handbook that might also include these drawings.

View issues of Popular Mechanics, January 1948, for sale on eBay

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Extreme Terrain Jeep Wrangler Giveaway

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

The folks at ExtremeTerrain.com asked me to share their jeep giveaway information:

ExtremeTerrain and Barricade Off-Road have just unveiled Project Trail Force, a $70,000+ Supercharged 2015 Jeep Wrangler. The big reveal took place this morning at Bantam Jeep Heritage, where it is leading the World’s largest Jeep Parade! Best of all, ExtremeTerrain also revealed that they will be giving the Jeep Wrangler away to one lucky winner, and awarding the vehicle at SEMA 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

http://www.extremeterrain.com/jeep-wrangler-project-trailforce-giveaway.html

 

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Directions for Muller Custom Top

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features, How To, Magazine • TAGS: , , , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Hard to believe it has been almost three years since I published this post!

I discovered these directions for the Muller Custom Top in the August 1965 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine that we’ve seen on nicely modified Fresno area Jeeps.  I’m considering building one of these for Biscuit and selling my Kayline.

Page 40 (last page of article) below:1965-08-fourwheeler-muller-top-pg40

 
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Ad for Dualmatic Top

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

UPDATE: I still haven’t seen one of these for sale, on or off a jeep.

Here’s a rare ad for a Dualmatic Top.  I knew they made hubs, but didn’t know they made tops.

 
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The McCain Hub Winch

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

UPDATE: Not many of these winches around.

While going through some old Four Wheeler Magazines, I came across two different ads for a McCain Hub Winch.  As best as I can tell, you attach it to the front hub, wind a cable or rope around it, and then start the front wheels turning, which would pull the jeep forward.  Also, the February 1969 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine has an article about the winch, but the seller wants $25 for it.  I’ll wait until the price drops.

This first pic is an ad for the winch:

This second pic shows an ad for Chachua’s Four Wheel Drive Center.  If you see #2, you can read about the hubs:

 

 
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1956 Article on the New Jeep Dispatcher

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

This Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article was published January 21, 1956.

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