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MOD-AC Ford GPA/SEEP Model Kit Jeep on eBay

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

Likely from the 1940s, this seems a good price on an old amphibious model jeep kit. I have one already or I would buy it.

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“Welcome welcome for sale we have a VINTAGE U.S. ARMY AMPHIBIAN JEEP WOOD AND PAPER MODEL KIT BY MOD-AC, CA.Also know as the quack! This model has been started and has a few broken pieces so please review the pictures I believe it’s all here and if your going to finish it I am sure you can fix those pieces”

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MPC “Bottoms Up” Jeep Model on eBay

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

Mike spotted this MPC-brand model that allows for the creation of either a Funny Car or a Service Jeep. It seems pretty pricey at $230. I would have been all over this as a kid, as I built model jeeps, Barret-mobiles, and other 60s rat rods. Note that the directions for this are not original (printed off the internet) and the tires have been altered slightly.

View all the information on eBay

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“MPC Bottoms Up Jeep 2 versions. Road service or Funny Car with decals, nice-Rare kit seldom seen on eBay and never reproduced. Looks to be mostly complete. Supersize pictures and judge for yourself. I counted 100 white parts alone! All chrome looks to be there too When I found this rare kit someone had already removed all the wheels from the chrome tree and assembled the stock wheels into the stock tires. Some melting had happened over the years. I Dis-assembled the wheels from the tires and trimmed all the excess from the wheels. Once assembled you can hardly notice.Also there is a small tire burn on the drivers door. There were no directions but I was able to locate them on the internet and print a complete set. They look original. Decals look good with no cracking. Item will be carefully packed and arrive as you see it here.”
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Maine Willys Sales Company Bangor, Maine

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

The Maine Willys Sales Co, appears to have launched in 1946 in Bangor, Maine. By 1949, the company was located in multiple Maine cities, including Bangor, Rockland, Lewiston, Portland, and Augusta. At some point, circa 1949, the Augusta branch sold six jeeps to the Forestry Department. The below image posted to the Forest Fire Lookout Association’s FB page documents this purchase:

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Here’s an ad from the March 30, 1949, issue of the Bangor News. Note that multiple cities are listed under Maine Willys Sales:

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It’s likely that 1949 wasn’t kind to the Maine Willys Sales Company, because the February 09, 1950, issue of the Bangor Daily News reported that Chrysler had taken over the Maine Willys Sales Company property, though nothing was mentioned about what happened to the company.

Later that year, on June 15, 1950, a large ad appeared in the Bangor Daily News, but only the Maine Willys Sales Company of Rockland appeared on this list of dealers.

1950-06-15-bangor-daily-news-maine-willys-sales

The above ad strongly suggests that Maine Willys had dwindled to just one city in Maine by the summer of 1950. The company’s name was rarely seen in the newspapers after this ad.

The last reference I found for the company was for a July 11, 1953, article in the Bangor Daily News that mentioned an accident where a driver backed into the Rockland Maine Willys Sales showroom, shattering two large windows.

 
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1945 Article on the Jeep’s Rough Ride

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

In his Conner’s Corner column for the Lewiston Evening News on October 16, 1945, Sam Conner didn’t have a “Kind Word For Jeep”, at least in regards to the pounding ride it offered. It was a fair complaint.

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