I’ve never been a big fan of the DJ-5s (just not my thing), but I think this might be the best use of a mail jeep since they stopped delivering mail!
A ‘Coke’ Jeep
May 11, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
2
Features Research Archives
2 Pepsi Jeeps
May 11, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
UPDATE: I suggested that the Surrey owner hadn’t gone full out with the Pepsi theme, as the racer below had. Lester correctly points out that the Surrey represents an older color scheme (which was before my time). If you look through these images, you’ll see the Surrey has the earlier, full color scheme of light blue, red, yellow and white colors. Thanks Lester!
I’m sure the pepsi folks wouldn’t want to be left out, so here are 2 different pepsi jeeps.
Finally, Just Some Soda Pop
I think this builder couldn’t decide between Coke or Pepsi. I found it at jeepfan.com.
John’s D44 Rear Axle Modification
UPDATE: I initially had this as a front axle modification, which was clearly incorrect (the lack of a stearing knuckle should have been my first clue!)
Thanks to John for putting together the narrative and the images!
“Thought some other folks might find this interesting, especially those that have swapped to the D44 rear axle.
While trying to cobble some parts together to build a D44 front axle for my CJ6, I noticed that the GM D44 small bearing spindles that came with the flat top knuckle axles had the same number of stud holes as the offset D44 in the back of my CJ. Knowing that the 2 pc. axle shafts were a weak point, I had kicked around the idea of finding a 71′ offset flanged axle, and installing Herms FF Kit. I figured the flanged D44 would be a long shot, and I didn’t really like the tapered shafts in Herms kit, as you have to pull the spindle to get the shaft out. So,what to do? I ended up at R&P 4wdin Oregon City, and asked Richard and Paul what they thought about using the GM spindle to make a full float axle kit. At this point, Rich got a twinkle in his eye and asked me to follow him out into the shop. From some shelf, he pulled a half machined spindle out, and said, “like this?”. Perfect! This kit probably wont be for everyone, but was a homerun for me. It lets me run the same Ford 1/2 ton hub and rotor as the front(to keep things 5 on 5.5), the same internal splined locking hubs as the front, and GM calipers. Overall the FF kit added 2″ of width to my rear axle (same as the front), and I got an axle shaft that is full diameter(30 spline inner, 19 spline outer), and is removable without pulling the spindle. I ended up running a late 70’s Cadillac caliper (that uses the same GM backing plate as the front), and has a E-brake. And all for a little less than a grand. I hope somebody out there will find this as cool as I did.
Thanks,
John
“im a doughball”
Various WWII Jeep Images
Bob forwarded some links to jeeps from the WW2 In Color website and the Lone Sentry Site.
FROM WW2INCOLOR:
FROM LONESENTRY:
2 Photos from W.E. Duggar
Bob pointed me to these two images taken by SFC W.E. Duggar while stationed at Fort Sill, OK, in 1942 as part of the 1st Infantry Division – Dixie Division, 167th Infantry, 3rd. BN. The first one is particularly wonderful.
In Bali, Rudolf Continues to Find WWII Jeeps
May 9, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
Rudolf has found a variety of interesting jeeps for sale in Bali. Here are pics of an unusual GPW.
More Images from the McArthur Museum
You can view the first group of images here and learn more about their history. he MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock, Ar, only exhibits one jeep (shown below), but they do have a variety of WWII Jeep photos in their archive, many of which include captions. Here are 9 of them. The photos are part of the Allison Collection of World War II Photographs, the captions of which come from the ACME wire service.
The caption for the image below is: Yanks Hunt Eggs (CQ) in France
France—Holding a lettered board written in French and meaning “have you any eggs?” two Yanks ride in a Jeep and hope for a positive answer from French girls in the city of Rumegies, France. Driver and sign holder is Pvt. Maury Sanders of Corinth, Miss. The other Yank, Pvt. Albert Frank, Burlington, VA., looks on. Credit: Army radiotelephoto from ACME.
The Caption for the image below is: On one of the most dramatic journeys recorded in the annals of the war, so far, Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stillwell, at the head of a band of 114 Americans, Burmese nurses, Chinese, Indians, Britons and Anglo-Indians, covered 140 grueling miles on their retreat from Wuntho, Burma, which began on May 4th, 1942. For days the band struggled through the torturous heat of the dense malaria-infested swamps and jungles of Burma, to reach the banks of the Uyu River, where they were forced to abandon the few Jeeps and trucks they had, to proceed on home-made rafts, down the river to the Chindwin and Thenge to Imphal on the Indian frontier. They arrived at their destination, Dinjan, India with only a few cases of malaria and heat exhaustion. Considering what they had been through, their journey was remarkably successful. Here, in a series of 25 official U.S. Army photos, just arrived from India, the story of the retreat is graphically presented. New York Bureau
This bridge was repaired by the Chinese on time, and Major General Franklin C. Sibert, starts ahead of the first Jeep in the column.
Credit: (U.S. Army Photo from ACME)
Cavalry Man Jumping a Jeep
A writer, and ‘recovering ranch girl’, named Tamara Linse wrote a nice bit of history about the 115th Cavalry Horse Mechanized, which was a National Guard unit from Wyoming that served in WWII.
She notes that early resources were scare. She writes, “The 115th Cavalry was activated nine months before war was officially declared. The entire 115th Cavalry Regiment, all 1,086 men, was inducted into federal service on February 24, 1941, the day they boarded a train for Fort Lewis, Washington.
Like all wartime training facilities, Fort Lewis was unprepared for the influx of soldiers. The men trained with stove pipes for cannons, sticks and brooms for rifles, and jeeps marked “TANK” for enemy armored vehicles. Aircraft used sacks of flour for bombs.”
She also mentions that while some soliders were excited to see the new jeeps, motorcyles, and other mechanized vehicles, other soliders would only give up their horses when you pulled their reins from their (I hesitate to say cold, dead) hands.
In the article, she includes an image, courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives, which shows a horse jumping a jeep. You can check out the entire article here. You might also like to read why/how Men are Like Plants.
The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum Madison, Ga
While looking up this Crosley (which I’m not quite sure is a Crosley), I discovered the largest Mircocar Museum in the world. The bad news is that it appears closed until Fall 2011 for renovations. However, you can look through the virtual tour to see the types of cars owned by the museum.
Think Twice Before Going Around a Locked Gate
May 5, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
According to NWJEEPN.com, an offroader made the mistake of going around a locked gate in order to explore some dirt roads in Clark County, WA. He was caught and punished. As part of his sentencing, he had to publicly apologize via the below YouTube Video. That seems a novel use of YouTube.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXGe9FBCE8
Glenn Miller’s Jeep Band
May 4, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
According to the University of Colorado, in 1943 Glenn Miller was asked to “organize a group of outstanding AAF bands to boost morale. Each would contain musicians especially selected from the draft. Each would be trained to play both inspiring marching music and outstanding dance band music. He envisioned himself as a morale and band builder. While working to achieve his objectives, Miller encountered frustrating opposition from some officers within the military bureaucracy. He did, however, have powerful allies in Washington, who helped him to circumvent red tape.”
Called the “Band of the Training Command of the Army Air Forces under the direction of Capt. Glenn Miller” and stationed at New Haven, Ct, Miller continued to run into some problems. “A famous, if exaggerated, story soon circulated wherein a military official scolded Miller for ruining traditional Army marching music, saying that Sousa marches were as perfectly fine in 1943 as they had been in 1917, to wit Miller reportedly replied, “Tell me, Major, are we still flying the same airplanes that we did in 1917?”
Despite continued flack from those who disagreed with Miller’s plans, Miller continued to make changes. A newsreel eventually captured a practice session. “The newsreel showed off what was called the ‘jeep band’. That is, the marching band’s big drum sets and drummers that were carried aboard jeeps and driven alongside the musicians as they marched on the Green or at the Yale Bowl. The AAF apparently thought Miller was doing the right thing because he simply kept on doing it, much to the delight of the young people in the services who were marching and listening to Miller’s “updated military music”.
This image comes from the University of Colorado Music Department. I searched for other images on the net, but didn’t have any luck.
The Wonderful Life of Wilbur the Jeep by Wilbur Schram
You might have seen one or another of these images illustrated by Normal Rockwell, but did you know there’s a story as well? Published in the January 29th, 1944, edition of the Saturday Evening Post, the story was written by Wilbur Schram, who went on to be called the “father of communication studies” in the United States. The story appears to be a fun, fictional tale of a jeep named Wilbur and his exploits. Unfortunately, I could not find any copy of the full text anywhere on the net.
Here is the best snapshot I found on Flickr about the article.
Here are closeups also found on Flickr
All Dressed up for a Wedding
Claus forwarded this story and pics today from South Africa. As I told him, marriage can be a rocky road, so it only makes sense to start out newlyweds in a jeep! You might remember Claus’ brother’s build, which can be seen here.
Claus writes, “The past weekend my brother was asked, by one of his friends, to provide his jeep as their wedding car. Apparently the jeep was centre of attraction and completely shadowed the newlyweds hehehe :-). It even was part of the decor at the reception hall.”
Jeep Delivery Truck from the Chicago Auto Show
Craig spotted this cool image of an unusual “Eat More Bread” delivery truck. He believes it was shown at the Chicago Auto Show in 1960. I looked through the Chicago Auto archives, but didn’t have any luck finding other examples of it.
I found another example of this rig in “The Story of the Jeep“
According to the CJ-3B Page, Willys-Overland considered a large delivery truck back in the erly 1940s, but apparently decided not to pursue them at that time.
A Tornado Decimates a Truck
May 1, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
Sadly, Keith filed a post-tornado special report today. He noted that while he, his wife Patsy and their son survived the storm as it blew through Chattanooga, his truck wasn’t so lucky. To make matters worse, he was just about to install a new starter and get it running, but until he completed that fix he kept it uninsured. So, place your antenna flag at half mast and wish Keith and his family well.
Early Rusted CJ-2A Images Heathcote, Ontario, Ca
I ran across these images today of a rusted CJ-2A. The photos were taken in 2008 by Dave Scottin Heathcote, Ontario, Canada, and posted on Flickr. Check out the governer throttle along with the 3 datatplates. I think this sitting in a junkyard or in an area with other rusted vehicles. If you scroll over the map on Flickr, you can see exactly where it is. I think there might even be some useful parts on this, too. Given the governor throttle, I wondered if it might have a rear PTO (Click on the 3rd photo and I think you will see the top of a cutoff PTO lever). You can even almost make out the serial number on the data plate (click on image 2).
MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock, Ar, only exhibits one jeep (shown below), but they do have a variety of WWII Jeep photos in their archive, many of which include captions. Here are 8 of them. The photos are part of the Allison Collection of World War II Photographs, the captions of which come from the ACME wire service.
According to the Museum’s website, “James Allison, a sports writer working for the Houston Press, noticed that many photographs not printed in the daily newspaper were routinely discarded. He received permission to save these images, and by war’s end he had amassed a collection of more than 4,600 photographs. In August 1977, Allison donated his collection to the Arkansas Museum of Science and History”.
The FC-170 Power Hoe
Craig shared this unusual FC with me. If you missed this featured FC at theFCConnection, click on the image below to see and learn a little more about this custom FC-170 Power Hoe.
Russian’s and Americans in Korea, 1945
Alex spotted this jeep-as-gathering-spot courtesy of photographer George Silk and Life Magazine. The image was taken in October 1945. I wonder if the film shot by the cameraman on the left still exists.
Builds: 1944 MB from Hardscrabble Farm
Over a period of 9 years, between 1993 and 2002, this 1944 MB saw two major restorations. The first, done by owner Richard Grace, was a partial restore, returning the jeep to its MB roots. The second, done by Brian Mead, refined and corrected some of the previous shortcomings.
Click here to learn how the jeep went from this:
Into this:
A Jeep Wagoneer + a Ferrari = Jerrari • Top Speed: 140mph
The National Automobile Museum (the Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada, opened in 1989. Most of the collection is based on Bill Harrah’s (gaming pioneer and avid collector) automobile collection. Following Bill’s death in 1978, the Holiday Corporation bought Harrah’s Hotels/Casinos and more, including the collection. Then Holiday announced they were going to sell the cars. This ticked off Nevadans, so the governor stepped in and helped negotiate a donation of the cars by Holiday to a special non profit organization established for the purposes of a museum.
The museum was named among the top ten museums by Car Collector magazine, has been ranked as one of the best 16 car museums in the world by Autoweek, and has been selected the best Museum in Northern Nevada in Nevada Magazines’ Annual Readers Poll.
The collection appears to have only two jeeps. One is a slightly modded CJ-5; the other is a Wagoneer that was outfitted with a Ferrari engine and called a Jerrari.
Here is the Jerrari as photographed by RenoDesertFox from Flickr. Note the color of the first image is the correct color and the remaining images have had the colors tweaked by the photographer, but still show a good deal of detail.
1. Front view of the Jerrari (link to original)
2. Color has been tweaked. (link to original)
3. The Ferarri engine. (link to original)
4. Click on the image to more easily read the history. (link to original)
1. Here is the one image I have, again via RenoDesertFox, of the 1972 CJ-5 on display. (link to original)
The Plane called a Jeep by the USAAF
April 28, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features
Admittedly, I know very little about planes. So, maybe I’m the only person who didn’t know that there was a plane that’s called a Jeep? It is the Curtiss AT-9 ‘Jeep’ plane. I discovered it while looking through some old photos at the McCarthur Museum in Arkansas (which I’ll feature in a couple days).
Here’s the photo I initially found. (see the last sentence in the caption). When I first saw the photo, I looked around to see where the jeep was sitting, but the little plane was blocking my view. Then it finally dawned on me that the little plane was the jeep.
Here’s a more recent photo from Wikipedia.
Drunk Tank MBs
I wish we had some better photos of these. These three photos were shot in 1949 by J.R. Eyerman in Shanghai, China (click on the pics to see the Eyerman credit) for Life Magazine. Interestingly, on this page the credit for the third photo is also, or mistakenly, given to Jack Birns. Also, according to this page, the third photo captures the last tug to leave Shanghai, with credit to Jack as well. According to the folks at G503, these jeeps were used by the shore patrol “to pick up mostly drunks in and was easy to wash out the puke.”
Chrismas Wagon
Here’s a good way to celebrate the holidays! You can see more holiday cars here.
