This Light Duty Rescue Truck brochure is currently listed on eBay for $9.99 (plus $12 shipping). It looks a little used, but still a rare brochure. You can view more pages here.
Features Research Archives
Unusual Front Hubs
Aaron Holdaway discovered this unusual set of hubs. He posted pictures of them to Facebook. He plans to disassemble them and take photos. I’ll share those photos if/when he does.
The Ripple Effect …
The month of July was going to be work-on-jeep month. Instead, after Ann launched her painting of the guest house, it became work-on-the guest-house-exterior month. Oh well, such is life.
One project on the house, led to another, rippling farther and farther …. First, I jumped into painting the exterior so that could get finished (Ann had to halt painting, as she began to have migraines and auras). But, that led to pulling up the deck to replace the plywood decking, which led to the realization that the whole deck needed rebuilding, which led to the opportunity to regrade around the east and north side of the place, which led to adding a French drain for the deck’s gutter.
Though redoing all this had been the plan, I hadn’t planned on doing this right now. My hope is to finish up the deck today, as we have 110 degree+ temps arriving in a couple days for a few days.
This pic shows the deck frame on temporary supports as I get everything squared up.
3D-Printable Willys MB Model $4.79
If you have access to a 3D printer, you might try printing this 3D model jeep. The download costs $4.79. I’ve included a video so you can see how this thing is assembled.
Custom Model Mini-Jeep Seven Springs, PA $5000
UPDATE: You can contact Larry directly at 717 880 4432. Leave a message and he will return your call.
Ross’ friend Larry has this cool, Crosley powered mini-jeep for sale.
“4 cylinder gas engine
Electric winch
3speed transmission with reverse
Fully functional transfer case
Overall length 4’”
May 1957 Forward Control Brochure
I’ve only seen this brochure promoting the FC-150 and FC-170 once before, so I bought it off of eBay just now. It is Form No. M-5-57 I.S.B. This is the earliest FC-170 related mailer-brochure that I’ve documented. I’ll update this with scanned pics once I receive the brochure.
Welcome Tom Cruze
Yesterday, Ann’s quick trip to Walmart to pick up some baking supplies went awry.
As she walked by some cars on her way into Walmart, she began hearing the cries of what sounded like a small kitten. Perplexed. she followed the sound to a Chevy Cruz. She looked inside the car, but then realized the sound was coming from under the hood. A woman with five kids wandered by about that time and also heard the cat.
Ann and the woman with the kids did their best to coax the cat from the engine bay, but it seemed the kitten was stuck. Though the car was unlocked, they were unsure how to proceed, so Ann went inside of Walmart to have the car’s owner paged. The owner didn’t hear the page.
Then, Ann called the local police’s non-emergency number; in turn they requested the animal control people assist. Unfortunately, the one animal control person on duty was in another town. Then, Ann contacted the local animal shelter, only to find out that they and other shelters are over-capacity. If the shelter got the cat, it would likely be euthanized.
That left Ann with a choice. Given the cat seemed to be stuck in the engine, leave the kitten to die OR try to rescue the kitten. Of course, you already know the decision she made ….
Forty-five minutes after initially first hearing the kitten, and with the kitten’s meow getting weaker and weaker, an elderly man approached and asked what the Hell are they were doing laying on the hot asphalt wedged under his car.
They explained a kitten was trapped in his engine compartment. A grumpy old man, he stated he didn’t have no ‘damn’ cats and neither did his neighbors.
According to Ann, he was a gem, lol.
Ann and the woman finally got him to open the hood. It was only then they they were able to free the poor little guy. By then, his mews were very very faint and far apart and he was just limp. Now, what to do with the kitten?
Ann’s co-rescuer refused the pleas of her 5 children to take the kitten home, so, despite her cat allergies (she is allergic to most, but not all cats), she decided to bring the cat home.
A quick call to the local vet, resulted in a quick triage to make sure it didn’t need immediate care. After checking the kitten, the vet put “it” as a “he” who is roughly six weeks old and just under a pound. While under-nourished, he isn’t starved and didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger. So, the vet set us up with some food and recommended her lot of water.
Given the kitten is a he (aka Tom cat) and given it was stuck in the engine bay of a Chevy Cruz, what else could we call this tiny kitten other than Tom Cruze??
Our girls are beside themselves with curiosity an way overwhelming love for the kitten. Mr. Tom Cruz has endured more saliva and licks than any kitten should have to endure. Once the kitten-as-curiosity subsides, everyone *should* get along just fine.
Koenig Bed Extender Frederick, MD $500
Any shared this unusual Koenig bed extender with a soft top setup. I’ve never seen a bed extender setup quite like this one.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/280479277585754/
“Koenig bed extender in near perfect condition, canopy cover is complete but dry rotted”
Sturdee Hardtop Brochure
UPDATE: Roger Martin bought this rare color Sturdee brochure and shared some pics with us. This is a cool item!
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Originally published March 26, 2018: This is the only information I could find on this rare hardtop.
1943 MB Totnes, England £13,000
This modified jeep has benign storage for about four decades. It’s supposedly a Metamet prototype, so, if true, this should be of interest to Metamet fans.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/859266711715886
“Its a ww2 jeep converted to a saloon , please study the pictures carefully, note the wings, the bonnet the grill the interior, floor pan, engine bay etc etc is a willys mb jeep chassis and running gear , the jeep was originally built in 1943 first registered for road use in 1958, when the conversion was done is aprox 1966 this is the only one in the world , converted by Metamet as a prototype just one of this style built and never went into production despite showing on the brochure as the metaplan, its the swb version so the chassis has not been lengthened. Continue reading
September 1954 Jeep Jaunts Article Out of Virginia
Chris shared this article from September 09, 1954, about jeeping in Virginia. The article’s page was rolled a bit when scanned, so the title isn’t completely clear, but I believe the headline should be “Jeep Jaunts Over Rugged Mountain Trails is Now Popular Sport in Gap”. Thankfully, better pics from this article were posted to Facebook.
Jeepney Phase-Out Plan Illustration
Artist Roni Santiago created this illustration as a comment to the Philippine phase-out of the Jeepneys (posted by Mario to FB). It seems to be a riff off the Bill Mauldin illustration of the solider with a gun pointed at a tired old jeep.
Bill Mauldin’s famous illustration (as reprinted on the cover of the Nov 1992 Smithsonian):
And as seen in a sculpture at the Shidoni Gallery near Sante Fe:
Virginia Chicken Coop Car Find Includes CJ-2A
Bill shared this article about a Virginia chicken coop that housed a variety of vehicles, including a CJ-2A. Apparently, most of the vehicles (included the 2A?) are for sale.
1963 Masonite Contest Jeep Wagoneer Prize
This 1963 ad by Masonite planned to award a 1963 Jeep Wagoneer as the grand prize as part of a drawing. To enter, contestants had to go to fill out an entry form describing five ways to use Masonite hardboard products. Unfortunately, I could not determine who won the jeep.
View all the information on ebay
This ad for the contest appeared in the July 04, 1963, issue of the Brockway Record out of Pennsylvania:
Mike’s Work Fleetvan
Mike shared a newspaper ad related to his job as a newspaper carrier. He purchased and drove a Jeep Fleetvan to deliver the newspapers.
He writes, “I drove this Jeep Fleetvan for many years, working for Suburban Newsdealers, Clifton NJ. Back then, (late 70’s early 80’s) there was “loose talk” about newspapers being delivered to your home by computer, nobody believed it.
This was a company I worked for in the late 60’s, in NJ common practice to have motor routes home delivering close to 1000 copies a day. The guy I worked for had 2 fleetvans, one for parts. Both eventually ended up in the junk yard up the street from where I worked. I wanted to drag it home but no place to store it, besides, my dad would of had a S__T fit.”
2020 Fall Colors Tour Day 4
This video highlights the Day 4 adventures from the Fall colors tour in Colorado.
March 1962 Ad for Crescent Contest — Jeep Tow Truck Prize
Here’s an unusual contest prize: a new jeep truck with a tow package that included a Canfield wrecker setup along with a Canfield push plate on the front. This grand prize was awarded to the person would created the best cartoon featuring “Wiry Joe”. The Crescent company was the maker of Wiry Joe automotive wire and cable products. It tried to find out more, but all I could unearth was that someone in Rhode Island won one of the cameras.
The ad is priced at $19.97, while the whole magazine can be purchased for $10.99 (or less).
1955 & 1956 Willys Motors Ads Aimed at Dealers on eBay
UPDATE: Here’s another dealer-oriented ad, this time from 1953:
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Originally published May 27, 2022: I’ve never seen these ads. They appear to be focused on dealers. It’s unclear where these were published. The seller has a variety of other more standard, consumer-oriented ads.
1958 Cutlas Power-Lock Brochure
This brochure is from 1958, which might make it one of the earliest brochures. It was posted to Facebook by Richard Harper, which came from Sam Higginbotham.
Summer Hubs Hickory Corners, MI $600
Tom shared this ad. It’s the dimpled version of the hubs (the earlier version is waffled).
Arizona Flatfender Run w/ Nicole Johnson
Just a. few updates today. I got to get to painting this morning, as Ann is still suffering through migraines/auras (day 5), so is unable to paint (or do most anything).
Bill shared this video of Nicole Johnson tagging along on a stock flat fender run in Arizona. She does some of the driving, including a little rock climbing, which isn’t easy when you are driving someone else’s vehicle (so kudos to her).
There are a few comments along the way that aren’t quite correct. For example, the CJ-3A did not use the CJ-2A frame, but rather the frame switched near the end of the CJ-2A production into more of what would be a CJ-3A frame (no gussets, under mounted transmission crossmember).
Fall Color video from 2020 (Day 3)
This video is from the 2020 Fall Color tour and is narrated by Rick Pewe.
“Day 3 – Colorado Flat Fender Fall Color Tour The group divides for 2 different trails today. Join us as we cruise the Willys Lane on the way to Marshall Pass and we send Liam on an epic shelf road adventure to over 13,000 feet above sea level on Mt. Antero.”
Framed St. Thomas Island Jeep Gala Map **SOLD**
This framed Jeep Gala Map brochure sold for $130 on an online auction (plus an additional $23% buyer premium and whatever shipping cost). I stopped at $50, as the map has a variety of ripples in it.
Jeep 4-Wheel-Drive-Vehicles Lighter **SOLD**
SS-Obersturmbannführer Skorzeny & the Jeep
Bill shared this article about SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny and his failed attempt to use captured jeeps against the allies (though the second part fo the article about the jeep name is less informed based on the research I’ve posted). There are also some neat stories in the comments, including this one:
“The Hollywood actor David Niven was assigned to Montgomery’s HQ as a frontline liaison officer. Thanks to Bradley basing his 12th Army Group HQ too far on the south end of his operational sector Ike decided to reassign Bradly’s two northernmost armies, the First and the Ninth, to Monty’s 21 AG. Monty sent Captain Niven on a fast jeep drive intended to meet with each divisional and regimental HQ of those two armies with, information, codewords, radio frequencies, etc — stuff they needed to quickly integrate with their new AG assignment. Not being a hardcore baseball fan he had trouble getting through one roadblock until he mentioned his date with Betty Grable. The GIs let him pass with advice to “bone up on baseball, Dave!” Niven’s driver was Sgt. Peter Ustinov.”
Here is David Niven in a jeep years after the war for the movie “Before Winter comes”: