This photo has an unusual feel to it.
Features Research Archives
A Visit to Tillamook, Oregon
We just got back to Seaside, Oregon, after a long trip down the Oregon coast. During our drive we squeezed in a visit to the Tillamook cheese factory, visited the Blue Heron cheese store, and dropped by to see the jeeps and planes at the Tillamook Air Museum.
The building at the Air Museum was very cool, as it is the largest wooden structure in the world. According to the website, “Stationed at NAS Tillamook was Squadron ZP-33 with a complement of eight K-ships. The K-ships were 252 feet long and filled with 425,000 cu. ft. of helium. With a range of 2,000 miles and an ability to stay aloft for three days, they were well suited for coast patrol and convoy escort. Naval Air Station Tillamook was decommissioned in 1948.”
The facility is now an air museum with thirty air craft. Also housed at the museum are two jeeps. One jeep is a very nice CJ-3A that may (or may not) have been used by the Navy. No documentation is provided to show what its history was, but its paint job suggests a Navy affiliation.
The second jeep, according to the documentation, is a “1944 Willys Jeep. However, you can quickly see this is a militarized CJ-2A. The only military Item I could see was the front grille.
Here are a few pics:
Micro Car Kapi JIP @ the Microcarmuseum
Blaine forwarded a picture of the Kapi JIP yesterday. The picture was taken at Bruce Weiner’s micro car museum in Madison, Georgia.
While Frederico Saldana is said to have patterned this after the American Army Jeep, it looks much more like a CJ-3B/Wagon hybrid.
Gus and the Model Garage: Gus and the Case of the Councilman’s Car
In this story from Gus and the Model Garage, Gus investigates the centrifugal-advance mechanism. “Gus and the Case of the Councilman’s Car” was published in October 1968.
M-38A1 Fire Engine Card with the Wrong Date **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay
Someone didn’t check their facts before producing this car. The fire jeep looks good.
“CARD IS FROM: 1994 Fire Engines Series 4 cards from Virginia Hobby Supply
CARD MEASURES: 2.5 x 3.5 inches (6.5 x 9 cm) standard trading card size
CARD NUMBER: # 377 (series 4 is numbered 301 to 400)
CARD CONDITION: Near Mint-Mint to Mint condition
Part of a 100 card set from 1994 featuring Fire Trucks from around the USA.”
Updates Sunday Evening
We are busy at the beach, so no updates until Sunday morning.
Here are a few pics from our trip to Seattle and then down to Seaside, Oregon. Note that instead of writing something mushy or loveydovey in the sand, Ann took it upon herself to draw and photograph eWillys in the sand. Why she was thinking of you all while spending time at the beach with me is beyond me . . .
Here we are taking a break from our hike on Chinook Pass (ok, we only hiked from the car to the sidewalk).
Here’s a nice shot with Mt. Rainier in the background.
I’ve heard of food trucks, but not food boats! Ann had eaten here and said we had to stop. The place is called Bowpickers and is located in Astoria, Oregon. They do fish and chips and that is it. Their fish is locally caught albacore tuna. It was very very good.
Here’s Ann’s toes showing their creative side:
No, we aren’t married yet. We happened to have Ann’s veil in the car, so we pulled a practical joke on her family . However, her Uncle Bob really is marrying us July 28th.
Jeep Monument in Galleta Meadows Estate in California
According to the website, “Dennis Avery, land owner of Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs envisioned the idea of adding ‘free standing art’ to his property with original steel welded sculptures created by ‘Perris Jurassic Park’ owner/artist/welder Ricardo Breceda based in Perris, California.” One of the sculptures he commissioned was a tribute to the jeep (or jeeping, I don’t have specific information about the sculpture).
You can see a variety of jeep pictures here
These pictures were photographed by Bob Perry and posted at Flickr. Note that there are no boulders under the jeep at the time they were taken in 2010. However, as of 2012 there are now boulders, suggesting the jeep is climbing over them.
Getting Winched
A reader sent me this old photo, writing “This is a old photo of mark vansciver and his dad Steve (friends of our family )trying to winch their Jeep up a embankment (side of the mountain) on vacation in western NC ……..Jeep survived……marks pride hurt”
Full-Size Tamiya Wild Willys
Matt spotted this gem. Not satisfied with the toy-sized, remote control version of the Tamiya Wild Willys Jeep, the people over at The Bug Box, a German company, decided to build a life size version. They documented the process. Very cool.
See all the images here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.307694835915312.80520.187259324625531&type=3
Here are a few selected pics:
1949 Ad from Argentina eBay
Here’s a neat little ad that’s up for auction on eBay. I couldn’t say how rare it really is or if many people collect them though.
“**** VINTAGE & VERY RARE ORIGINAL ARGENTINA MAGAZINE ADVERTISING !!!.- ****
1949 – JEEP WILLYS-OVERLAND #1 !!!.-
MEASURES APPROX: 7.5” X 5.5” / 19 CM X 14 CM.-
REALLY HARD TO FIND !!!.-
GREAT COLLECTOR ITEM !!!.”
Lori’s Jeep at Amazon
This is a fiction book. It’s rare to see a book about a jeep, but even rarer to find a tale about a postal jeep!
You can learn more about that book at Amazon.
From Amazon.com comes this description:
“LORIS JEEPApril 2000This is a story about a thirtyish woman, Lori Bearden, and her eight year old son. They live in a town south of Denver, Colorado that has been engulfed by the population that continues to pour into the Rocky Mountains Front Range every year from the West and East Coasts. Better employment is the name of her game, and she lands a job in the U. S. Postal Service delivering mail to the farmers and landed gentry on the eastern plains of Colorado. She buys an old, forlorn postal jeep to make her appointed rounds on the plains, and later meets a man who makes his living repairing these ancient jeeps. They soon discover that they need one-another.Then Lori discovers that her jeep repairman, Rafael Hernandez, has a second occupation much different from his first occupation, and she learns to understand and cherish a man who lives two lives.”
Gus and the Model Garage: Gus Sparks a Uranium Hunt
This is another story about a jeep from the Gus and the Model Garage series published in Popular Science Monthly. This particular article was published in June of 1955. In this story Gus learns about the oil float in the old Willys motors.
WWII US Field Phonograph Record Player **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Here’s an unusual item. The auction ends in a few hours.
“This auction is for a Original US Field Phonograph from the WWII era. It has typical damage on the outside from use in the field. Since condition is relative please look at the pictures provided. It is complete and plays. Great sound! The arm is a little sticky as it goes across the record but could be easily fixed, Probably just needs lubed. These were issued to combat units by the Special Services Division to build morale amongest the troops. This look great in a Living History or Reenactment.”
A Man, His Dog, and Lizzy
This picture comes from Elizabeth, Colorado. Conrad is checking out the beautiful scenery and, perhaps, contemplating the sale of his jeep, because “Lizzy” was sold a few days ago to her new owner Mark. This CJ-2A is very stock and even has its original black paint (quite rare).
Mark plans to take good care of it and preserve it as is. So, despite being sad it had to go, Conrad is happy it is going to Mark and Mark is thrilled to get it. Even better, Mark and Conrad have become friends.
Heinrich Bole’s The End of a Mission
This isn’t a book so much about a jeep as it is about the burning of a jeep. The story centers around a court case, in which a man and his father are being tried for burning an army jeep.
I have yet to read it, but it’s on my list.
You can learn more about this book at Amazon.com.
Gus and the Model Garage: Gus Goes Hunting … For Trouble!
In this story from Gus and the Model Garage, Gus explains what happens when synthetic rubber gets old. The story is called “Gus Goes Hunting … For Trouble” and was published in November of 1953.
Topps World on Wheels – Willys Jeep on eBay
This is a Topps chewing gum card that shows a CJ-3B. At Dean’s Cards, this is only $5.00. I looked for some other Topps cards with jeeps, but couldn’t find any more.
“1954/55, I would grade very good with light wear. Please see scans to make your own evaluation. E-mail with any questions. Thanks for looking!”
Year? M-718 Medina, Oh **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
“Your buying a M-718 Ambulance with a bill of sale. vehicle starts, runs, drives well but needs some brake work. It will need the usual undercarraige kit. Correct canvas top and right rear curtain are N.O.S. Missing left right curtain.”
Johnny Cash in a rare 462 CJ-5
UPDATE: Jim notes that this CJ-5 is a very rare example of a 462 model CJ-5. You can see his comment about it below. I tried to find some pictures online of a closeup of the decal, but couldn’t find any.
Also, here’s a picture of Johnny Cash from a 1975 Christmas Album. It looks like it could be the same jeep.
I stumbled upon these neat old pics of Johnny Cash from the johnny–cash-infocenter.com website.
M-38A1 at Fort Lewis Circa 1958
UPDATE: This has been relished on eBay.
Though it appears stuck in thick Tacoma area mud, there is an explicit declaration on the back of the photo stating that the jeep is NOT stuck.
“Up for sale is a 1958 Original B&W Glossy 7×5 Photograph taken by an Army Photographer and showing what I believe is a US Army Willys M38A1 (MD) Jeep in a Very Muddy Road with Id’d Soldier, most likely at Fort Lewis or Yakima Training Center in Washington State. Back is hand titled: Lloyd McClelland + jeep in mud. Not stuck. Taken while on hill duty. Year is based on some dated images in this collection. Any serious defects will be noted here [curved ends, light roughness to lower edge, old tape, minor tape? staining on back], but since condition is subjective, please enlarge photos & decide overall condition for yourself. This would make a wonderful addition to your collection.
ALL the images I have by this unknown US Army Photographer were taken in Washington State in 1958. However some of his military views do not give location info, so location is a best guess from what is shown. I also have several other Army / Air Force photos from this photographer on eBay.”
Gus and the Model Garage: Gus and the Miracle Jeep
Buz pointed me to this story title “Gus and the Miracle Jeep”, publish in the August 1950 of Popular Science Monthly. The story is part of the Gus and the Model Garage series. I’d never read any Gus stories, and Buz didn’t tell me much, other than I should read it. So, I didn’t know what to expect.
After reading it I suggest you read it too. It just begs the question, what other things did the Army try?
http://www.gus-stories.org/august_1950.htm
That is just one of more than 500 stories about Gus and the Model Garage, written by Martin Bunn over the span of three decades. Who was Martin Bunn? That was a pen name for a variety of authors who churned out a monthly story designed to describe car problems in ways the average person would understand. In a way, it’s like Encyclopedia Brown (which I loved reading as a kid) for people interested in automotive mechanics.
Thanks to Mike Hammerberg, there is an entire website devoted to Gus and the Model Garage stories.
Gus and the Model Garage: Gus Helps Land a Big Catch July 1961
From Gus and the Model Garage comes this tale. It is more adventure story than mechanic story, but it does feature a Ford GP. It is titled “Gus Helps Land a Big Catch” and published in July, 1961.
Lifted Research Jeep T-Shirt XXL
I’m not sure what to make of this unusual T-shirt. It’s a used XXL t-shirt for or from LRG: LIFTED RESEARCH GROUP WORLD WIDE SURROUND SOUND.
Roberto’s Willys MB T-shirt
Roberto has created a new t-shirt picturing a Willys MB. You can see all his T-shirts here:
http://www.robertoflores.com/tienda/catalog/index.php/cPath/51_21_55
Valley Fire Truck Sales Ad on eBay
The Valley Fire Truck Company, based in Bay City, Michigan, converted basic willys truck chassis’ into Fire Trucks. Below is a rare ad from 1957 for their fire trucks.