Features Research Archives

To Top

The Forecast is … Rain

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

It seems the weather gods are attempting to thwart our nice, though quick, tour of Manhattan.  For the moment we are hanging out in the Trump Tower Starbucks.  I’m sipping some hot chocolate and Ann is enjoying some kind of coffee mixture.  Hopefully, the rain will let up soon for the remainder of our trek to my great aunt’s, where we will spend the night and share pictures.

No updates tonight.  Probably none until Thursday evening late.  Here we are in Times Square.

 
To Top

Almost to the Eastern Most Point of Our Trip

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

We have almost reached the eastern most point of our trip, Madison, Ct. We are almost at the 3700 mile mark.  In fact, we are just about out of land, so I guess that means it is time to turn around and head east again.  I still have reports to file about my visit with Terry, Andy, and Wallis, so stay tuned for more updates.  Here are a few random pictures from the past few days:

 

 
To Top

Bruder Flatfender Toy

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

On Saturday, in between cruising a few stores at the Eastview Mall in PIttsford, NY, and riding the carousel, I spotted this Christmas ready flattie at their toy store.

I had never ridden a two story carousel, so I Ann and I hopped aboard for a ride and a picture.

 

 
To Top

Busted at the NYC Reservoir

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

We have emerged from the Catskills and are plugged back into the virtual world.  I have several updates to provide, but first i have to catch up on emails and review more than 700 photos shot by Ann in the last two days to prepare for another round of family history photos on Tuesday.

I managed to receive my second warning of the trip.  It all started with Ann asking me to stop so we could take a picture near the water.  It turns out that water isn’t any old water hole; instead, it is New York City’s main source of water.  And, it turns out, they are mighty protective of that water.  But, there weren’t any fences and there were a lot of little row boats littering the beach.  So, we thought, for the picture, we would be ok … below is the picture of us and a picture of me and the police while they wrote us both a warning.  To the officer’s credit, they were professional and even apologized for writing the warnings.  I guess they quickly concluded we were clueless tourists on a road trip.  I even gave one a card in hopes they’d drop by the website.

 
To Top

Jeepneys in Manilla

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

UPDATE II:  We spent last night at Andy’s place in the Catskills. Just as I posted this the power went out, remaining out most of the night.  Once again, I was without power and cell service so updates came to a halt.  I am thinking some higher power didn’t want me doing updates yesterday ….

UPDATE: Well, this was supposed to post this afternoon, but it turns out that there isn’t much broadband cellular service while driving through the catskills.  Then, once I did get service, I got through a variety of updates.  Unfortunately, my computer battery ran out just before finishing this last post.  Not to be deterred, I tried to use my power converter.  I plugged into the cigarette lighter only to discover the converter had blown a fuse.  sigh … but, I’m back up now.

Alex reports that Jeepneys are alive and well in Manila.  Here are some pictures from this week.  Thanks Alex!

 
To Top

Overnight in Akron, Ohio, with Bob and Mindy

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

We stayed the night with Bob & Mindy Christy on Thursday night in Akron, Oh.  They were delightful hosts, sharing their stories, food and cats with us.  They even scheduled a possum to come into their breezeway to add some excitement to the evening.

Bob & Mindy gave us the full tour of their place, including a tool tour.  My favorite tool wasn’t in the garage. Instead, it was Bob’s hand operated meat slicer from the 1950s.  I loved it!

Their love for jeeps is evident, with toys, calendars and pictures of them on many of the rustic wood walls of their cabin-like house.  In fact, they both worked on their beloved CJ-3B jeep, ‘Gertrude’, restoring it in time  for their wedding about a decade ago.  At the end of their wedding they drove away in it.  Positioned proudly over their fireplace mantel is a wedding picture of them next to it.

Their friends Bob and Brenda eventually joined us and we all went out to dinner at their favorite restaurant, the Falcon.  On the way we discovered that Ann and Bob had the same job in the Air Force, so talk quickly shifted to comparing notes on all kinds of things that went over my head.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, we enjoyed a fine meal. One of their specialties is the falcon burger, but I was disappointed to learn there was no actual falcon meat used to make it.

When we returned, Bob (of Bob and Brenda) pulled out a stack of 4WD catalogs freshly printed.  Gertrude recently made the cover of the Vintage Jeep 4WD Catalog.  Below is a picture of the catalog with me on the left and Bob on the right and Gertrude in the background and on the Catalog.  Many thanks to Bob and Mindy for their hospitality!!

 

After leaving Bob and Mindy we traveled north to North Tonawanda, where we stopped by the local Museum.  The museum is a work in progress.  We stopped to learn how far the museum has come in developing its Wurlitzer collection, as my Great Great Grandfather is Rudolph Wurlitzer.  We learned that they hope to have an area devoted to the Wurlitzer family and the Wurlitzer Piano and Organ Company by December.  The head of the museum was kind enough to take us ‘in back’ and give us a special tour.

From there, we drove to Niagara Falls to see it at night.  The lights were very cool and we used up all kinds of digital space shooting picture after picture!  Today we head towards Rochester for more family research.  The picture below shows the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, in the background and the falls to the left.  Changing colors of  lights from Canada shine onto the falls, illuminating them in different ways.  At 9pm, those crazy Canadians started launching fireworks, too.  Though chilly, it was a beautiful night!

 
To Top

Someone is Having a Bad Day

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

We just drove by this.  It’s a bad day for someone.

 
To Top

Happy ‘Kiss a Veteran’ Day (Friday)

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

Tomorrow (Friday Nov 11th) is ‘Kiss a Veteran’ Day.  At least, that is what Ann tells me.  Having served in the Air Force and been blown up during a terrorist bombing, I will take her word for what Veteran’s day should mean.

Ann is a survivor of the 1996 Khobar Tower blast.  She had just come inside from playing volleyball during some downtime and was sitting against a wall in the apartment (where the arrow points in the picture to the right) when a  driver neared the building with a truck, jumped out, and started to walk away. The threat was recognized immediately, but not everyone could be warned in time.  The bomb exploded. Ann’s fellow volleyball players were killed, along with the terrorist. Despite being inside the apartment, the explosion left her with lingering physical issues, but never damaged her spirit.  So, find a veteran, kiss them, and thank them.  I promise to do my part.

TRIP UPDATE:

I haven’t seen a classic jeep in two days.  I think I am getting the shakes.  Fortunately, we are headed to Bob’s where I can get my fix.  The Willys sickness is unforgiving.

We spent last night in Cincinnati.  I liked the town enough that I’d like to go back some time.  The Cincinnati Art Museum was particularly nice, as was Eden Park which surrounds the museum.  While in Cincinnati, I also got lost once, which lead me to Kentucky.  After quickly turning around and then turning on the GPS, we found our way back into the city.

In addition, I managed to run only one red light the entire time driving in the city.  But, as I pleaded to Ann, after running through it and then almost missing my exit, it wasn’t my fault because the car in front of me also badly ran the light and I was just following that car.  And, in my defense, the lights were positioned oddly in the intersection, so they weren’t very obvious.

Now, if my mother read the above paragraph, she might just be getting a little nervous.  Because, only two days ago I called her and asked where her insurance card was.  She immediately realized that I had been stopped for speeding.  I escaped with just a warning, because, again in my defense, I thought I was only going 79 in a 75, but the very understanding officer clocked me at 82.  Then, the officer educated me on driving in Nebraska.  He told me that Nebraska had zero-tolerance for speeding, so vehicles traveling at any speed over 75 would be stopped.  I wanted to inform him that many states in the West have a softer stance on speeding, but thought that wound’t go over so well.  Instead, I thanked him for the information and we proceeded at 75 for the remainder of Nebraska.

Don’t worry mom, we are having a great time and the car is safe!

 

 
To Top

Heading for Greenville, Oh

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

Yesterday we drove, through rain, winds, and fog, from North Platte, Ne, to Springfield, Il, where we spent the night.  Today we got up to more gray skies and winds.  Fortunately, our purpose there was to spend time in the Lincoln Memorial Museum, so we didn’t have to worry about the weather.  However, we found a different storm inside the museum:  classes of young teenagers running, talking and noisily exploring the museum.  Some were paying attention to the things they saw, others weren’t.  Our favorite quote of the day came from a teenage girl who thought the re-enactment of the Lincoln’s showing in the Capitol following his assassination had a coffin containing the body of Washington rather than Lincoln.  Ann and I looked at each other rolled our eyes and walked onward.

However, apart from the noise, the museum itself was creative and interesting.  The hall of voices was particularly interesting.  The exhibit was designed to show how many differing voices Lincoln faced when deciding how to deal with the Emancipation issue.

Tonight we will head for Ann’s great aunt’s house.

Below is the Lincoln Museum and Lincoln Library.

That Lincoln gets all the women ….

 
To Top

2004 Jeep Wrangler – Willys Edition

• CATEGORIES: Features, Other 4x4s This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I admit I don’t pay too much attention to the new jeeps, so I was surprised as Bob to hear about the ‘Willys Edition’ Wrangler.  I figured others might not have known about it either.  You can learn more about them here.

Here is one of them for sale: http://cosprings.craigslist.org/cto/2667511424.html

 
To Top

Roberto’s Canvas Heads to South Carolina

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

Roberto took a video of the canvas he created. It is now being shipped to South Carolina.  You can see how he illustrated it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMjIfkw8tUE

 
To Top

Gray, Drizzly day on the Road

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

It is a gray, drizzly day on I-80.  We are approaching Omaha, Nebraska, where we will sell a camera lense, grab some lunch, head south on I-29 and then across on highway 36 through Missouri in hopes of reaching Springfield, Illinois tonight.  Tomorrow, Nov 9th, we will visit the Lincoln Presidential Museum, because according to Ann, it is one of the best Museums she has visited.  She also can see some potential in leveraging some of their ideas for a jeep museum. On Nov 10th we will land at Bob’s, who will put us weary travelers up for the night.  The next day we head for Tonowanda, NY.

My intrepid co-pilot spotted this horse walking across the road. She pulled quickly to the side, so I could get the shot.  You just don’t see that everyday.

 

 
To Top

Another Double-Ender in Rawlins, Wy

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

Last night we stopped for gas in Ralwins, Wy, and spotted this double ender parked outside of a Sinclair gas station.  If you aren’t familiar with doubleenders, here is a flatfender version.

 
To Top

No updates until Monday Evening

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

I had a wonderful day with my kids today. Tomorrow brings a couple meetings and then a drive east as fast as possible in a hopeful attempt to outrun the snow.  So, expect updates tomorrow evening, connectivity premitting.

 
To Top

Long Island or Bust

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

Neither rain, snow, sleet or hail will stop us as Ann and I begin our trek across the US with Long Island and the retrieval of some paintings for my parents as our ultimate goal. Ok, maybe the snow and sleet will slow us a bit, so I hope to see none of either!  On Saturday we arrived in Salt Lake for a quick visit with my kids.  We begin the trek west on Monday.

As we passed through Idaho on our way to Salt Lake on Saturday we made a quick stop at Josh’s for my first ever chance to drive a GPA!  Even though it doesn’t go anywhere just yet, it was still fun to pretend. Josh has plenty of work left to restore this rare vehicle and continues a search for parts.  So, if you have or know of any GPA/SEEP parts, please add a comment to this post and let him know!  Thanks Josh!

 
To Top

Buz Visits the Good Guys Hot Rod Show

• CATEGORIES: CJ-3A, Features, Unusual, Willys Trucks • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

On Saturday Buz stopped by the Good Guys Hot Rod show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.  He saw some cool vehicles and took some pictures of them for us.  Thanks Buz!

Buz reports that the makers of these bags are waiting for approval from Jeep to produce this tool bag. He says everyone there wanted to buy this one prototype.

 
To Top

1920 Trip of 25,000 Miles

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

A few days ago in Omaha Ann took me to a favorite local chain called PepperJax.  Somebody decided to turn the concept of a buritto shop — where the customer moves down from station to station as someone builds their burrito — into a philly steak shop.  So, you can get steak over rice, in a sandwich, in a salad, and more.  It was quite good, with the bun made fresh minutes before my sandwich was built and piled high with steak.

After devouring my sandwich, I was admiring some of the old pictures hanging on the wall when I spotted this interesting photo.  I tried to find more information about it, but the story escaped my searches.  A caption underneath the picture states the image was of an Auto Camp taken September 23, 1920 at Elmwood Park in Omaha, Nebraska,.  On the car, which appears to sport all metal spoke wheels (or maybe part wood), were the following phrases:

1.  ONLY A FORD
2. 25,000 Miles in 1 YR
3. OVER – 11,000 M in 3 months
4. over 5,000 towns and cities
5. ______ OR BUST (I couldn’t make out the first word).

The car is pretty strange.  There must be a good story here.  Below is the whole picture followed by a closeup of the car.

 
To Top

Chemical Smoke Testing At Dugway in Utah

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

UPDATE:  A reader at Wes’ offroadaction site noted that these are likely pictures of smoke testing rather than chemical testing as claimed by the Tribune.  You can view Harold’s response here.

I spotted these pics at the Salt Lake Tribune’s online site.  I wish there were more close ups of the equipment.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52661179-78/lookback-dugway-weapons-testing.html.csp

 

 
To Top

Willys Cab, Dodge Frame & Peterbuilt Front Ross, Tx eBay

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

From the “I would never have though of doing that department” comes this unique build.

“Custom 1 Ton Truck, 1953 Willys cab stretched 2 foot, with Peterbilt hood, sitting on a 1 ton dodge frame 12 valve cummings diesel, automatic transmission, it haS 142,000 miles on a complete drive train. has tilt/cruise control, a/c and heat work, runs and drive excellent. comes with a 27 foot flatbed trailer, has 2 7500 pound axles, tires on the whole rig are in excellent condition.

You can contact Frank at 254-855-4677”

View all the pics on eBay

 
To Top

A Flattie at Crazy Horse Memorial

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

Today’s journey took us in and out of the Black Hills and, as I write this, we are cruising towards Billings.  The first stop today was the Starbucks in Rapid City, SD, where we managed to cause problems.  Somehow, Ann and I got too busy talking and managed to drive right by the order box.  When we got to the window and explained that we missed the box, the servers quickly began jumped into action.  Mayhem and disaster followed as car after car backed up in the ordinarily slow-paced town, while the servers attempted to stick our order in between the finished orders of others.  By the time we drove away and saw the line of cars behind us, we knew we would never be welcomed back.  I’m sure the servers were muttering ‘damn tourists’ as we drove away ….

Our next stop was Mt. Rushmore.  This was very cool to see in person, more majestic than pictures make it.  I guess the Park Service has also embraced the majesty, by charging a kingly price for parking of $11.00.  Using some stealth techniques, we snapped some pictures and left for our next destination, the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The Crazy Horse Memorial costs $10 per person to enter, but for the money there is plenty in the visitor’s center to see.  After touring the building,  I spotted a flat fender in a painting by Jake Eggars hanging on one of the walls.  I thought that was a bit strange, the color and look of the jeep (the color and bumper both unusual) that I wondered if it was drawn from a real jeep.  So, when I got back to my computer, I started doing some searches.  I finally discovered the below pics of the jeep taken in April of this year.  No place is too remote for me NOT to find a jeep 🙂

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyhorsememorial/5672487678/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyhorsememorial/5671920257/in/photostream/

 

 
To Top

James’ 1950 CJ-3A Project

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

Seventeen year old James emailed me the other day asking if I’d like to stop by and see his jeep while I was in Denver.  Of course, my answer was yes, so we arranged a time to visit yesterday.

After meeting him and his father, I learned that this was James’ first vehicle project.  After deciding he wanted an old flat fender, he looked around some before he found a great deal on a 1950 CJ-3A with an overdrive, a sound body and frame, and a running engine.  Unfortunately, after buying the jeep, he quickly discovered his 6’8″ body was a little lanky for a flattie.  Since he is a little big for it, his goal is to give it a light restoration, get it running good, and then sell it.  It looks oike a great father/son project and I wish them the best of luck with it!  So, expect to see this CJ-3A available on eWillys at some future point. Thanks goes to James for emailing me and sharing his jeep.

 
To Top

Roberto’s latest drawing

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

Roberto decided to track the evolution of this illustration as he created it.  Below are a couple of pics, but you can see them all here.  Thanks for sharing Roberto!

 
To Top

Pikes Peak

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

I made my first ascent of Pike’s Peak today. Accompanied by Ann and her nephew Michaes, we braved the beautiful blue skies and perfect temperatures to wind our way to the 14,110 foot summit.  From Colorado Springs it took about an hour to reach the peak.  Three things surprised me about the ascent.  1) The toll road cost $39 to drive (car plus 3 passengers); 2) Santa’s workshop sits at the base of Pike’s Peak (who knew)?; 3) The concessionaire at the top of the peak is famous for its donuts (which were pretty good).

 
To Top

A Unique Hunting Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Features, M-38 • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Paul forwarded me some images from a friend of his who built this hunting jeep for a client.  I think there is some nice work here.  Thanks Paul! My weapons specialist gf thought it was very cool!

Paul wrote, “this M-38 was built by a friend of mine (Rob Fife), who is a master at fabrication. He restored the M-38 for a customer, who then decided he wanted a hunting rack on it. He built the frt/rear racks to be quick attach, with quick pins,  and the rear seat mounts on pedestals so it can be used front or rear. Then the customer decided he wanted to use in parades so gun mounts were added for (3) airsoft m60’s for crowd control. It handles good and isn’t too top heavy.”

 

 
To Top

Paul’s 2WD Street and Parade Jeep

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

UPDATE: More pics added to this post that show the build process.  Thanks for sharing Paul!

Paul wrote to me a couple days ago to share his nearly completed project.  I’ll bet it will be a kick to drive.  He notes that eWillys “gets part of the blame for my madness.”  Yeah, I’ve heard that a few times 🙂

“My project is a 1949 CJ-2A that i inherited. It has a custom tube chassis, 2wd, rack and pinion steering and 4 link rear suspension.  The body is stretched and frt wheels moved forward. The 5.0 ford engine has an aluminum head and a roller cam.  The tranny is a c-4 auto.  The rear end is built with a narrowed 3.73 8.8 inch ford with traction lock.  The fuel cell mounts under rear seat.  Finally, the markings on the jeep are from my unit in vietnam. It is going to be a street rod and parade car. I have had a blast building it so far and hope to have it on the road soon.”

 

THE BUILD PROCESS

THE BUILD PICTURES:

 

Continue reading