Features Research Archives

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Chrismas Wagon

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

Here’s a good way to celebrate the holidays!  You can see more holiday cars here.

 
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The British Jago Geep (now Sandero) Kit

• CATEGORIES: Features, International, Other 4x4s, VEEP (VW Jeep), Scamp, Others This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Pronounced “Jay-Go”, the Jago Geep was brought to my attention by Robert, who had never seen one either.  So, I warmed up my googler this weekend to learn more about them.

According to this Sandero website, British Business Partners Geoff Jago and Richard Park launched the Jago Geep Kit car in 1971, making it one of the first kit cars in the UK.  In the same way a dune buggy kit was sold in the US to be placed atop a VW Chassis, the Jago Geep Kit was initially intended to be place onto a Ford Anglia 105E and then later atop the Ford Escort MK1. There were five general variants of the Geep kit produced, but because they are all kits, it is doubtful that any are exactly alike once assembled and individual builder details were added.

In the 1980s, due to illness, Park sold the remainder of the company to Jago.  In 1985, 25 specially manufactured kits were produced to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Geep.  Sometime in the 1990s, the company changed from the Geep model to the Sandero model, but I haven’t learned why.  Most recently, and in the post below, a Series II Land Rover was used as the chassis.  You can learn more at the Jago Owners Club.

From the 1984 through 1990 Jago produced a kit car called the Samuri, a four seat utility vehicle designed to fit atop the Ford Escort.

Here’s the nicest looking Jago Geep I’ve seen (so far):

Here’s a Jago Kit used as a drag jeep:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=395G0NXB1zo

See Dave’s Kit Car Here:

Here’s an image of the Jago Samuri:

 
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A Quick Trip into the Hills

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

It was a sunny (finally), but cold day yesterday.  So, Colter and I took a quick drive into the hills to smell the coming spring.  Here are a couple snapshots.

 
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The World’s Best Coffee Jeep

• CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, International • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Here’s another reason to travel to Colombia.  Sebastian’s father spotted this gem.

Sebastian writes, “My dad took these pictures today in Rio Negro, Antioquia, Colombia. I have seen Willys being used for almost everything in Colombia, but I never saw this before, a moving coffee shop. Look all the details, the art on the doors and on the tailgate, the speakers (stereo) on the roof, the coffee machine inside, the ketchup on the side, it has everything! The name displayed on the sides reads “Camperito del Café, lo mejor del mundo”, which roughly means the coffee jeep, the best of this world. No doubt about that.”

 
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1960 CJ-3B Ambulance Spokane, Wa eBay

• CATEGORIES: CJ-3B, Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE:  Back on eBay

(03/25/2011) This is cool!  I found pics of a similar one on the CJ-3B Board from Macedonia.

“1960 Jeep CJ-3B Ambulance. It runs and drives. Imported from Turkey. Orange in color. doors still work. Needs fuel tank. Awesome and rare restoration project. Pictures tell it all. Email with any questions. Thanks”

View all the info on eBay

Continue reading

 
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Reader Builds: Some Jeeps out of Hawaii

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

UPDATE:  I’m running short of time tonight, so here’s a post from a couple years ago.

Here’s Frank’s flattie and some friends of his who have flatties as well.  The picture with multiple jeeps was from a run last October.  The next time you are vacationing in Hawaii, keep an eye out for these good looking jeeps.

frank_rodrigues1

frank_rodrigues3

frank_rodriques2

 
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Unusual Willys Bugish thing from Cuba

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

Ori forwarded me this image take by Danny Koro during a visit to Cuba.  You can see the ‘Willys’ stamp on the hood, which indicates the hood has been trimmed.  It sure is unusual.  You can see more info about the post here: http://www.carsforum.co.il/vb/showthread.php?t=372206

 
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Eurpoean Junk Pile

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

I spotted this image at several sites, but the largest version I found was at edinburghnapiernews.com.  I’m gonna guess, based only on the building in the right corner, that this pile of vehicles is somewhere in Europe.  Strangely, this image is used as a header image for an article on the importance of recycling and freecycling. And I think the image is supposed to reinforce the importance of recycling and the problems of waste.  I believe the irony of the use of this photo with the article is that these vehicles were in fact piled as a first step in their recycling process (for their reuse in steel).

 
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Updated Verion of Lawrence’s Bellcrank Mod

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

Lawrence just finished adding his bearing mod to this newer bell crank for a customer.  He’s been working on jeeps for decades.  If you would like this done for your bell crank, let me know (d@ewillys.com) and I’ll provide his contact information.

 
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Unusual MB found on Flickr

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

Here’s an unusual MB that I spotted on Flickr. I don’t remember seeing it anywhere else (but sometimes my memory isn’t all that good!).

 
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A nice looking ‘Follow Me’ Slat Grille

• CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, MB • TAGS: , , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jeremy found these images as part of a great folder of jeep images touring Facebook.  You can learn more about them at Brian’s Military Jeep site.

 
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“Will Work For Jeep Parts”

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

Chris spotted this funny shirt.  The Shirt says it all!

You can order them here on eBay

 
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Willys Jeep Song

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

HOG spotted this unusual ‘Willys Jeep’ song, which is a rewrite of Queen’s Bicycle Race song, over at Kaiser Willys Blog.

 
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I Want a Rocking Jeep!

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

Alex spotted this illustration of a rocking jeep a long time ago.  Thanks for sharing it.  I think these would sell . . .

 
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A Cold Winter!

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This frigid CJ-2A suffered through consecutive days in the 20s in Columbia, South Carolina, this winter.  It was snapped on January 7, 2010 and published at wunderground.com.

 
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Pounced: Biscuit Finally Has Its Name

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

It was sometime around mid-summer of last year (maybe earlier) when I started the project to place ‘Lost Biscuit’ on the hood of my jeep. It took a little longer than expected, but I finally did it.
First I had to decide which font to use. Fortunately,  I got some very helpful input along the way from Dexter (thanks) and eventually decided upon the Marker Felt font. Okay, that was pretty easy.

Now, how to get the name on the hood. After hmming and haaaing over how I wanted to attach the name (hand drawn, stickers, stencils, pay someone else … ), I finally decided I would do it myself using paint.  But, I knew my freehand drawing and painting skills froze around the 2nd grade, so this wasn’t something I could improvise. Since I had no immediate solutions, I decided to put the project on hold (which explains the delay).

One day this past December I was watching American Restoration on the History Channel.  The American Restoration show is a spinoff of sorts from the Pawn Stars show and follows various restoration projects from Ricks Restoration out of Las Vegas.  In one of the episodes, called Buttered Up (you can view it here), Rick restores an old popcorn machine.

To repaint the front of the popcorn machine, the painter used a technique that dates back centuries called pouncing. Pouncing? My ears perked up!

Pouncing?  Never heard of that. As usual, my computer was on my lap so I instantly googled pouncing.  I learned,

Pouncing is where pounce — loose graphite or charcoal — is rubbed through a series of small holes punched in a paper pattern to transfer the design to an item to be decorated

Well, I thought that would work for Biscuit’s name.  After some more research, I found out that quilters use pouncing for some stitch patterns.  So, the next day I hit some quilt stores.  As you can imagine, the conversation went something like this,

“Hi, I’m here because I want to paint a name on my jeep,” says I.

Blank stare from cashier, “what do you need?”

“I need stuff for pouncing” says I, remembering now that I probably had not shaved, maybe, not even showered, and most likely wasn’t quite dressed like customers they normally help (however, to my credit, I didn’t have on my garage jeans).

Another blank stare, “you want to do what?” I think she even had her finger ready to dial ‘9’ (and then ‘1’ ‘1’)

It turns out, not everyone knows what pouncing is, even at the quilt stores.  Eventually, after visiting a couple quilt stores, I found what I needed (you will see my pouncing supplies in a picture below).

Here’s the synopsis of this project.

1. Design and Print the template.  Then, since I didn’t have a good awl, I created my own awl out of tape, a chopstick and a long push pin.

2. Next, I attached the template to a piece of cardboard.  Then, I poked holes around the outer edge of all the letters.

3. With the letters outlined, I tested out the template on different materials to make sure it worked.  It turns out pouncing is pretty easy!

4. Selecting paint was the next step. So, I visited my local art supply store and explained to them what I wanted.  They directed me to an Acrylic Titanium White Tube from Windsor Newton. Along with the paint, they also suggested an acrylic spray on sealer and finisher from Americana. I took the paint home and tested it on different materials.  At first, I didn’t like it, because it wasn’t as smooth as the typical oil based house paint I had expected.  Instead, it had texture like a canvas artist would want.  But then, after staring at it a bit, I warmed to the texture, because it gave the name a hand generated feel.

5.  Yesterday, with the weather a little warmer, it was time to paint the name.  I got out my template, my paint, and my pouncing supplies.  I taped the template to the hood and prepared to pounce.

Over the course of my tests, the technique I found most successful for pouncing was not tapping the pouncer, but rather dragging it slowly across the holes.  This kept the paper from popping up and blurring the dots underneath.

The pouncing equipment consists of a pouncer with a ‘handle’ on one side and a soft side on the other.  There’s also a plastic container that can hold pounce.  Lastly, there is the white chalk.

6.  Now it’s time to paint.  I put three coats on each side. This image was taken after the first coat.

This is after three coats.

There is still some small edges that need cleaning up.  Once I do that, I’ll spray it and hopefully that will protect it!

 
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More on this unusual CJ-?A/MB Wagon in Bali

• CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, International, Unusual, Willys Wagons, Wood bodies • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE:  Rudolf sent some additional pics of this rig. Steve gives a good analysis within the comments section.

Rudolf forwarded me this unusual CJ-?A/MB wagon.  Rudolf reports that this is titled a 1944 and was used for public transit in Bali.  Given the full floating rear end, the rearend might have been from a MB.  It reminded me of another vehicle with a similar wood rear end that is located in France  (see the red image below).

From France (CJ-3B Page, Offroadaction.ca)

 
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Tavis Highlander’s Wagon

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

Roadmonster.org wrote about designer Tavis Highlander and his wagon last year.  According to the post, his illustrations have been featured in Hot Rod and Car Craft Magazines.  In addition, he illustrated and then built the below wagon, which has been featured in Hot Rod Magazine, Truckin’ Magazine, and Radical Renderings.

Click here to see the entire post at Roadmonster.org

Click here to visit Tavis’s Website with a variety of pics from this build

Here’s Tavis’ concept drawing:

You can see here that this started with a pretty ordinary, rough wagon:

Here’s the completed project.  Click the pictures to see the build process.

Here’s a look at the motor (from Roadmaster.org):

 
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Willys Images from Wikimedia

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

At some point this image was uploaded to Wikimedia. I thought it was a nice, detailed, large image.  Click on the image and you can check out the details pretty closely.

 
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One more set of pics from the Four Corners

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

This is the final set of pics from of the Four Corners from Alan.  I’ll combine these separate posts into one at some point.

 
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1969 CJ-5 w/ Camper Harpers Ferry, WV **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Camping, CJ5, Features • TAGS: , , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay

“We have a 1969 Jeep CJ Camper They only made 336 of these  I have found on the  internet there only a hand ful of them left. they are rare as hens teeth. this a V6 engine with a three speed trans. It needs a complete restoration as you can see from the pics. it is being sold on a Bill of sale only it looks to be about 95% complete we do see it is missing some hub caps/ gear shifter knob/ some camper parts/  It did run when parked any questions please call me my name is Dannon”

 
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1964 King Midget Pt. Pleasant, NJ $5500

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

Need a car that’s a little easier on gas than your jeep?  How about this one cylinder car HOG spotted.  No, it’s not 4wd and it is smaller than some golf carts, but I figured I’d post it anyway.  Besides, even if you don’t like the car, check out the turn signal/running lights on the front.  Those might be a nice conversion option for older jeeps.

I have never seen a King Midget. There were 3 basic models of the Midget.  The first model was a one seater, like a mini-racing car from the early 1900s.  The second model expanded to two seats, along with other additional options.  The third model increased strength and horsepower.

The King Midget Car website has this video, which shows a variety of old Midgets:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJv0a7dUbIU&feature=player_embedded

“I am selling a 1964 King Midget, “Worlds Most Exciting Small Car”. The car is in outstanding condition and is a A.A.C.A Senior show winner. The engine is a One cylinder, with 2 speed auto trans; the car gets 60-90 miles per gallon! The odometer reads 5,226. If you are wondering, YES, this car is street legal and another interesting fact about the King Midget is that they were only available by mail order from 1952-1970. I am forced to sell the car due to a death in the family and am sad to see this “small” gem of a car go.”

http://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/cto/2299150667.html

 
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VMSB244.com Honors some WWII Vets

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

Alan has been sharing those great jeeping images from the Four Corners.  He  helps run a website called VMSB244.com where WWII men from the VMSB244 squadron are honored and remembered.  One cool feature is that they have scanned original letters written by the men of that squadron.

 
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Photos from WWII at Ewa, Hi

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

Here are some images taken by Alan’s grandfather during WWII.The first two appear to be a GPW.

Alan writes, “These WWII photos came from my grandfather while he was with VMSB 244 on EWA, HI. The guys would train at Ewa and then go on to Midway and many other Islands during their time in the Marine Corp.”

 
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WWII Jeep at Small Museum in Auchonvillers, France

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

If you happen to be in France and staying at the Avril Williams Guest House, in Auchonvillers, France, you must take a trip across the street and visit the small museum.  There you will find a set of compact dioramas from several wars.  In the World War II diorama sits a restored MB or GPW of some vintage.

I found a pic of the jeep at this website, which follows someone’s journey through the battlefields of France.