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Various Updates

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

It’s been another busy month here at eWillys HQ, though little involved jeeps. That said, I did get the race jeep cleaned up and the thermostat replaced on Sunday. I”m hoping to test the thermostat out later today, once my eyes recover from being dilated.

My eyes were dilated, because I had my cataract consultation this morning; they saw no problems doing the surgery on both eyes, so I will be proceeding forward on that! Having worn glasses since the 9th grade, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to have 20/20 farsightedness! My eyes are pretty wonky at this point, with many of these updates done with just one less-than-perfect eye (and the other terrible). I am positive I’m making mistakes.

On the home front, we did minor decorations for halloween (no one comes by anyone). Ann had the brilliant, simple idea, to turn our house into a ghoul. It looks best from the road:

2024-10-29-halloween-house

This is how it looks closer up and less dark (a bit more hokey):.

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Halloween decorations will come down soon, quickly replaced with Xmas decorations.

One afternoon a couple days ago Ann and I heard a bang. We didn’t really think anyone of it until I wandered out to shut our driveway gate, when I encountered a beat up mailbox. It look like someone used it for batting practice (a quick tour of the neighborhood reveal a couple more smashed boxes). Having some body tools around, I brought the box back to life and it looks nearly as good as it did before, just with a little more character. At someone point I’ll add a barrier to stop this from happening again.

2024-10-24-mailbox

After some tender love:

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Ann finally harvested her Poblano peppers, so I spent some time roasting them, skinning and de-seeding them, before freezing them. They’ll make some yummy meals.

2024-10-23-peppers

Apart from all that, fall chores have taken priority, such as falling leaves, shutting down irrigations systems, along with much more. I’m sure most of you can relate!

Happy Halloween everyone!

 
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David Tracy Readies a CJ-3B for his Wedding

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

Leave is to David Tracy to try and get a CJ-3B running in anticipation of his wedding. He must have a patient bride! Thanks to Bill for sharing this story.

https://www.theautopian.com/i-have-7-weeks-to-get-my-1954-willys-jeep-ready-for-my-wedding-and-ive-never-even-heard-it-run/

david-tracy-cj3b2

 
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1968 & 1969 DJ-5 Gala Ads & Photo

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, DJ-5 & DJ-6, Features, Old Images, Old News Articles • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: eBay has a rare color photographic slide depicting a DJ-5 Gala/Surrey like the one shown in the Hawaii ad at the bottom.

dj5-surrey1

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Originally Published May 21, 2020: During the late 1960s, a couple different Jeep dealers in Hawaii offered DJ-5 Jeep Galas for sale. There were at least two different styles of ads published. The Gala was a Surrey that was sold by the export arm of the company.

In 1967, a Kaiser-Jeep dealership owned by Von Hamm-Young Mercantile, flew the 1968 model of the DJ-5 Gala Jeep to Hawaii. From the story below, it would seem that this may have been the first example of a DJ-5 Gala Jeep arriving in Hawaii. Note that the photo’s caption only describes this jeep as a Gala.

1967-10-19-honolulu-star-bulletin-dj5-surrey-gala-jeep-lores

Over the next two years, the dealer published ads hoping to spur sales. We’ll likely never know how successful sales were, but I’d suspect not too many were sold.

1) The first ad appeared between April and September of 1968. The example shown below was published in the May 30, 1968, issue of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. There are a variety of things that struck me with this ad. First, it’s the first ad I’ve seen for a DJ-5 Surrey/Gala. Second, it is advertised as a “Surrey Gala”, rather than one or the other. Third, it came in six different color schemes. Fourth, later in the year (specifically September 24th in the Hawaii Tribune Herald), Big Island Rambler was the dealer name at the bottom of the ad, with no specific link made to Von Hamm-Young.

Apart from all those points, it’s generally just an odd ad for a vehicle!

1968-05-30-honolulu-star-bulletin-dj5-surrey-ad-lores

2) This ad appeared multiple times, but only during April of 1969 (I could find no other ads for any other month in 1969), isn’t quite as odd as the 1968 campaign. The ad also doesn’t mention the multiple package options. This particular example was published in the April 4th, 1969, issue of the Honolulu Advertiser.

1969-04-04-The-Honolulu-Advertiser-jeep-gala-surrey-dj5-lores

 
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Flamingo Gardens Jeep Train in Flamingo, FL

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

UPDATE: I ran across this photographic slide of a jeep train on eBay that looks identical to one that ran in the Flamingo Botanical Gardens (see postcard below). The problem is that the CJ-5 bears a Chevron Island plate, an island that is along the Gold Coast of Australia. Was Chevron Island a term used in Florida?

1968-chevron-island-tour-jeep-slide-7 1968-chevron-island-tour-jeep-slide-8 1968-chevron-island-tour-jeep-slide-9

Here’s the post card (available on eBay):

1967-swamp-buggy-florida-flamingo

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Originally posted January 14, 2013: Craig spotted a postcard on eBay about a jeep train in Flamingo, FL.  Some additional investigation revealed the  train was located at the Flamingo Botanical Gardens. It looks like they still use a CJ-5 to pull the jeep train! A tour leaves every hour, on the hour, from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

“Flamingo Gardens is a 60 acre not-for-profit attraction with a wildlife sanctuary, aviary, and botanical garden. The Gardens were originally the property of Floyd L. and Jane Wray, who in 1933 built a home and citrus grove on what was then the edge of the Everglades, where they started a botanical collection of tropical and subtropical fruit trees and shrubs.”

From the website:

flamingo-gardens-jeep-tour-jeep3

Here are historical photos of the jeep train:

Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/92849:

flamingo-gardens-jeep-tour-jeep2

State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/131421:

flamingo-gardens-jeep-tour-jeep