Features Research Archives

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Hoosier Machine Products’ Jeep Conversion Kits

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

UPDATE: I was surprised to see that Hoosier advertised in Four Wheeler Magazine for several months during 1973 (possibly longer).

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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 6, 2019: In the early 1960s, Hoosier Machine Products out of Pendleton, Oregon, (just an hour south of me) began selling conversion kits for jeeps. The company’s kits allowed the repowering of jeeps using Ford, Chef, GMC, Mercury, Dodge, Studebaker and Pontiac engines. That’s a pretty impressive, wide range of options, especially for a company out of Pendleton, which was pretty remote at the time. But, given the long distances Pendleton owner’s jeeps had to travel to reach other towns and the existence of the nearby, steep Blue Mountains, which provided endless jeeping possibilities, perhaps there was a reason Pendleton jeeps need more power?

Also, a big thanks go to Maury for spotted this brochure for me!

1964-08-18-hoosier-machine-pendleton-brochure1 1964-08-18-hoosier-machine-pendleton-brochure2

1964-08-18-hoosier-machine-pendleton-brochure7 1964-08-18-hoosier-machine-pendleton-brochure8

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June 1950 Ad for 1/2 Ton Truck on eBay

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

This June 1950 Ad highlights the new Hurricane Powered half-ton truck from an unknown magazine.

View all the information on Ebay

“Original magazine advertisement measures 10 X 13 inches (approx.).”

1950-06-truck-half-ton-ad

 
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Desert Dog History and Ads

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

UPDATE: After spotting an ad I hadn’t published yet (seen below), I realized that there was Desert Dog history that existed among various posts. So, this combines all that into more of a narrative.

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If you have read eWillys for any length of time, you know I’ve been a fan of Desert Dog tires for years. I still have eight desert dogs, some solid lettering and some outlined, as shown in the pic below:xmas_2011_biscuit19_ditch3_lores

According to Louis Larson, the Desert Dog tire was launched in 1970. He knows this, because in 1970 he became the first person to test out the new style of tires (see the bottom of this CJ-3B Page article). The tires were given to Louis for testing and photographing.

David Maxwell, a former Formula tires salesman, reported that the tires were always made by Armstrong, but marketed through the Formula brand, the president of which was a friend of David’s (see David’s comment and many others on this post). The company made a large number of retreads, so a number of tires also had Firestone on the side, too.

The tires proved popular quickly. Les Schwab was a big fan of them and ran them on his jeep (jeeps?). He also sold both new and retread tires out of his main shop in Prineville (see Les Schwab’s biography here).

For PNW jeepers, the tires were a perfect blend for racing and for jeeping and the varied terrains of the PNW (sand, gravel, rocks, mountain sides, mud, etc … as Joe1148 highlights in his comment here .. though I can attest to it as well). On the downside, their road life was short (some estimate about 10k miles) and they tended to be noisy. The tires’ popularity gained them prominence, and soon they were added to charts showing tire options, such as this January 1972 ad:

1972-01-mini-terra-trail-blazer-desertdog

By 1973, Desert Dogs were being advertised in Four Wheeler Magazine (ads at the bottom of this post) and sold across the country. This Smith Jeep, Inc. ad from North Franklin, Connecticut, in the July 1973 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine is one example of an East Coast offering:

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Eventually, the Formula brand expand its offering. I don’t know when each of these tires was introduced (I think this ad is from 1975, but have to confirm it), but Formula was soon offering more tires choices:

desert-dog-X-tra-Formula-Tires

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1973 World Plastics Fiberglass Racing Shells

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

The July 1973 and August 1973 issues of Four Wheeler Magazine included these two ads for fiberglass racing shells. I’m not sure when World Plastics began advertising in the magazine, but I doubt it had been for very long. The ad on the right shows a full-body size flat fender shell, while the ad on the right shows a narrow body shell (both Bobcat and Parkette also produced racing shells).

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I don’t know how long these were offered, what happened to the shells, or what happened to the World Plastic’s company.

 

 
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Video of 1970 CJ-5 with 882 Miles

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

Maury shared this video from Collins Brothers Jeep (out of Wylie, Texas) of a 1970 CJ-5 with only 882 miles. (In case the video doesn’t work correctly, the 1970 CJ-5 portion begins near the 5:20 mark).

 
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Willys Jeep Newspaper Ad During 1944

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

UPDATE: Maury shared a magazine page on eBay that contains a similar ad to the one shown at the  bottom of this page. It’s almost identical, except that Jeep now appears with single-quotes. 

The use of single quotes outside of a set of double quotes is uncommon. One editor summed it up best by describing it’s use this way: If a phrase or a word is uncommon or you are highlighting it to the reader for a particular reason – for example, as a neologism or a conscious use of jargon – use single quotation marks. Any punctuation sits outside single quotation marks. Thus, I suspect Willys-Overland felt they could defend the use of ‘JEEP’ by describing it’s presence as a descriptive use of jargon, rather than an attempt to back into the trademarking of the name. However, backing into the trademark using single quotes was exactly what the company was doing.

To answer the question I asked in the original post (was the bottom ad a local dealer or national corporate campaign), given these two ads appeared in two different national magazines, it seems likely this simple ad construction was part of a national campaign by Willys-Overland to begin prepping the public for post war jeep sales, This particular ad appeared in the October 1944 issue of Successful Farming.

This page is for sale on eBay:

1944-10-successful-farming-jeep-ad

The purposeful addition of the single quotes reflects a similar change seen in the iconic Saturday Evening Posts during 1944, as demonstrated in these ads. The first highlighted ad of February 05, 1944, was the first time Willys-Overland replaced the prominent WILLYS stamp on the Post ads with JEEP (or in this case JEEPS) with no single quotes.

What isn’t quite the same is that the Midland Journal ad below without the single quotes lasted longer (through October 6 1944) than the Saturday Evening Post ads. Perhaps Willys-Overland purchased several months of ads beginning in June of 1944 right before the addition of the single quotes too place? However it happened, what the ad above shows is that Willys was correcting the single quotes’ issue across its advertising.

Why did the company ad the single quotes in the first place? As I argued in this long post on Willys Overland’s changing identity during WWII, I believe it stems from the 1944 congressional inquiry into the company’s efforts to trademark the JEEP name.

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Originally published March 29, 2020: Here’s an unusually small and succinct ad that appeared seven times in the Midland Journal out of Rising Sun, Maryland, from June 30, 1944, through October 6, 1944. I’ve yet to run across this specific ad elsewhere.

One thing to note is that in July of 1944, Willys-Overland began using single quotes around the word Jeep like this ‘Jeep’ major magazine ads, yet that was not done in any of the newspaper ads in the Midland Journal, as shown below. (Ed note …. Yeah, I know, not earth shattering news, but I never know when little details like this will add up to some insight).

The ad shown below was in the August 11, 1944, issue of the Midland Journal:

1944-08-11-midlandjournal-willys-jeep-small-ad-lores2

This shows how small the ad was within the newspaper page.

1944-08-11-midlandjournal-willys-jeep-small-ad-lores1

 

 
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A WWII Jeep Crate Weighed 784lbs

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

In the miscellaneous-facts-that-probably-weren’t-accurate-at-all …. According to the July 05, 1944, issue of the Conneautville Courier (Conneautville, Pennsylvania), the standard jeep weighed 2,368lbs, while the crates used to box jeeps weighted 784lbs. I wonder how many jeeps and how many crates actually weight those amounts?

1944-07-05-conneautville-courier-PA-jeep-weight

 
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Just One Update for Sunday

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

Updates will resume Monday morning….

Only 17 more days until we close on the new place. We’ve packed most of our stuff and are now doing minor repairs and maintenance, such as some trim painting, light landscaping, and, one of the biggest tasks, cleaning out our backyard waterfall and pond. It can be a pain to clean every spring, but it sure is nice to listen to on the back porch on a sunny day. It will also help sell this place.

pond

Our rather warm winter meant more green growth in the pond. So, we have to empty it, pull out some large rocks, scrub it, and fill it back up. No doubt we will lose some fish in the process. It all looks a bit dreary in back right now.

Here is how it usually looks (though this was taken in April, prior to many of the flowers blooming):

2020-04-20-backyard2

As we approach the closing date, I plan to take at least one, if not two weeks off to get the new place ready, move our stuff, and finish details on the old house to ready it for sale. But, don’t fret, there will still be new daily content (and some retread of older feature posts). One person who is responsible for providing new content is a dedicated researcher named John Hamrin, who has taken the time to go through the British Pathe video site to locate any videos with jeeps in it. He has now sent me over 100 links to videos, with more arriving as I type this post. So far, most appear to be WWII related. So, a HUGE thanks to him for his painstaking research and generosity!!

Finally, a word to one of our newest and most passionate readers, almost-two-year-old Miranda Tilford, who, has become a passionate viewer of eWillys. On Saturday morning (yesterday), Marty wrote to tell me that shortly before messaging me, Miranda came up to him and said, “Jeep, jeep, jeep”. At first he was confused at what she wanted, so she repeated, “jeep, jeep, jeep”. About that time, Marty realized that she wanted to sit down with him and go through eWillys. Sure enough, they sat down and scrolled through some jeeps. That poor, poor young lady has been afflicted with the Willys sickness already; there is no hope for her!!

So, in Miranda’s honor, with a nod to John’s video efforts, here are some WAACs trying out their driving skills with jeeps and trucks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiNSjOJEeUA

waac-driving-jeep

 
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February 1962 Issue of Jeep News

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

This February 1962 issue of Jeep News includes two good photos on page four of the DJ-3A-based mobile bar that was at the Las Brisas resort in Mexico. I have a color photo of that, too. It might be fun to recreate one of those.

Page three shares a little info on a twenty-eight page dealer booklet entitled, “Your Ten Major Retail Markets”. That’s a book I’ve yet to see anywhere.

Photos Photos Photos

Photos Photos

 

 
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1948? Willys-Overland Sign Program

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

This eight-page Willys-Overland Sign Program sold on eBay for $38 (plus $4 shipping) late night. The seller only provided two pics, so I was unsure if this would be worth the money. Given the front-page design of the brochure, I’d guess this was produced around 1949. The design is reminiscent of other Willys-Overland catalogs of the era (see examples at the bottom).

“This is a 9 X 11 8 page brochure of WILLYS -OVERLAND SIGN PROGRAM  FACTORY APPROVED shows products offered to dealers from Neon Products of Lima Ohio some slight scuffing on the covers…also has a order blank”

willys-overland-sign-program1

A 5-foot version of the Willys Service Sign sold out of Buda, Texas, for $400 back in 2014. It was likely sign model #WO-111 (the large sign pictured on the left side of the left page). These are the only two interior pages that were included in the auction ad:

willys-overland-sign-program2

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Similar covers from 1949 that have the style AND the WO logo. For example, Barney has this 1949 Parts List catalog listed on eBay:
1949-parts-booklet

There’s this 1949 Jeepster owners manual:
1949-jeepster-manual

And, this is a 1948 CJ-3A Owners Manual on eBay:
1948-cj3a-owners-manual

And this 1948 CJ-2A (with envelope) owner’s manual on eBay:

1948-cj2a-owners-manual

 
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1952 Photos of British Minister of Defense Earl Harold Alexander’s Jeep

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

These two photos show the jeep (likely a Ford GPW) of Defense Field Marshal Harold Alexander, the first Earl Alexander of Tunis (technically, Alexander of Tunis, Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, Earl, 1891-1969). The second photo is dated June 27, 1952. The jeep’s tires look much more aggressive than the standard NDTs. The windshield looks more like a 2A than an MB/GPW. Those doors look awfully thick. I wonder how heavy they were.

According to the post, captions, these are “Part of a series that Williams shot on assignment documenting the visit to Korea of British Minister of Defence Field Marshal Harold Alexander, the first Earl Alexander of Tunis. Here, Earl Alexander salutes as he leaves a Common Wealth Division bunker in his jeep.”

All three of these photos are part of the Pepperdine University Digital Collections.

  1. https://cdm15730.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15730coll5/id/1334
    1952-earl-harold-alexander-korea2
  2. https://cdm15730.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15730coll5/id/695
    1952-earl-harold-alexander-korea1
  3. https://cdm15730.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15730coll5/id/1148
    1952-earl-harold-alexander-korea3
 
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1944 Photo of a “Dummy” Jeep

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

This pic reminds me of the Ghost Army documentary I mentioned back in 2019. The photo below shows a combled-together fake jeep. I’m still hoping to find some better photos of a Ghost Army inflatable jeep. Dummy tank photos are much easier to find. The photo was taken November of 1944 in Wongabel, Queensland, Australia.

This photo appeared on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2382510764/permalink/10158078411510765/

1944-11-dummy-jeep-wongabel

 
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Cute little “jeep” Trailer

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

Jack Bowlin posted photos of the cute little jeep trailer he created, one that matches his jeep. I like it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1641202336209808/permalink/2742473362749361/

short-jeep-trailer1 short-jeep-trailer2

 
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1963 Video of Lifesavers and their Jeep

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

John helped me locate this short video from 1963 showing one of Cornwall’s surf rescue teams. In it, these brave young men demonstrate how they utilize their specially modified jeep to perform rescues. Baywatch it aint!

View the video here: https://www.britishpathe.com/video/jeep-lifesavers-aka-lifesavers

1963-video-clip-british-pathe-life-savers-jeep

 
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1949 Article Introduces the 4WD Wagon

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

This September 17, 1949, article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette states that the four-wheel-drive wagon evolved out of a military special order for four-wheel-drive-wagons. I’ve run across that fact previously, maybe on a brochure?

1949-09-17-green-bay-press-gazette-wagon-now-4wd-1-lores 1949-09-17-green-bay-press-gazette-wagon-now-4wd-2-lores

 
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2021 Willys Reunion is Scheduled for May 21-22 in Aurora, OH

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

The 2021 Willys Reunion has confirmed it will take place May 21-22 in Aurora, Ohio, this year. My lovely bride and I won’t be able to make it, but hopefully we’ll be more settled in 2022 and can visit at that time. Maybe we can even bring one of our jeeps next time!

2021-willys-reunion-announcement

 
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1945 Photo of Udem, Germany

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

Charles shared this 1945 photo from Udem, Germany, showing a British and Canadian forces, along with a of couple jeeps, one with a permanent looking top. What’s the vehicle in the lower right?

1945-udem-germany-british-canadian-forces-jeeps

 
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Military Jeep Photos From Various Databases

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

Here are some military photos that appear in various library databases.

1. This first one shows a jeep that was dug out from an avalanche in the Grand Tetons:

“lack and white photo showing a Jeep vehicle after being extracted from an avalanche at Glory Bowl in the Teton Range, Wyoming.”

jeep-avalanche-tetos

PHOTO CREDIT: Ted Majors and the University of Utah Digital Library Collections

2. Here’s a solider welding jeep fenders:

3. This 1947 photograph appears to be a Swedish family surrounding the family MB:

4. This 1947 photo from Sweden shows the same jeep as above. It seems like some of the folks from the top photo also appear in this one? 

1947-swedish-family-jeep2

PHOTO CREDIT: https://jlm.kulturhotell.se/items/show/142944

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November 1947 Ad for a Jeep Caravan in North Carolina

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

This is a great vintage ad for the Jeep Caravan ‘Free Show’. That’s a nice touch with the fire jeep shooting water up the side of the ad. This appeared in the November 6, 1947, issue of the News and Observer out of Raleigh, North Carolina.

1947-11-06-news-and-observer-raliegh-nc-newbernes-garage-lores

 
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1942 Americar Brochure w/ Willys MA Photos

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Bantam-FordGP-WillysMA-EarlyJPs, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This 1942 Americar Brochure includes a page that shows the Willys MA. I dropped out of the bidding at $30. I’ll keep my eye open for a cheaper version of this brochure.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1942-Willys-AMERICAR-JEEP-PICK-UP-PANEL-DELIVERY-Truck-Dealer-Sales-Brochure/363291618312

Here’s the page with the MAs on it.

1942-americar-brochure-willys-ma

The following images might show the entire brochure in the correct order. Note the page showing the Americar’s “Willys Chassis” … anyone know how similar this was in size to the wagon chassis?

1942-americar-brochure2

1942-americar-brochure3

1942-americar-brochure4

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Jalopnik Author Shares a Bad Dealer Tale

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

The author of this non-jeep Jalopnik post tells the story of how a dealership intimidated his mother into signing paperwork she didn’t want to sign and how she successfully sued the dealership in return. Thankfully, she had read and understood the contract she had signed.

This story hit home with Ann and I as she bought herself a Red 2017 GMC truck the other day and we both left feeling like those folks had no interest in having us actually read what she was signing, though we did quickly skim the contract to the annoyance of the paperwork guy.

https://jalopnik.com/my-mom-has-her-own-terrible-detained-at-the-dealership-1846348696

 
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A Date With Judy, Issue #22

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

Between 1947 and 1960, Judy (do we ever learn her last name?) dated A LOT. Every couple of months, Judy was on another date, hence the title “A Date with Judy”. During date #22, she hooked up with a feller who owned a jeep (who may have been her main squeeze named Oogie?), at least the jeep appears on the cover (I don’t know if the jeep plays a role in one of the stories inside the comic book).

As you may have guessed by now, I really don’t have any idea what I’m talking about regarding this comic book series! Anyway, here’s the cover.

1951-03-04-date-with-judy-number22

Prior to the Comic book, there was a radio series by the same name.

 
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Winter Park Villager: A DJ-3A Surrey Pulling a Matching Trailer

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, DJ-3A, Features, Old News Articles, Postcards • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE:  The two post cards at the bottom of this post were on eBay several years ago. I recently came across some newspaper clippings that give background about the Winter Park Villager tram’s purpose. The service began November 28, 1966, but I could not find an end-date.

This first article discusses the jeep tram’s beginnings:

1966-11-13-the-orlando-sentinel-winter-park-villager-lores

Article dated November 13, 1966, from the Orlando Sentinel

This next article notes that Monday, November 28th, as the launch date for the jeep tram service.

1966-12-01-orlando-evening-star-winter-park-villager-lores

Article dated December 1, 1966, from the Orlando Evening Star

This short article from March of 1967 describes some of the tram’s stops:

1967-03-03-orlando-evening-star-lores

March 03, 1967, in the Orlando Evening Star

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This Winter Park Villager shows a DJ-3A Surrey pulling a matching trailer in Winter Park, Florida. One of these postcards is currently on eBay.

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Here’s another view of the same combo. One of these postcards is currently on eBay

winter-park-the-villager-post-card

 

 
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Year? M-38 Willys-Overland Export Company Brochure

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

This sold yesterday on eBay for $51 +shipping. I gave up bidding on it, because I couldn’t tell how many pages there were. I was concerned there were only four and didn’t want to get into a bidding war over it (I got another cool brochure instead).

m38-sales-booklet-1 m38-sales-booklet-2 m38-sales-booklet-3

 
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1954? Siebert Willys Ambulance Utility Cars Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features, Industrial-Welder-Generator, Willys Wagons • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This undated Siebert Willys Ambulance brochure was probably produced in 1954-or 1955, based on the grille design on page 4. There is no form number on it. Within the brochure the company describes three different ambulance options.

  1. One was called an Ambulance Utility Wagon and is featured on the backpage. It appears to be a basic sedan delivery with added first-aid/ambulance equipment.
  2. The company also produced a Willys Custom Ambulance, which included side windows and a “deluxe interior”.
  3. The third was called the Willys Ambulance Bus (originally called the Willys Ambulance in a 1951 brochure). It was a lengthened 4-door (with the rear doors set up as suicide doors), along with other mods.

1954-siebert-willys-ambulance-bus-brochure1-lores 1954-siebert-willys-ambulance-bus-brochure2-lores 1954-siebert-willys-ambulance-bus-brochure3-lores 1954-siebert-willys-ambulance-bus-brochure4-lores

Derek provides more information on the Siebert Ambulances and has additional pics on the CJ-3B page.