This ad is part of a set of wagon-related brochures. The brochures aren’t in the best shape, but what caught my eye was the Better Homes & Gardens ad. It’s another example of Willys Motors producing what seems to be unique content for that magazine.
Features Research Archives
1944 “Tree Felling” Video
I’m not sure what “VS” stands for? The latter half of the video has Black Peter and Saint Nicholas in a jeep, the first half with the fire and felling trees is interesting, too, but, I’m not sure why?
“VS of troops sitting around wood fire outside trying to keep warm.
Shots of soldiers chopping down large fir trees. They carry off cleaned tree trunk. VS of them chopping up logs with saws and axes.
Shots of two soldier cutting down small fir tree. More shots of soldiers carrying ‘Christmas’ Trees.
VS of soldiers in hospital decorating a Christmas Tree with help from nurses. Shots of other decorations being made.
Quick shot of Saint Nicholas and Black Peter meting children in town. Shots of children and mothers smiling. Shots of St. Nicholas escorted to jeep by soldiers and presents are loaded in. Children cheer and wave. The Christmas jeep is driven along.”
1944 “Look Out” Video
This Union Defence Force video was titled Look Out! This was apparently filmed in South Africa. There are multiple clips of jeeps. No sound provided.
“Various shots of soldiers in training. We see them doing exercises, jumping over walls and doing forward rolls with bare chests. Then they seem to be receiving instruction on how to handle a jeep. Several shots of men driving jeeps and tanks over rough and bumpy ground. Some soldiers in a jeep crisscross over the path of a tank in motion.”
1944 Video of US Troops and Nazi Pigeons
This very short video looks staged to me. But, it does show a good shot of a jeep with “MESSENGER” written across the windshield.
“An American Messenger jeep drives up road past soldiers. Various shots as they take carrier pigeons out of basket. C/U swastika on paper tied to pigeon’s wing. C/U message American soldier is writing ‘Adolph (sic) Hitler, Berchtesgaden. No Happy Returns on your birthday but see you soon. Ninth U.S. army.’ Various shots as they tie message to the pigeon’s leg and release it. We see various takes of the same scene.”
1985 Book ‘The Willys Dream Kit’ by Jan Novak on eBay
Scott spotted a hardcover book called The Willys Dream Kit by Jan Novak that’s for sale on eBay ($49.49). The price for a new hard copy is similar on Amazon, but the used ($25) and paperback ($20) editions are much less on Amazon.
Reviews of the book from the Chicago Tribune and L.A. Times in 1985 suggest it’s a good read.
Our ‘New’ Racing Jeep
I owe Marty Tilford a hearty thanks for spotting this jeep on the local Yakima Craigslist. I never saw it, because it was listed in the wrong category (tires and wheels), so it sat there for a few weeks before Marty sent me the link. Long story short, I showed Ann the jeep and she said, “buy it; you deserve it”. How can I argue with that?
On Sunday we drove to Naches, Washington, where we met Don and Ruth, the owners of the jeep. They are members of the Yakima Valley Timberwolves club. We enjoyed meeting them and swapping jeep stories. They loved racing the jeep, and were sad to see it go, but the pounding of racing the jeep was too hard on Don, so he thought it best to pass it along.
This race jeep has a built and bored Chev 350 with a Ford Toploader four-speed and a Dana 20 transfercase. The engine is a fresh 350 Chevy bored 30, with 202 summit heads, and an Edelbrock intake with a Holley 4-barrel carburetor,
The body is a narrow body fiberglass. The rear springs were outboarded (DJ-5 or FC mounts still there), but have since been moved underneath the axle; I’d like to move them out again. The front springs are reversed. The rear Dana 44 axle is from a scout. The front is a narrowed Dana 44, but I can’t remember from what.
Here’s a pic of the jeep with the front clip removed:
I didn’t have to look it over much before I was ready to jump in and drive it onto the trailer:
When we arrived at our new place, we discovered one of the rear tires was flat. The rear wheels have spacers on it meant to widen the stance but that also meant the jeep barely fit between the rails of the trailer. We suspect the tire may have lost its bead, which caused the air to go out.
It’s not a big problem, as I plan to a couple Desert Dogs on back anyway.
Below you can see it parked in the new shop. It’s officially the first item moved into our new place (the Roadster in front is the seller’s):
One of the biggest changes I need to make is to redo the seating so I fit more comfortably. The other thing is to finalize the name. I am told this jeep was originally built by Brian Wylie (sp?). At some point it was known as the Red Delicous (the red paint can still be seen in a few small places).
One name we had in mind was to name it the “Cosmic Crisp” (an apple invented by nearby Wash State Univ) as a nod to the early name. While I like the name, it isn’t one that rolls off the tongue.
OR, because the jeep has Marvin the Martian mud flaps, we thought about calling the jeep “Marvin” and theming it with a Marvin the Martian theme. It turns out that is one of Ann’s all-time favorite cartoon characters. But, I also think there may be another Marvin race jeep out there (it seems I remember one from the 80s, but I could be wrong).
I likely won’t get to making changes on this for at least a few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few more pics from the ad:
1944 Video of US and Canadian Troops
This video shows a burning jeep being pushed aside; oh the horror!
“US And Canadian Troops In Anzio (1944) … L/Ss of burning vehicles, allied troops in background. Several shots of bulldozer pushing burning machinery off the road. Shots of bulldozer clearing up rubble from damaged building. M/S of red cross jeep with wounded soldier strapped on top. M/S of soldier writing letter. Nice M/S of two American soldiers reading letters. They suddenly jump down behind ditch as if a shell has exploded somewhere nearby. Several shots of troops relaxing. M/S of soldier with wounded eye drinking from flask and smoking. More shots of soldiers relaxing.
(L/S = long shot, M/S = Medium Shot, C/U = Close Up)
1954 M-170 Mesa, AZ **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** was $16,000. They may take $20,000 for both this and the project (shown in the post below).
Per Joe-in-Mesa: “Jun’s dream was to restore/finish the M170 project as the new MASH jeep due to it’s rot-free body, then outfit it with all the ambulance gear, canvas and medical supplies. This would leave a buyer with a “leftover” solid, running M170 to sell or do the body work or just enjoy for off-roading fun in a stretched jeep.”
“Fully Outfitted M170 Field Ambulance. June 1954. #11414. 24V.
Includes all stretchers, medical box, field operating table, and tons
of medical related equipment.
Starts, runs, stops. Good tires. Solid running gear. Drive anywhere.
$2,400 of recent outer canvas and canvas seats from OD Cloth.”
It’s Official …
No looking back now; It’s official (with only five days to spare before our final contract expired). The World Headquarters of eWillys has been upgraded from a cramped bedroom-sized office to a full-on shop on five acres (and of course a house, too .. well two houses and an apartment).
So, other than some videos and a few jeep listings when I have some time, I’ll be busy doing other things.
We are located just outside of Prosser, Washington, which isn’t where we were aiming (Walla Walla is where we’d hoped to land), but the layout and potential of this place should serve us well.
We won’t actually start moving into the house for a few days until the previous owners leave. They are painting their new place, so needed extra time to finish it up. The former owner of the Wilgus house was a life-long employee turned manager of Les Schwabs (and knew Les as well) and seems to know all kinds of goings-on about the area, so he’ll be a good resource.
But wait … I hope to have another, unexpected surprise for Monday morning. For now, here are a few pics:
Here’s an overhead shot. As you can see, we have a nice chunk of pavement for a meet-n-greet (or a really long game of basketball).
We’ll have some better pics once as we get settled.
Prince Phillip’s Hearse Land Rover Design
Bill shared this story of Prince Philip’s design for a Land Rover customized to become a hearse.
Read the full story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56771164
WWII Video of US Troops in the Pacific
This video shows a few jeeps acting mostly as ambulances.
1944 Video of Paris Parade
There aren’t many jeeps in this video, but the sea of soldiers marching is pretty impressive.
1943 Article on the Ford GPA SEEP
This March 23, 1943, article on the “Seagoing Jeep” was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram Evening edition.
1944 Video “War Devastates Reich Towns”
Thanks to John once again for finding this news real. A variety of jeeps make their appearance.
Per John, “L/S devastated German town of Hurtgen. M/S of American soldier suffering from trench foot limping past the camera. Various shots of the soldiers eating a long awaited meal. M/S American jeep racing through Linnich to escape shells, the roads are littered with dead German soldiers. L/S as tank backs into building. Troops run for cover in the streets. M/S as church steeple collapses after being hit.”
Early 1950s Ramsey Winch Brochures
These brochures are part of an early Ramsey booklet of brochures.
This is Ramsey Bulletin 108-A, Underslung Model 200 winch:
This is Ramsey Bulletin 109-A, Underslung Model 600 winch:
Late 1948 America’s Most Useful Vehicles Brochure
UPDATE: There’s another of these brochures on eBay for $44.95 (plus $4.68 shipping).
View all the information on ebay
This 1948 jeep family brochure was likely produced in late 1948, as there’s a reference to an upcoming expectation “in early 1949” within the text. Outside of that reference, there’s no date stamp or form number. I’ve only seen few of these pop up for sale on eBay, so I snagged this one right away. I believe it represents the earliest and most complete (in pics and text) listing of the full line of jeep models for the civilian market (it lacks any military models and business-focused models, such as the Package Delivery Vans).
I especially like the illustrations. The discussion of the different factory divisions at the back was interesting, too. Including the covers, the brochure is 26 pages.
1953 Video of Yakima’s Jeep Road-eo From British Pathe
John found this 1953 version of the Yakima Jeep Rodeo, pronounced by the British narrator as “Row-day-Oh”.
1946 Photo of Jeep Packed with People
This April 03, 1946, photo from the Spokesman Review shows Dave Zimmerman and his band/radio show ensemble stuffed into a jeep. With a Detroit transit strike raging, a borrowed jeep was the only way to get everyone to their radio show gig.
According to this page, Dave Zimmerman was a long time announcer at WWJ in Detroit. He hosted a popular radio program called Coffee Club and was on the air for Detroit’s first television broadcast from the 47th floor of the Penobscot Building.
1964 Test and Articles About Jeeps Sprouting Wings
In May of 1964 newspapers across the country shared the news of the Army testing out an idea where v-shaped flexible wings were attached to vehicles such as jeeps, allowing them to be pulled behind aircraft and flying to their destinations.
I tried to find photos of the jeeps with V-wings, but I had no luck. There is this example of the Army testing the v-wing concept they called a “Fleep”, which may use a similar flexible v-wing.
Ryan RV-8 Fleep Final Report 1964 US Army; Rogallo Wing Aircraft from Jeff Quitney on Vimeo.
This first article appeared in the May 10, 1964, issue of the Press Democrat out of Santa Rosa, California:
This second article was published in the May 12, 1964, issue of the South Bend Tribune, out of South Bend, Indiana:
1946 X-Raying of a Jeep
In 1946 the wiz kids at the University of Rochester, NY, and Eastman Kodak built the world’s largest radiograph, one that could create an X-Ray photo of a large machine, say a jeep, which is precisely how they tested it. In the jeep’s case, the team used the million-volt x-ray machine to create a radiograph 12′ 1″ long by 4′ 1″ tall, or large enough to contain a life size jeep. The larger goal was create the ability to X-Ray large machinery.
The February 8th, 1946, issue of Rochester Democrat Chronicle shared the story:
The next month, Life Magazine also ran the story, this time with a copy of the X-ray photo (seen at top):
Before the Jeep: Bantams & the Cola Wars
This story doesn’t relate much to jeeps, but theOldMotor website published a piece of Robert Cunningham about that tells the story of Bantam’s effort to participate in the cola wars. However, their effort to patent a carton-shaped truck capable of carrying six packs of beverages was interrupted in the summer of 1940 by a shift in priorities towards the new BRC recon vehicle (aka the jeep), along with the advent of WWII.
Warn Dimpled Summer Hubs Storrs, CT eBay
Ted’s got these dimpled Warn summer hubs for sale. The dimpled versions are the second gen summer hubs; the first were the waffle style. The OEM green container is particularly rare.
View all the information on eBay
“Willys Jeep CJ2A CJ3A Early Column Shift CJ3B CJ5 Warn Summer Hub Universal Jeep. Condition is “Used”.
This is a very nice set of Willys Jeep Warn brand Summer Hubs with original carrying case.These Summer Hubs were a very popular aftermarket item introduced by the Warn manufacturing company and used to help eliminate uneven tire wear,wear and tear on front axle joints,differential gear bearings, Pinion and front drive shaft.
Basically, these Summer Hubs made the Willys Jeep Two Wheel Drive when Four Wheel Drive wasn’t needed for long lengths of time. They would be installed very easily be removing front drive flanges and mounting hubs.They would also give the jeep better gas mileage.
FC-150 Narrow Track Cuff Links on eBay
UPDATE: Still Available. Buy-it-now price is $99.99.
(01/05/2021) Maury shared these super cool FC-150 narrow track cuff links. They are priced at $99.
View all the information on eBay
“Very Rare Vintage late 1950’s / early 1960’s Silver Willys FC-150 Cufflinks in Tarnished but Very Good Used Condition. Stamped “NB” and “STERLING” on the inside surface of both backings.
The Jeep Forward Control is a truck that was produced by Willys Motors, later named Kaiser Jeep, from 1956 to 1965. It was also assembled in other international markets. The layout featured a cab over (forward control) design.
The Forward Control models were primarily marketed as work vehicles for corporate, municipal, military, as well as civilian use. Regular pickup box beds were standard, but customers were offered a large number of “Jeep approved” specialized bodies from outside suppliers. These ranged from simple flatbeds to complete tow trucks, dump trucks, and fire trucks. The vehicles were also manufactured under license in India and Spain.
My Father obtained these cufflinks while working in fleet sales for Willys in the Caribbean and Central & South America in the 50’s and early 60’s.”
VW Brasilian JEG Berlin, Germany Auction
TJ shared this rare offload VW-based Brazil vehicle with 4WD that’s up for auction. It’s located in Brazil, but shipping is available to Europe. There are ton of pics of the Jeg that’s up for auction along with pics of related brochures.
https://getyourclassic.com/item/jeg-brasilian-vw-jeep/ (or read this Samba ad)
“In the 70s, VW Brasil tried to join the Brazilian army with the VW VEMP. Two prototypes were created (one 4X4 and one 4X2), the car was created entirely in straight and simple lines for easier maintenance.
The engine would be 1600 already used by cars of other VW models. After the project was rejected for political reasons (cars with a rear engine would no longer be accepted by the army) the two prototypes ended up being used internally by the factory.
1947 Willys-Overland Motors “A New Concept” Document
I missed out on this fascinating document yesterday on eBay. My high bid of $52.50 wasn’t quite enough, but at least we have pics of the entire document.
It’s not clear to me who the audience was for this document. The fact that it mentions the upcoming trucks suggests to me it was published in early 1947, prior to the introduction of the trucks in the summer of 1947. Maybe the document was for shareholders? Maybe it was for dealers (or prospective dealers)?
Titled “A NEW CONCEPT OF AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION“, the document makes the argument that prior to WWII the automobile was a luxury item for most folks. As such, bigger, longer, and faster, along with yearly innovations, were necessary to attract consumers with disposable income.
However, after the war, argued Willys-Overland in the document, the automobile would become a critical part of everyone’s everyday life. As such, offering consumers an affordable vehicle, one that didn’t change dramatically every year and one that cost less to maintain, was a the vision that Willys-Overland planned to follow. This meant simple vehicles that responded to customer needs, along with lesser tweaks to each model to insure the company could keep costs down (don’t have to redesign dies, fewer factory shutdowns for model changes, etc).
So, the company’s production ideas meant simple designs catered to consumer needs rather than the latest streamlined designs. That makes sense as a strategy; but, in regards to the DISTRIBUTION portion of the document’s title, I could find nothing stating how the company’s strategy would change the distribution side of things. This document probably would have been more accurately titled, “A NEW CONCEPT OF AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION”.