Features Research Archives

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1944 Article about “MA”

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

This article about an older woman named “MA” appeared in the August 08, 1944, issue of the Austin American. I just thought it was a neat story only tangentially related to jeeps.

 

1944-08-18-austin-american-burma-theatre-chinese-ma

And, in a big detour here, the author mentions the “Friend’s” ambulance unit, suggesting that most or all of the unit were Quakers. My grandmother grew up a Quaker in Hopewell, Virginia, where the Branson clan (her maiden name) were longtime Quakers, first arriving in Frederick County, Virginia, in 1776 (in NJ before that).

The family attended the Hopewell Friends Meeting House (where my grandmother and non-Quaker grandfather would marry in 1939). Abolitionists, the family’s “Branson House” was part of the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, the family found themselves serving food to one side or the other, depending on who had control of the area. Based on the stories, both sides took what they wanted and demanded to be fed.

One family story from the War describes the day a cannon ball blasted through the house unexpectedly.

Another tale tells how a Union spy traveling with the Confederates, as a Confederate Officer, left a gold dollar under a plate after he ate. The family found the dollar when cleaning up after the soldiers had left. They only learned the officer was a spy following the war, because years later he returned and explained what he’d done during the war and that it was he who had left the golden dollar under the plate. As of the late 1980s, according to my great aunt in a letter to my sister, someone in the Branson clan was reported to still have that gold dollar.

 
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1967 Jeepster Commando JeepRod Medford, NJ $35,000

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

I’m not sure if this is more Jeep Rod or Crawler.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/753721632024238

“’67 Jeepster. Clean title in hand. Also available without the Coyote engine for $28,000.”

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Continue reading

 
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Video of Bruce Agan’s Former DJ-3A Surrey

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

While looking for something else, I was pleasantly surprised with this video of Bruce Agan’s former 1964 DJ-3A Surrey. The video was posted in 2012, prior to his passing. He was the guru of Surreys and Galas for a time and his restoration (including all the interior fabric) is a testament to that fact. There are various photos of his Surrey, Surrey advertising, and other jeeps on Flickr.

 
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Photo of 4 Bantam BRC-60s

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

Brian spotted this photo showing 4 Bantam BRC-60s rolling down a hill. This was posted to the Butlers Standard Eight Facebook Group. The text on the photo reads: “Bantam BRC 40s”  Four of the 70 prototypes produced between September 1940 and December 1940. Despite what the text indicates, we know those as Bantam BRC-60s, not 40s.

4-bantams-brc-60-photo-2a-lores

 
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1962 Movie/Poster ‘When the Girls Takeover’

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

UPDATE: Bruce Agan assembled these clips of DJ-3A scenes from the movie, “When the Girls Take Over”.

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Original Post May 10, 2018:

Maury spotted this rare poster for the movie “When the Girls Takeover“. The full movie is on Youtube and the jeep appears in multiple scenes.

“THIS AUCTION IS FOR ONE Original Vintage 1962 MOVIE POSTER FOR THE MOVIE “WHEN THE GIRLS TAKE OVER”.

THE POSTER IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND THE COLORS ARE GOOD AND CLEAR BUT THE WHITE BACKGROUND HAS SLIGHT DISCOLOR DUE TO ITS AGE. THE EDGES SHOW SLIGHT WEAR BUT WILL LOOK GOOD WHEN FRAMED.

THE POSTERS MAIN IMAGE IS OF A WILLYS JEEP “PINK SURRY”!

THE MOVIE FEATURED ROBERT LOWERY, MARVIN MILLER, JACKIE COOGAN, AND JIMMY ELLISON. IT MEASURES 22X28 INCHES.”

when-the-girls-takeover-movie-surrey

Clip from the beginning showing several Surreys in a row.

when-the-girls-takeover-movie-surrey2

And the full movie:

 
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New Gladiator Jeep Ad Controversy

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

UPDATE: Bill shared David Tracy’s updated to this commercial. Apparently, there’s a disagreement on the history of the truck between the former owner and jeep. While an interesting story, I still think it’s a big issue over nothing.

https://jalopnik.com/jeep-bought-his-awesome-1963-gladiator-and-then-crushed-1845936078

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Originally Posted Feb 2, 2019:

Several folks have emailed about the controversy over the new Gladiator Jeep ad. The new ad shows an old Jeep Gladiator being crushed from which the new Gladiator emerges. Some folks resent the fact that the old Gladiator was crushed, as it appears to be in restorable shape. Given there were over 100,000 of them produced, I don’t think crushing one will cause the world to end. There are also plenty of cheap ones available. I found these two on my very first search:

2 for $3000: https://olympic.craigslist.org/cto/d/bremerton-rare-jeep-gladiator/6799254554.html
1 for $1100: https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/d/gig-harbor-1971-jeep-j2000-gladiator/6804750817.html

The actual crushing aside, my problem with the commercial is this: If the point of creating a new Gladiator was to benefit from the nostalgia of the original Gladiator, crushing the life out of an old Gladiator doesn’t do that. Nostalgia should be about reliving happy memories not, literally, crushing old memories.

For fun, here’s an old Jeep Gladiator commercial (the first 30 seconds is an introduction, but the remainder of the video is a commercial or 2 separate commercials):

On a side note, there’s already a Jeep Gladiator Forum ready for the new Gladiator.

 

 
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Wooden Jeep on ebay

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

Roger Martin spotted this newly made wooden jeep.

View all the information on ebay

“CUSTOM HAND MADE CRAFTED WOOD WILLY’S JEEP CJ WRANGLER TOY W TRAILER vintage”

wood-jeep-toledo-oh1 wood-jeep-toledo-oh2 wood-jeep-toledo-oh3 wood-jeep-toledo-oh4

 
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3 Auburn Rubber FC-150 Toys on eBay

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

This seller has three rubber FC-150 toys at $30 each or make offer.

View all the information on ebay

rubber-fc150-toys

“Offered for auction is a vintage Auburn Willys Jeep FC-150 4X4 truck, which measures approximately five inches in length. It is made of a red rubber-like material. It has images of passengers in the side windows, and the cab details are highlighted with silver paint. It sports black tires, and the front axle is out of line. The toy is in used condition with some warping, which is present in most of these old rubber toys. There is some dark staining on the surface from age. This toy is suitable for display or just plain play.

This Jeep FC-150 truck will make a great addition to a Jeep and/or forward control truck collection.”

 
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1957 Park ‘Jeep’ Dealership St. Louis Park, MN

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

UPDATE: As JoeB points out (and I missed), the van is an Economy 2WD Deliver Chassis with a Montpelier body conversion (vs. the Boyer version).

http://www.ewillys.com/2013/12/02/economy-delivery-van-image-comparison/#more-150114

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Several folks shared this photo with me. It was published by Paul Swanson on Facebook. HIs family used to own the dealership. The fourth vehicle in the row looks to be an unusual model of the economy/package/delivery van. You’ll note it lacks front hubs, suggesting it was 2WD. Some were 2WD and some 4WD vans: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/07/06/photo-of-an-unusual-boyerstown-built-2wd-delivery-van/

Paul dates the photo to 1957, but to me the FC-150 on the left and the first FC-150 in the row of jeeps look like they are not narrow tracks, which would put the photo later than 1957. Moreover, I cannot find any ads for Park Jeep earlier than the summer of 1958.

Paul indicated that he will post better images of the van.

1957-park-jeep-sales-photo-fb-dealer

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From the February 02, 1960, issue of the Minneapolis Star. Strangely, I could not locate any ads earlier than the summer of 1958. So, it’s unclear to me when the dealership opened. You’ll note this ad mentions an Economy van; maybe the one in the pic above never sold.

Clipping from The Minneapolis Star - Newspapers.com

 
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1942 Jeep Convoy of Russians

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

This photo was published in the November 21, 1942, issue of the Los Angeles Times. It shows the convoy of a Russian antitank outfit.

1942-11-21-los-angeles-times-russians-anti-tankers-jeeps-lores

 
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QSL Cards on eBay

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

I haven’t listed these QSL cards in a while. Here’s a couple ones I hadn’t seen.

  1. Jeepster Kid’s KBN-2655 Card on eBay:
    “Vintage QSL Radio Card, JEEP Sanford Florida.

    KBN-2655, The JEEPSTER KID!! 
    NS Stamped.”

qsl-jeepster-kid1 qsl-jeepster-kid2

2. This QSL Card is from Earl Clark, Jr:
“Vintage QSL Radio Card.
“KBN-7286 Earl Clark Jr”.
Inkster, Michigan.
Vintage Jeep and camping scene.”
qsl-kbn-7286-earl1

qsl-kbn-7286-earl2

 
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First Time Using a CJ-5 Trencher

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

Steve shared this video of MuddOxRacing using a trencher for the first time. There are some good closeups of how the machine works.

 
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1944 Article on Former Decorator’s Japanese Prisoners

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

This is a fun article about a former decorator turned jeep jockey named Pvt. Hurshal (Peewee) Wilson in New Guinea ‘captured’ 17 prisoners. It appeared in the Medford Mail Tribune (Medford,Oregon). His jeep was named “Helen” after his girlfriend.

Hurshal would survive WWII and leave the Army a Tech 5, but his relationship to Helen did not. Instead, he married Deedra R (Harman) Wilson. He passed away in 1991, his wife passing later in 2006, with both buried at Riverside National Cemetery. There is no evidence they had children.

After finding the article, a search on eBay led to this photo of Hurshal:

1944-05-03-hurshal-peewee-wilson1 1944-05-03-hurshal-peewee-wilson2

Here’s the article:

1944-05-03-mail-tribune-medford-or-17-jap-prisoners

 
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1958 Service Bulletin For Wagon Side-Panel Heater

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

Mike shared an interesting document. This January 5, 1958, Service Bulletin discusses a wagon side-panel heater installation.

1958-01-05-service-bulletin-heater-wagon1-lores 1958-01-05-service-bulletin-heater-wagon2-lores

 

 
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March 1958 Parkway Conversion Documents

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

Mike shared these Parkway Conversion documents from March of 1958. This first sheet contains text and an image that is separated and shown below:

1958-03-parkway-conversion-documents1-lores

Sheet 1

1958-03-parkway-conversion-documents2-lores

Sheet 1 Text

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Sheet 1 image

Sheet 2:

1958-03-parkway-conversion-documents3-lores

 
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1950 CJ-3A Tune Up/Wiring Diagram on eBay

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

This is supposed to be an original document.

View all the information on ebay

“1950 Original Willys Four Universal CJ-3A Tune Up chart by AEA, (Not a Reproduction). Both sides are shown in the photographs. The photos are of the exact item you will receive Measures 8.5 x 11 inches, two-sided single sheet.”

1950-cj3a-chart-wiring-diagram1

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Wrecked Jeep Photos (2 With Wood Bodies)

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

These photos appeared on Facebook, though some have made the rounds over the years. The pics that really caught my eye were the wooden test body pics. Kaiser Willys has some history and more pics on these wood-bodied test jeeps: https://blog.kaiserwillys.com/the-wooden-willys-jeep-test.

jeep-wreck-wood-body1

jeep-wreck-wood-body2

The remainder of the wrecked jeeps:

jeep-wreck14

Continue reading

 
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1945 Photo Dozer Pulling Jeeps in Luzon on eBay

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

Note the jeep in the front. It looks like the front clip is sitting sideways. Maybe these were pulled because they didn’t work? Contrary to what the caption indicates, the water doesn’t look too deep for the jeeps.

View all the information on on ebay

1945-01-31-the-evening-sun-baltimore-luzon-jeeps-pulled-by-dozer-pressphoto1 1945-01-31-the-evening-sun-baltimore-luzon-jeeps-pulled-by-dozer-pressphoto2

This photo appeared in the January 31, 1945, issue of the Evening Sun out of Baltimore, Maryland. It was accompanied by a jeep-train photo also.

1945-01-31-the-evening-sun-baltimore-luzon-jeeps-pulled-by-dozer-lores 1945-01-31-the-evening-sun-baltimore-luzon-jeep-train-photo-lores

 
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Photo of “Taking Kathie Home” Jeep on eBay

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

I am wondering if this was originally named “Kathie”, but then the solider got permission to bring the jeep home? The photo is dated 11/21/1945, so it is post-war.

View all the information on eBay

“This photo belonged to Lt. Robert J. Dobuski – Serial #33052063. He was with the 3482nd Ordnance MAM Company. WWII US GI Photo – Street View Of 3482nd Ordnance Jeep “Taking Kathie Home” – The photograph measures Roughly 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″.

1945-11-21-taking-kathie-home1

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Canadian Jeep Ads or Ads w/Jeeps on eBay

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

Here’s another series of Canadian Jeeps Ads listed on eBay.

1. 1944 Bank of Montreal Ad:
1944-bank-of-monteal-jeeps

2. 1950 CJ-3A Ad:
1950-cj3a-ad-canada

3. 1952 Wagon Ad:
1952-wagon-ad-canada

4. 1955 Jeep Family Ad:
1955-jeep-family-ad

Continue reading

 
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1950? Comic: The Story of the Universal Jeep on eBay

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

Bidding starts at $15. This is listed as a 1950 creation, but I would think it was published earlier than that. Given it includes a truck, but no CJ-3A, I’d say more like 1948? I’ll have to verify with my copy.

View all the information on eBay

“THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSAL JEEP – PROMOTIONAL COMIC
PUBLISHED BY WILLYS – OVERLAND, CREATOR OF THE JEEP
JEEP UNIVERSAL WAS A NAME USED BY WILLYS FOR ITS 1/4 TON CJ UTILITY VEHICLES
BACK COVER HAS AN AD FOR THE UNIVERSAL JEEP AND JEEP TRUCKS
16 PAGES, FULL COLOR, STANDARD COMIC SIZE”

1945-story-of-the-universal-jeep

 
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1957 Photo of M-38A1; Merry Christmas!

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

This old Christmas photo featuring a decorated M-38A1 and trailer is for sale on eBay. It’s a pretty faded photo, but just seemed perfect for this year’ s pandemic Christmas … things are just a bit off this year!

View all the information on ebay

“Vintage 1957 Christmas Photograph Santa Merry Christmas Jeep Reindeer Funny.”

merry-christmas-photo-m38a

 
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Jeeps For Georgie

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

Bill shared this story about a 1000 jeeps and drivers in Martinsburg, West Virginia, giving a young cancer patient home for Christmas a parade to remember. The event was called “Jeeps for Georgie”. Read more here:

https://wjla.com/news/local/gallery-more-than-a-thousand-jeeps-gather-to-surprise-young-cancer-patient

2020-12-23-christmas-parade-cancer-survivor2 2020-12-23-christmas-parade-cancer-survivor

 
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Neil Young & His 1951 Jeepster

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

UPDATE: Mark found this photo which seems like it could have been taken at the same time the video was shot: https://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/photographs/T9XmZX/Neil-Young-Broken-Arrow-Ranch-1971

1971-print-neil-young-jeepster-broken-arrow-ranch

Mike spotted this video of Neil Young driving his 1951 Jeepster. Unfortunately, I cannot embed the video, so a screenshot will have to make do. You can see the video snippet of the Jeepster at the start of a video with Neil Young playing “Old Man”. It appears the old man rancher that inspired the song can also be seen.

I believe this is the same Jeepster that Vernon (and his aliases) have mentioned over the years. Neil’s Jeepster has the Lightning (inline 6) engine. It also has the JEEP brass tag and a 673 has the emblem, plug Vernon’s overdrive solenoid.

Per Vernon, “noted rock star NEIL YOUNG opted for the 51 — in 69 he drove it from LA to his new ranch in LA HONDA , guitars in the back , gold records , the TURTLES drummer JOHNNY BARBATA rode shotgun — he had to get out of LA and hide in the wilderness , people were picking him apart”
… and …
“NEIL YOUNG wont drive his fossil fueled classic cars anymore — he’s went utterly , completely GREEN ( listen to his GREENDALE album ) — his 1951 WILLYS OVERLAND JEEPSTER PHAETON is now a ” museum piece ” gathering dust”.

neil-young-jeepster

Neil Young in his 1951 Jeepster. Standing next to it looks like David Crosby to me.

 

 
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Willys MA Photo on eBay

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

Here’s a photo of a Willys MA in action.

View all the information eBay

“Offered is an original WWII time period photograph. It belonged Lt. Salvador Joseph Cuttitta who was enlisted with the 6th Armored Infantry and trained with 1st Armored Division. He was then transferred to serve with the 5th Armored Division. There is some tape on the corners as seen. Picture measures approximately 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ inches.”

willys-ma-unknown-location