This article appeared in the Miami News on October 09, 1956. That seemed a late date for an “introductory” announcement. The article highlighted the low operating cost, the 30,000 mile maintenance guarantee, the four body styles, and the wide range of duties the new jeep could perform.
Old Images Research Archives
Photos From the UTA Digital Collections
These photos come from the University of Texas at Arlington Digital Archives. You can see a some additional photos with jeeps here: https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery-beta/subject/jeep-automobiles
Let’s start with this photo of a Willys MA dash:
A lineup of Ford GPs:
Good side shot of a Ford GP:
Here’s an early Slat Grille MB:
Post WWII pic:
January 1956 DJ-3A Jeep Dispatcher Introduction
The article suggests that the Jeep Dispatcher only came in three models, with one listed as a “basic model with or without a top”. The marketing department must have decided that the single model with or without a top was better off as two models distinct models.
On the same page as the Dispatcher article was an ad for multiple jeep dealers in the Pittsburgh area. The new ad included the DJ-3A with the fiberglass-reinforced hardtop.
1943 Photos of a ‘Jeep’ Named Squeekie
A one-of-a-kind ‘jeep’ named Squeekie was built from photos by William Mason in 1942. In 1943, this press photo was taken, then circulated around the country, two of which can be seen below.
Mason worked at Oakland’s Independent Iron Works, Inc. I wasn’t able to uncover too much about Mason, other than he filed a patent for an arc welding machine, on behalf of his employer in October of 1956.
This photo was shared on a vintage photograph Facebook Group by Bob Cunningham. He included the following text, though I’m unaware of where the text originated (maybe based on an original press photo caption?):
Here are two newspaper photos and captions:
1946 Photo of Kids in Jeep
This photograph was published in the April 29, 1946, issue of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It’s located in the University of Texas at Arlington’s digital archive library.
https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery-beta/img/20033476
“Twenty neighborhood children took a “test run” in a jeep to be used for a carnival at Brooklyn Heights School. Driving the jeep is Jack Scott, and sitting beside him is Howard Victry, president of the school Dad’s Club. The children and Mr. Victry are facing the camera and Mr. Victry’s hand is raised. Published in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Morning Edition April 29, 1946.”
1942 Photo of the Fitch Jeep Station Wagon Car
UPDATE II: Marc noted the the rear of the vehicle is based on a Renault Juvaquatre. It just so happens this car is somewhat based on the German Opel, which Wally King used to create his Jeepster-like vehicle in Germany following WWII.
UPDATE: UndiscoveredClassics.com had some additional insights into this vehicle. I tried to learn more about Captain Richard C. Fitch of the Second Regiment Mechanized Cavalry Reserve, Los Angeles, but didn’t have much luck. I did learn he was a design engineer for the Army and was responsible for the MT Tug design (see below post). Below is a photo of how it looked in a newspaper.
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Originally published March 2014: I wonder what ever happened to this prototype? Marc spotted this unusual photo. The vehicle doesn’t seem very jeep-like, except in its compact design and front clip similarity. It doesn’t appear it was four wheel drive.
The image was picked up and published by a couple newspapers. Below are links to Newspaper.com that show a small image of the page. The caption vary slightly:
1. The Amarillo Globe (Amarillo, Texas) March 18th, 1942, on Page 2
2. The Statesville Record and Landmark (Statesville, NC) March 16th, 1942, Page 4
1942 Press Photo of MT Tug
UPDATE: This photo of an MT Tug (aka “Super Jeep”) with the Ford GP grille was published March 16, 1942, in the Roseville Press out of California. Richard C. Fitch also designed this Victory Car.
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Update Posted on March 2, 2017: Here’s another MT Tug Press Photo. See one sold on eBay in 2014 at the bottom of the post.
“1942- Very rare example of a 6×6 Ford MT Tug “Super Jeep” designed by Captain Richard Fitch of the 2nd Regiment Mechanized Cavalry Reserve. The MT Tug was built in 1941 experimentally for units of the U.S. Army’s Tank Destroyer Command as a light fast vehicle capable of mounting the 37mm anti tank gun..unfortunately series production of this Jeep was not eventually authorized as the gun needed two people to operate it, and the vehicle with gun fitted, could only carry two men so the driver had to act as gunner, which did not make the vehicle a good idea ”
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1959 Hemet De Anza Borrego Cavalcade
1959 marked the 11th annual Hemet to Borrego via De Anza trail Cavalcade. That year over 400 vehicles joined the adventure. The author and photographer of the below article, Del Schrader, was transported over the trail via two German DKWs. The article was published in the March 22, 1959, issue of the Los Angeles Times.
Fire Brigade Trucks From Australia
Cool photos. I would guess these were Personnel Carriers converted into fire trucks. However, they may also have been a cab-only chassis as well. The serial numbers would tell us more. You can see a few more photos at the bottom of this CJ-3B page.
“St George Fire Brigade Car 1, July 1962. St George Fire Brigade’s Car 1 converted from a Willys Jeep Truck. The Queensland Government supplied these units to small rural towns in 1961. The chassis were built by Willys Motors Australia Pty in Brisbane and the bodies by Enoggera Motor Body Works.”
This example calls Mattaburra, Australia, home:
Here’s another example. The pic is small.
1954 Jeep Calvcade Visits Austin, Texas
Two articles in the Austin American shared the news, both with a photo,that a calvacade of jeeps would be visiting Austin, Texas, Calvacades were also planned around the world for 1954, with jeeps visit 25 countries outside the United States.
This first article appeared in the April 21, 1954, issue of the Austin American-Statesman and featured a CJ-3B fire jeep:
This second article appeared in the April 22, 1954, issue of the Austin American-Statesman and featured a CJ-3B climbing a vertical wall:
1952 Article “The World’s Most Versatile Car”
In the January 14, 1952, Newsweek put out an article about the jeep’s versatility. There are some interesting tidbits, such as the Chinese’s nickname for the jeep was “the vehicle of 10,000 capabilities”. The jeep was used to spear barracudas in the Virgin islands, play tag in Yakima, ski via jeep-joring in New England and Ontario, Canada,, and in Burma it was claimed that a jeep was once used to pull an elephant’s tooth.
This photo and caption was also included in a seemingly random area of the magazine, despite the fact that the same image appeared within the article.
August 1945 Farm Journal Article “What About The New Farm Jeep?”
It reads more like a press release than an article. Given its timing in conjunction with the release of the CJ-2A, it most likely was.
The cover image:
4 Photos of Family and Later Model CJ-2A on eBay
This auction is set of four negatives showing a family and a late model CJ-2A, determined by the stenciling on the tailgate which didn’t appear until around August of 1947.
View all the information on eBay
“HERE ARE FOUR B&W NEGATIVES THAT LOOK LIKE THEY WERE TAKEN ON A FARM. LOOKING AT THE CLOTHES GUESSING 1950’S. ON THE JEEP YOU CAN SEE WILLYS AND 4 WHEEL DRIVE. THESE MEASURE 2 3/8″ X 3 1/2″.”
Chris notes that this photo is reversed, as the spare tire is shown on the driver’s side.
Introducing the Jeep Surrey
UPDATE: Here are a couple more articles introduction the Jeep Surrey. The first one notes that women will like it for its fashion while men will like it for its fine engineering. I’m less convinced that the term ‘fine-engineering’ should be applied to any of the DJ-3As.
The second was widely disseminated in various arrangements and reminds us that “A similar model, the “Jeep” Gala, was introduced to the export market early this year .“ This documents that the Gala was the export model and the Surrey the domestic model.
This first article was published October 08, 1959, and comes from Utah’s Orem-Geneva Times:
This October 04, 1959, article published in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
1945 Image of Jeep Exiting Glider on eBay
Neat press photo of a jeep exiting a glider at Wold-Chamberlain Field in Minnesota. The photo was taken February 27, 1945, by ‘Ted’ at 2pm.
View all the information on eBay
“Jeep rolls out of nose of large glider after coming into a landing”
Roy Rogers Sugar Crisp 3D Viewer and Photos
Unable to travel much this year, I’ve had a little extra cash to investigate the odder eBay finds. These Roy Rogers photos are a good example of that type of purchase. I’ve learned that if you see something on eBay that has been with a seller a while, put it on your watchlist. Sometimes the seller will respond with a discount offer. In this case, I countered with an even lower offer, explaining that I didn’t collect Roy Rogers stuff and only wanted the images for the one jeep image. That seemed to work, as the seller accepted my counteroffer.
Once delivered I was surprised by two things. First, the 3D viewer was much smaller than expected, but then I realized, duh, they are for kids. For me to view the image wasn’t all that easy through the tiny glasses (4.25 inches from end to end). It also didn’t help that my eyes (I’ll be 55 on Friday) are a little too old; I needed to wear glasses when looking through viewer at the focal length required, but that whole thing became awkward and I never could get the full 3D effect.
The second thing that surprised me that the glasses were still attached to the two images and the two images were still attached to each other, meaning these images and viewer had never been used. All three items still folded up into a neat little, compact package.
I just don’t know how stuff like this has survived more than 50 years!
1946 Photo of Freddy Holmqvist on eBay
Is Freddy Holmqvist someone that was famous? Does the Swedish caption provide any clues?
View all the information on ebay
“Swedish students after passing exams, Freddie Holmqvist driving home
1946-05-07
sodra latin, Stockholm, Sweden
Photo size:
6″ x 8.2″ inches”
1955 Swedish Photo of Jeep and Log-Peeler on eBay
UPDATE: I called this a saw when it was actually a peeler.
This photo out of Sweden shows a CJ-5 with a ventilating windshield with a bark-peeler trailer behind it.
View all the information on eBay
“THIS IS AN ORIGINAL VINTAGE PRESS PHOTO. ONLY THIS ONE COPY AVAILABLE ORDER SOON SO YOU DON’T MISS OUT
The forest in the center. Jeeps and Barkers
1955-09-16
Sweden
Photo size: 6.6″ x 9.2″ inches”
Prototypes at Fort Custer, Michigan
Fort Custer, Michigan, appears to have been a testing ground for Ford and Willys prototypes. Along with the articles below, there are press photos posted from years passed. You’ll also note that some of the press photos have captions that are printed identically, but pencil-marked up differently. It’s possible someone was selling those as originals when they may not have been.
Here’s an article and a photo showing a couple Ford GPs being run hard, originally printed in the March 09, 1941, issue of the Battle Creek Enquirer:
It didn’t take long for the offload vehicles to become a hit with soldiers. This article appears in the March 25, 1941, issue of the Detroit Free Press:
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And, just to set the record straight, at Fort Custer a jeep was a jeep and not a ‘peep’.
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These press photos have been gathered from older posts. First, a couple Willys MA photos from eBay:
This was posted on ebay in June 2017: “1942 Photo WW2 Era Fort Custer MI Versatile Jeep Military Push Ball Game Rare. You are bidding on an original Press Photo from a newspaper archive. The photograph measures 6×7 inches and is dated 9-25-1942.”
Battle of The Bulge Stamps and Photos
Charles shared these photos of the Battle of the Bulge, along with a series of Belgian stamps commemorating the Bulge.
Video and Photo of M-38 with 106MM Recoilless Rifle on eBay
This M-38 with a 106MM Recoilless rifle (dubbed the M40). Below is a short video, followed by a press photo that is available on eBay.
Press Photo from eBay:
View all the information on eBay
“1971 Press Photo US troops test jeep-mounted 196mm M-40 anti-tank rifle in MD. This is an original press photo. Guns – Artillery. Crewmen drive the new jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless rifle into firing position during recent tests at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, in this picture released Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Department of Defense. The battalion anti-tank weapon, designated the M-40, reportedly has greater range and more destructive power than any other weapon available at battalion level.Photo measures 8.5 x 7.75inches. Photo is dated 10-12-1971.”
Pike County Wagon Accident
I’m not sure where I found this newspaper clipping, but Herbert Obadda had a bad day. No dachshund puppies were injured as a result!
Learn(ing) About Blitz Buggies
This post began as a single newspaper photo and caption titled “Learn About Blitz Buggies” that Mario posted to Facebook. Just before I readied the post, I figured I’d see if there was a better quality version of the photo he posted.
To my surprise, when I searched for “About Blitz Buggies”, the results returned numerous seemingly press release photos over the summer and fall of 1941. No credit for the photos are provided. Given the titles are mostly identical and all showed various soldiers “working” (but probably posing) in front Ford GPs, I can’t help but wonder if this was a subtle campaign by Ford Motors to encourage the adoption of the Ford GP “Blitz Buggy” by the military.
So, here are some random newspaper photos from 1941 (there are many more during 1941).
June 26, 1941, Manhattan Mercury out of Kansas:
June 17, 1941, Montgomery Advertiser out of Alabama (looks to me like the same person as above, yet the caption shows a different name):
July 13, 1941, Akron Beacon out of Ohio:
August 16, 1941, Star Gazette out of Elmira, New York:
August 24, 1941, Austin American out of Texas (that Ford logo looks a little too obvious):
1947? Photo of a CJ-2A Spraying in South Dakota
Taken by Jay Higgins on May 28, 1947, and published by the USDA Forest Service, this photo is shared on archive.org. The confusing part is that this is a May 1947 photo, but CJ-2As with passenger side bow holders weren’t supposedly built until 1948. The photo does not appear reversed, as the reflector is on the correct side in the rear.
September 1941 Article on Loosing The Army Contract
This September 28th, 1941, article covered the ‘cold shoulder’ given to American Bantam by War Department.