UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $6500.
There seems to be an MB or GPW under this Ford cab.
“Jeep willys flathead v8 converted EAB Heads , 1941 Ford Cab , needs restoration”
1945? MB? Hesperia, CA **SOLD**
4
Sedan-jeep Research Archives
1946 CJ-2A Custom Cab Anaconda, MT $500
Here’s an unusual custom cab for sale spotted by Andy.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/609039380576173
“I have a 1946 Jeep cab $500. Need gone asap. You haul.”
1943 MB Totnes, England £13,000
This modified jeep has benign storage for about four decades. It’s supposedly a Metamet prototype, so, if true, this should be of interest to Metamet fans.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/859266711715886
“Its a ww2 jeep converted to a saloon , please study the pictures carefully, note the wings, the bonnet the grill the interior, floor pan, engine bay etc etc is a willys mb jeep chassis and running gear , the jeep was originally built in 1943 first registered for road use in 1958, when the conversion was done is aprox 1966 this is the only one in the world , converted by Metamet as a prototype just one of this style built and never went into production despite showing on the brochure as the metaplan, its the swb version so the chassis has not been lengthened. Continue reading
Metamet: British Jeep Rebuilders
May 9, 2022 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features, GPW (Ford MB), International, MB, Sedan-jeep, Wood bodies • TAGS: Hardtop, Package-Van.
UPDATE II: There’s another 1954 Metamet 12-page brochure for sale on eBay (see bottom of post for pics)
View all the information on eBay
=============================
UPDATE Posted July 04, 2019: This post has been updated to reflect some more information and images. It was originally posted in March of 2013.
Metamet was a British company that refurbished WWII jeeps and civilian jeeps, creating a slew of different models. According to the G503 Forum, “Metamet was run by an expat Pole, and latterly his son. It was a wonderful Aladdin’s caves of wartime Jeeps and Jeep bits and pieces located in a series of old mews stables in Daleham Mews. These places were commonly garage workshops in post-horse London, but nowdays are worth untold fortunes as residences.”
At one point in the early 1950s there were twelve different models of jeeps offered by Metamet, only one of which was the standard production model jeep. The rest were all customizations of one type or another. Seven models were 80″ wheel base, while the other five had 100″ wheel bases. The models include, the Standard, De-luxe, Farmer, Five-in-one, Saloon, Shooting Brake, 10 CWT Truck, Metaplan, Station Wagon, 15 CWT Van, 20 CWT Lorry, and a 2 Ton Loadmaster.
Metamet’s early 1950s models. There were seven 80″ wheel base jeeps and five 100″ wheel base jeeps.
Here’s an example of Metamet’s advertising.
A 1952 Ad posted to Flicker by Johnathan confirms there were twelve models also:
Finally, here’s a 1954 12 page brochure that provides examples of different models that used to be linked to on the jeep farm website:
Another Sedan-topped Jeep
Roger shared this photo from Facebook showing another example of a sedan hardtop on a jeep (link includes other car-like modes, too). I’ve been amazed at how many different times this was tried (see other examples here).
Anyone Recognize Tracy’s 1944 MB
Tracy shared pics of his grandfather’s WW2 jeep that was customized at some point, either motor-pool modified or post-war modified. He’s hoping someone might have more information about it.
“This Willys came to me by way of my grandfather, a WW2 veteran of Normandy where, D-Day+1 his unit was shelled by 88’s and he lost his leg.
I have no idea when he, himself, acquired it as I never even knew it existed until I was called to remove it. Since my father never mentioned it to me, it is likely he didnt know either.
I can only assume he had visions of restoring it. Now, that falls to me, and I gladly accept that.
My plan is to do more of a “restification” on it than an all out restoration.
You see, the modifications that have been made are completely, and thoroughly welded in place. As it looks to have been this way since, at least, the era that it was acquired as surplus, if not before, it has really become part of the vehicle’s story and it will remain. The workmanship is very well done and, whoever did these modifications was a very skilled welder/fabricator as all welds, fit, and finish are top notch.
So, I share it here in hopes that I may find information on that history.”
“Streamlined” Jeeps From the Pacific
UPDATE: This post has been updated with a better version of the video:
The photos below are snapshots from the above video. They resemble the jeep shown below that was built by Wayne K. Pike. It was built by members of the 9th Service Squadron at the 13th Army Air Base on the island of Moratai. Note that it has a chrome/stainless trim strip absent from the car featured in the Popular Mechanics article below.
===========================================
ORIGINAL POST FEBRUARY 11, 2013: You can view the entire Popular Mechanics’ issue on Google.
Dec 1945 Popular Mechanics Page 6 Streamlined Jeep
Dec 1945 Popular Mechanics Page 72 Jeep with Odd Body
Dec 1945 Popular Mechanics Page 77 Men using Jeep like a plow horse
Dec 1945 Popular Mechanics Page 73 Men us jeep to fix propeller
Dec 1945 Popular Mechanics Page 70 Fixing Jeep Frame
Customized WWII Jeep
This photo is part of a collection of photos of the 333rd Engineers. No date is given. It looks like this jeep was nicely updated until a wreck or something else caused damage.
View all the information on eBay
Classy Jeep at Kaneohe, Hawaii
This undated article and photo from an unknown newspaper was posted to Facebook where Roger Martin spotted it. The “classy jeep” is driven by Lieut. Commander W. P. Tyler, USN, of Medium Seaplane Squadron Three. There were eighteen privately owned jeeps undergoing modifications. My guess is that the photo was taken post WWII given the jeeps were privately owned.
1947 Photo of Jeep-turned Sedan in Japan
It’s too bad this photo isn’t sharper as I’d like to see if those are wheels and hubs truly look like they are from a jeep. It looks like that body fits the jeep chassis pretty well. This photo appeared in the February 27, 1947, issue of the Brooklyn Citizen.
1952 CJ-3A? Honda Grandview, TX $3500
Roger and Blaine both sent me this oddity. At least it has a title 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3512934198728894/
“1952 willys with honda body Needs little work to get back on road. Super cool and built right. One of a kind. Not a red kneck back yard build. Its done right Motor runs great. I have it hooked to lawn mower can until tank is cleaned. Clear title.”
1956? CJ-3B? Neosho, MO $2000
Another odd one. Any value here other than scrap?
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/216897779626903/
“Custom Willys Jeep $2,000”
Odd Ball Jeeps
A few items I found on my phone. I think all these photos were on Facebook?
Some thought when into the mods on this jeep:
This sedan jeep is odd even for custom hardtop jeeps.
Odd Tops in Argentina
Flattie w/ Custom Hardtop (Not for sale)
Roger Martin shared these pics with me. This jeep is not for sale; it’s just fun to look at.
The pics are from a Facebook post. The jeep is an MB with a 1938 Plymouth DeLuxe hardtop on it and powered by a 1939 Studebaker flat six. It was built by a farmer years ago.
1956 Custom Wagon Priest River, ID **SOLD**
October 13, 2019 • CATEGORIES: Features, Sedan-jeep, Unusual, Willys Trucks, Willys Wagons • TAGS: Odd Body, Tender.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $4800.
Ken shared this cool custom utility wagon.
“Custom Willies with manually operated snow plow, dump bed, hydraulic boom lift. Chevy 283 V8 engine. Ready to plow. Cash.”
Customized MB on Facebook
This photo was posted by George Manousakis on the FB G503 group page. It’s got some style of its own. I wish there were more pics of it.
1943 Modified GPW Bozeman, MT **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Thanks to Roger Martin for sharing this unusual vehicle. The buy-it-now price on this highly modified GPW/truck is $14,995. I’m not clear how the seller arrived at the price, but the vehicle itself is a whimsical item that seems to need some work.
“This is a very special vehicle I found a few months ago that came from a ranch in eastern Montana. Perhaps some handy rancher wanted a Jeep pickup before Jeep ever offered one. Perhaps he could not afford or justify the cost of one and decided to build one from a WW II Jeep, an extra WW II Jeep frame, an early Dodge pickup cab and the front of an as of yet unknown early steel pickup box.
This truck appears to have a chassis made out of a pair of WW II Jeep chassis that were cut off and butt welded together in the center to make a chassis that has a wheelbase just over 2 feet longer at 105-1/2”. That is 25-1/2″ longer than the stock WW II Jeep chassis that has an 80″ wheelbase. Someone then added a cab from a 1933 to early 1935 Dodge pickup or 1-1/2 ton truck so they would have some weather protection from the sometimes wild weather here in Montana.
What really impressed me about this truck the moment I first saw it is the amount of work some reasonably skilled craftsman went to to build a 4 wheel drive pickup out a tiny WW II Jeep. I have seen literally hundreds of WW II and later Jeeps in my life so far that have had cabs added to the original Jeep body but I have never seen one that had a pickup or truck cab installed on it like this truck has. Add to that the fact that the cab on this truck has the very attrractive backward opening “suicide” doors from the early 1930’s and one has a very special vehicle.
Not only was a completely different cab installed on this “stretched” Jeep chassis, but that cab was subjected to some very interesting modifications. The most obvious modification is the very special rounded cowl that adapted the cowl of the Dodge cab to the back of the flat Jeep cowl right bvehind the Jeep hood. I am very sure that that cowl adapter was not hand formed but I have not yet figured out what that specially formed piece of sheet metal may have been used on originally.
Please also notice the very significant fact that the as of yet unknown Jeep builder adapted a “V” windshield to the front of the Dodge cab that originally came with a flat whidshield. I have yet to figure out what vehicle that “V” windshield originally came in. Please help me here if you possibly can. Another modification to the Dodge truck cab would be the fact that it has a steel insert in the top of the roof rather than the original fabric roof that it came with when new. I have seen hundreds of Model A Ford and other similar vehicles from the 20’s and 30’s that had similar steel roofs installed when the original fabrick roofs went bad.
Continue reading
Unknown “Sedan” Jeep
Norberto Boddy posted this to Facebook. I don’t have any info about it.
Sedan-Jeep From Facebook
Farrell Fox shared this photo of what I call a “Sedan-Jeep” on Facebook. There was no year or caption. I loosely define a sedan-jeep as one which has had some kind of custom top and/or fenders, added that make the jeep a little more car-like.
Wally Cohn — Jeep King?
March 6, 2019 • CATEGORIES: Features, Magazine, Old Images, Other 4x4s, Sedan-jeep, Unusual • TAGS: Life-Magazine, Odd Body, Walter Cohn.
UPDATE 3: There are some broken links, so I’ll need to spend some time and clean up this post.
UPDATE 2: Daniel Strohl over at Hemmings provided a solid background update about Wally Cohn.
“Born in 1924 in Germany, his father and stepmother sent him to the Chicago area in 1937 both to live with family and to escape the increasingly anti-Semitic mood in Germany. After Kristallnacht, his older brother Herman, his father Siegfried, and his stepmother joined him in Chicago. Walter flew 30 missions for the U.S. Army Air Corps as a bombardier during the war, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star and rising at least to the rank of Sergeant. After the war, he served as a member of the chief justice’s staff during the war crimes trials in Nuremberg, then returned to the United States and founded W&W Foreign Auto Parts in Blue Island, Illinois.”
UPDATE: A reader named Clint just determined what type of vehicle Wally was using — A 1936-1940 Opel Olympia. Here are two links to images: Link 1 & Link 2. Thanks Clint!
ORIGINAL POST published in 2010: I ran across the images shown below and others. I didn’t think much of them until I looked more closely. It appears the builder, who I assume is Wally Cohn, has merged a 1936-1940 Opel Olympia with a MB to create, arguably, the first Jeepster-like vehicle, except it is four wheel drive. The ‘Wally’ appears to use the entire jeep drive train. If you look in back, you’ll even see this car can tow a trailer!
Who is Wally Cohn? I have no idea. I can’t seem to find anything about him, other than his name was Wally Cohn and he was nicknamed the Jeep King by photographer Walter Sanders.
Photographer Walter (Wally) Sanders worked for Life Magazine from 1944 to 1961. After growing up and leaving Germany for the US in 1937, he returned in early 1946 and lived the rest of his life in Europe, mostly in Munich. You can learn more about his biography here.
Because Walter was in Europe during December of 1946, and because these photos were snapped during that month, and because of Wally’s uniform (which Bob noted is an Army Airforce Uniform), I have concluded that Wally Cohn was a member of the armed services trying to merge cars and jeeps into a Wally vehicle of some kind (note the name Wally is displayed prominently on the dash in one of the pics).
This would be a great collector’s item — and a cool jeep too!
1947 CJ-2A/Ford Bolivar, MO $2500
Roger shared this odd looking Jeep/Ford combo.
“Clear title. 3 ccy. Standard hasn’t ran in. 5 years. 4×4. Very very cool all original but top somone put a ford. Top it which. Makes it nice at times. Either way it’s. Cool old project. And. Don’t see any like this. ONLY TRADES be. Old muscle cars which means 74 or older”
1944 Article Shares Modified Jeeps From Oklahoma
The August 20, 1944, issue of the Evening Star shared these jeeps used for War Bond Sales. They were modified by the Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, motor pool. The image with “Jeeps in Civvies” label has been featured on eWillys previously, but I’ve never seen the other two jeeps.
Year? Custom Canyon County, CA **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2800.
Listed as a 1941 Willys Jeep, this is a curious one. This might have a truck cab and flatfender fenders.
“Runs, Drives, Stops
Needs Work”
Half Flattie Half Car Albuquerque, NM $200
Thanks to Paul for spotting this ‘gem’. The front is a CJ, probably a 2A, and the back half is a ???
https://albuquerque.craigslist.org/pts/d/1941-jeep-willys/6714295025.html
“I believe it’s some kind of British car, back half..the frame is early jeep will ya 4×4 no title..for parts or ?”
