Author Archives: deilers

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Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Willys (War) News

October 13, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old News Articles • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: I have updated the post to include the entire newspaper.

First published Jan 22, 2014: The photo below shows the cover of a rare edition of The Willys War Newspaper. Published on September 28, 1945, this appears to be both the last issue of The Willys War News and the first issue of The Willys News. I base this on three facts: 1) the word ‘war’ is scratched at the top,  2) the small explanation at the bottom of the front page and 3) the publishing date.

Searches of “The Willys War News” yielded the following:

The Willys War News, Vol. 3, No. 3, May 19, 1945 http://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/HTML_findingaids/MSS-072.html
The Willys War News, Vol. 1, No. 10 in 1943 (8 pages) http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-1943-jeep-willys-overland-war-238396381

Based on those clues, I would estimate that there were were at least 24 editions IF there were 10 issues in 1943 and 10 issues in 1944 and at least 4 issues in 1945. Anyone know of other examples of this? This seems as rare as the Globe Trotter Magazine.

1945-09-28-willys-war-news-vol-1-issue-1-page1 1945-09-28-willys-war-news-vol-1-issue-1-page2-3 1945-09-28-willys-war-news-vol-1-issue-1-page4

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1951 Station Wagon Brochures

October 4, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: I discovered going through my files that there were at least two version of the Jamaica brochure. The top brochure has Form number 5CM-SWC2-451-GG, suggesting this was produced in April, while the bottom one is Form number 2CM-SWC2-2-551-GG, which suggests the second one was produced in May.

The interior pageThe back page seems to be the only difference.

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The interior seems the same:1951-04-j05-jamaica-brochure-foldout-comparison2

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Original posted June 20, 2023: This Willys Wagon brochure highlights Willys Overland station wagon’s Jamaica color-choice styling. The brochure includes a cutout of the wagon that swings to the left. That got me thinking … did Willys-Overland ever produce a similar cutout brochure for the Grand Canyon and Caribbean models?

This is the front of the brochure:

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The wagon image is actually a cutout that folds left to reveal the interior of the wagon:
 1951-jamaica-wagon-brochure2-lores

This is the back of the brochure:

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This information is consistent with a post I published late last year which showed brochures highlighting the color choices for the Jeepster and Wagon. Below is the wagon brochure:

This 1951 brochure gives a branding name to each color choice: Jamaica, Grand Canyon, and Caribbean. Note that this four-page brochure includes the Willys Makes Sense slogan from the Willys Makes Sense campaign the company implemented across it’s adverting in 1951:
1951-color-selector-station-wagon1 1951-color-selector-station-wagon2 1951-color-selector-station-wagon3

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John Bean FireTruck Ad FC-150

September 21, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, FC150-FC170-M677, Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: Here’s a better image of a Bean Model 200F from a November 1958 ad on eBay: 

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This post was from August 22, 2012: I show two ads below.  John Bean appears to have built both a FC-150 Model 200-F Fire Jeep, and a FC-150 Model-FJ.  I don’t know what the difference between the two is.

1. This blown up portion of the ad shows the ad for the Model 200-F from a 1960 Ad

2. This ad is from 1959.  I can’t tell what model is shown.  These are two of 12 pages in the brochure.

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The Jeep GPV Volkswagen From Sandman

August 19, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Artists/Drawings, Features, VEEP (VW Jeep), Scamp, Others This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE IV: “J” was able to locate and purchase one of these rare sandman GPVs.

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Originally posted Aug 19, 2023, UPDATE III: Jay shared some more pics!

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UPDATE II: After 10 plus years, we finally have a photo of an actual GPV Volkswagen-jeep! Thanks to Jay for sending this photo. I hope we can get some more!

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UPDATE Jan 18, 2013:  I found a second brochure that identifies this as a Sandman GPV

Has anyone ever heard of this Volkswagen/jeep model?  It doesn’t seem to be a VEEP.  Other searches yielded nothing about this unusual rig.

View all the information on eBay

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1970-gpv-sandman-volkswagen2

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BROCHURE #2

“original non color folder 8.5 x 5.5 folded , 17 x 5.5 unfolded . This Jeep replica used a Volkswagen chassis . Produced by General Purpose Vehicles , Sandman Sales , Fortworth Texas.

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1970-volkswagen-gpv-brochure2

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1945 MobilOil Ads w/Jeeps on eBay

July 25, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Here’s a second version of a 1945 Mobiloil ad featuring jeeps. This was part of a series of military-related ads buy Mobiloil in 1945 (see others here). I haven’t yet seen any other ones with jeeps in them.

View all the information on eBay

“Willys Jeep Mobiloil Vintage 1945 Ad Magazine Print Soldiers GI WWII
About 10.25 X 14 Inches. Carefully shipped flat.”

1945-mobileoil-ad-lores

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Here’s a second version of this ad campaign that included jeeps:

View all the information on eBay

1945-mobileoil-ad2-lores

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Yakima Ridge Runners Early Jeeping Videos

July 21, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images Jeeping, videos • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: I first posted this March 29, 2011. It includes a dialogue with my late mother, where she explains that the Naches Trail was my first jeeping excursion (it was likely 1966 and I would have been around 1 year old).

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JPZombie has posted several vintage videos on Youtube. Here are a few showing the club in the Naches Trail area west of Yakima in Washington State.

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Videos — The 1977 Yakima Mud Race Yakima, Wa

July 7, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Racing, videos • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: I haven’t recycled this point since 2009, so many might not have seen it.

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Originally posted Feb 26, 2009: This is another set of excerpts from an episode of Exploration Northwest called ‘Mud Race’. As I reported in the post about the Meeker, aka Naches, Trail post, Linda McCune from the Don McCune Library kindly has given me permission to provide some clips from the Jeeping1 DVD, a collection of 3 episodes of Exploration Northwest related to pacific northwest jeeping. To order this DVD, you can contact Linda McCune at 206 726-2650 and ask for the Jeeping1 DVD.  It costs $24.95.  I encourage you to purchase is as she has the video for a Jeeping2 DVD, but has not created it yet.

The race was sponsored by the Yakima Jeep Jockeys, a club formed in 1963. They began their 4×4 Championship Racing series in 1971.

The Mud Bowl episode was shown in 1977.  Mostly, it follows Jim Merritt as he prepares for the race, discussing a little about how they silicone various items to keep out water.  Plenty of video showing different stages of the race.  It’s a bit reminiscent of the Florida swamp races, though the water holes aren’t quite as deep or long (If you have never heard of it, you can read about the Florida swamp races at four wheeler’s online magazine and here’s a you tube video from a 1996 race).

From the Mud Race episode, I selected two clips.  Clip one shows Jim getting ready to race and shows the driver’s pre-race meeting.  The second clip shows the final race with Bill Smith from Tacoma taking the win.

Here’s Clip One:

Here’s Clip Two:

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Jeep Yakima Rodeo March 1959 issue of Modern Man

June 22, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Features, Magazine, Old Images, Old Images Jeeping, Racing This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: This post originally appeared September 28, 2013:

It’s a dirty business, but hunting down jeep stories takes me through all types of content. In this case, I had to search through several pages of bare female breasts and bodies until I found this story about a Yakima Jeep Rodeo from the March 1959 issue of Modern Man. I can report that accompanying the enthusiastic models were several other interesting stories . . .

1959-march-modernman1 1959-march-modernman2 1959-march-modernman3

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Uranium ‘Gold’ Rush

June 15, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Features, Magazine • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: This was originally published April 22, 2015

1958-08-uranium-outdoor-prospector-magazine

Credit for posting this rare magazine cover with a CJ-2A on it goes to: http://national-radiation-instrument-catalog.com/new_page_14.htm

The hunt for Uranium during the late 1940s and into the 1950s in the American West was a big deal. It’s also the last great mineral rush with-in the continental United States. Uranium’s grand paradox, as author Tom Zoellner puts it, is that “[t]he stability of our world rests on a substance that is unstable at the core.”

So large was the hunt for Uranium, the May 23, 1955, issue of Life Magazine noted that more man-hours had been spent hunting for Uranium between 1952 and 1955 than were spent seeking all other metals in history, at least according to the Atomic Energy Commission. Having spent considerable time thumbing through decades of mine related information prior to the 1900s, I find this claim dubious, but maybe someone can explain how this could be?

Still, the uranium boom captivated the imagination of the public. Uranium Fever was written and sung by Eliot Britt in 1955 and included jeep references. This great site shows how the search affected popular magazines of the time. In the Life Magazine article referenced above (pg 26), the author included a list of ultimate gear for prospecting. At the very top of the list was a brand-new four-wheel jeep for only $1,685, along with equipment and a map of the best places to hunt:

1955-05-23-uranium-hunt4 1955-05-23-uranium-hunt3 1955-05-23-uranium-hunt2 1955-05-23-uranium-hunt1

Continue reading →

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‘Grandpa’ Craig’s Pic of the Week: Jeep ‘Wagon’ Train

June 12, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Craigs Pic of the Week, Features • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: Here’s is a postcard from White Springs (data unknown) that highlights the jeep-train-wagons. It appears the train was still being pulled by a 3B, but this color photo shows some black styling was added to the cow, giving it a Holstein look.

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Originally posted Jan 18, 2013: On the evening (2 nights ago) that Craig became a grandpa, instead of doing whatever grandpas should do to celebrate, he was busily scanning stuff for us!  It’s clear his Willys Sickness is far more advanced than I thought!  However, to his credit, this really is a cool picture. In fact, it’s so cool, that I managed to skip over the part where he said he became a grandpa! It wasn’t until I re-read it tonight that I felt like a total doof.”

This photo comes from the March 1957 issue of Willys News.  The jeep wagon train operated at the Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center – White Springs, Florida.

covered-wagon-CJ3B

Floridamemory.com has a variety of photos related to the wagons.  Below are a few of them.

State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/41660

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State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/73660

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This photo looks like the jeep is a CJ-5 rather than a CJ-3B.  State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/87462

covered-wagon-CJ3B-floridamemory3

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Sat. May 18th: At the Reunion; A Brick Shy of a Full Load

May 21, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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<– Day 14 – Fri. May 17th: Day 1 of the Midwest Willys Reunion | Trip Overview | Day 16 – Sun. May 19th: On the Road to Gettysburg –>

UPDATE: This year is the 10th anniversary of our 8-week, 2013-trip around the east coast. Up to that point, I didn’t really get how the impact this simple website had made. This weekend is the 10th anniversary being given the Toledo Brick award at the Willys Reunion. Here’s a throwback to that Saturday.

Today was another gorgeous, warm, sunny day here in Hudson. The day ended with an honor that caught me by surprise.

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L-to-R: Bob Chrisy, Sebastian Logo-Guerrero, and Me.

Today was another gorgeous, warm, sunny day here in Hudson. More jeeps and people rolled in to make the day even better than yesterday. The most difficult thing about today was finding the time to talk with visitors looking at jeeps in the parking lot and having the time to see the presentations on the inside of the hotel. Here are a few photos of people I met:

2013-05-18-midwest-willys-reunion2 2013-05-18-midwest-willys-reunion132013-05-18-midwest-willys-reunion7

In the end I only had a chance to attend MD Juan’s presentation, which was very interesting. They discussed the challenges the company has faced trying to perfect vintage Willys bodies so that they properly fit the different models (MB/GPW/2A/3A etc).

CEO Rommel Juan noted that the company’s increasing use of the jeep forums combined with access to original bodies has allowed them to tune the bodies and close in on the original specs.

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R to L: Bob Christy with Rommel Juan, CEO of MD Juan, and one of his officer’s whose name I don’t have at the moment.

Continue reading →

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Testimonial: Davis Farm Contracting

April 11, 2023 • CATEGORIES: Documents, Features • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: This was previously published August 25, 2013.

This and other testimonials are from 1946 and were combined into a sales binder used by Willys Overland salesman.

This particular testimonial is by Davis Farm Contracting, Company, of Albany, Georgia.

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Scan10025-davis-farm-letter

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