I thought I had posted this issue a few years ago, but somehow I missed it. So, here is the 8-page May 1956 issue of Willys News.

Page one highlights that thousands of feet of film was taken as part of creating new promo films for Willys Motors. No doubt that film is long gone. Page two has an article explaining the importance of jeeps to rural readers of North Carolina’s Statesville Record and Landmark newspaper. Page two also claims that the first registered CJ-2A appeared in Mt. Kisco, New York, a claim debated on this post.

Page three has a great photo of Bonner’s Willys Motors out of Texas, a part of which eventually became Barney’s Jeep Parts in Ohio. Page five indicates that at least 100 audio-visual wagons (though the paper calls them ‘trucks’) had been assembled. An article on Page six shares the news that Dispatchers were proving popular as delivery vehicles, with an accompanying testimonial from Carolina Tool.

Page seven highlights “Miss Maude”, an excerpt of which I posted back in 2014. Page eight covers the April 1956 Truth or Consequences “Journal de Jeeps” cross-country race.

The December 1961 issue of Jeep News was only six pages, but still packed into a few interesting items. In the center column of the front page you can see the California Association of ‘Jeep’ Clubs had already come up with rules for jeeping on publics lands. Here in the PNW, we’ve seen a small contingent of folks doing stupid things that ruins it for everyone else. Such is life. Also note the bottom of page one showing the two giant billboards. I’ve never seen pics of these.

An article on page two references a 28-page two-color booklet titled “Your Ten Major Retail Markets”. That’s not one I’ve seen. Anyone else run across it? There’s also a reference to a Fleetvan comparison brochure. You can see pics of that here: http://www.ewillys.com/2016/03/29/1961-fleet-van-c…brochure-on-ebay/ (Not sure if I have a copy).

Page three contains something really unique: An Army FC-170 with a camper! The FC camper, an Army FC-170 with a Stahl bed, and an Army Traveller wagon were all headed to Alaska. Page three also has pics from a Billings, Montana, Rough Riders Jeep Club road event.

Page five and six contain a variety of stories, with several photos of FC-170 Fire trucks. Page seven shares the story of a New Jersey firm that operated pizza delivery wagons. Anything you can add to that story Mike?

UPDATE: This was supposed to publish Friday morning, but didn’t for some reason… just discover this Friday night!

This eight-page February 1959 issue of Jeep News begins with a recap of the 1960 Chicago Autoshow, where the all-white jeep lineup on display was called, by some industry veterans, the most attractive commercial display at the show. Page three shows several different FCs adapted to various speciality tasks.

Page four and five share a report and multiple images from the auto show. There’s also a reference to two films played at the show. One was Jeep Frolics, a video shown in the post below, and another video showing a wide variety of tasks jeeps could perform (not sure which video this might be).

Page six contains an article about Warn’s successful hub sales. the article estimated that by 1959 there were 135,000 jeeps using Warn hubs. Page seven covers the use of jeeps in Detroit’s underground salt mines (also captured in pics from this post). Page eight features several stories, including another example of a custom FC camping unit.

This September 1958 four-page issue of Jeep News is devoted to the Maverick show.

The May 1958 issue of Jeep News was only four pages, but the marketing managed to pack in some interesting tidbits. On page one the company discussed the new 3/4 mechanical mule-like prototype. Included is a pic of a model; I wonder what happend to the model? Also on page one, in the lower right of the page is a story about Hugh Smith purposefully driving a jeep through a garage wall to save his brother from a burning garage.

Page two features several FCs, but the one that looks the most interesting (to me) is the unit with the  “Samp-O-Rama” traveling meat counter built for Armour and Company in Atlanta.

Page three has a few DJ-3As. Page four features a story about Mr. S. W. Christie, whose contracting company owned 24 jeeps. Despite all the jeeps he owned, he decided to build his young boys a toy jeep of their own.

Because the May 1958 issue was so short, I figured it made sense to include the July 1958 Jeep News issue, which is also short at only six pages. I guess some folks at Willys Motors took some time off during the summer of 1958?

Page one explains some of the improvements made to the new line of Forward Control Jeeps. Page three includes multiple photos of the rare Leveloader FC. Page five shows a couple FCs that were customized to meet particular needs. Page six covers the Jeep Roadeo races in Yakima.

This eight-page issue of Willys News is the last “Willys News”. In March of 1958, the name was changed to “Jeep News”, though under the banner the “Willys Motors, Inc.” moniker remains unchanged over subsequent years.

The first page makes a reference to a commercial that ran in 1958 highlighting the new M-274 Mechanical Mule. I tried to find that commercial on YouTube, but didn’t have any success.

Pages two and three is dominated by dealer news. Pages four and five covers the use of jeep vehicles by ATT and its affiliates. Page six features an article on the new Sacramento Jeep Club. Page seven is a potpourri of stories, while page eight discusses “wetter water” and its use with jeeps against red ants.

This May 1959 issue of Jeep News announced that Willys agreed to continue co-sponsoring the Maverick show obviously dominated the headlines, but it is interesting to see that photos from the 1959 Truth or Consequences race also landed on the front page.

Page two contains dealer news. Page three includes a photo of two DJ-3As with unusual nylon tops, presumably custom made, that are owned by the Sheraton Terrace Motel in San Antonio.

Page five includes a full-page report with photos from the Truth Or Consequences, NM, ‘Jeep’ Vehicle Derby. Page six includes a rare photo of a civil defense wagon. Page seven has an almost full-page report on the eleventh annual Hemet to Borrego cavalcade.

Finally, page eight tells the story of a scout troop that raised money to replace their tired CJ-2A, though they replaced it with a non-jeep station wagon, the scouts noted it wasn’t as capable as the jeep. So, why didn’t a dealer step in to help these scouts get a jeep? ??