Barry wrote a version of this article for “Farm Collector” magazine. It has been accepted, but he’s not sure when it will print. I was gratified to see he was able to use some of my research in it. I hope others can leverage their research with other aspects of eWillys.
Features Research Archives
Mystery Hardtop and Doors
TJ shared this ad for the doors (hardtop not for sale) out of Everett, WA. The doors are priced at $50 on Facebook. I don’t recognize the doors or top. Does anyone else recognize it?
“These doors fit a hardtop like the one pictured. They contour to the jeep body nicely and are complete with glass. Unfortunately the top is not available.”
1955 Blunder Boys Movie w/ Real Jeep?
Blaine spotted what appears to be a jeep in the background of this Three Stooges movie. The jeep appears at the 1:08 mark and is shot from a couple angles until the 2:35 mark.
Can you spot the jeep and what model does it most look like to you? To me there are elements that make it look like it was originally a jeep, but it also has some elements that don’t look correct for this particular model.
https://archive.org/details/166.BlunderBoys1955ShempLarryMoe
Buick V6 History Video
Bill shared this video that provides some history about the Buick V6. What the narrator doesn’t mention is that by 1965 installations of the Buick V6 were already happening in places like Salt Lake City, where a local dealer was installing them. At least one article in Four Wheeler Magazine also mentions the modifications necessary for a Buick V6 install. Unfortunately, my jeep mags are still stored, so I don’t have the Four Wheeler article handy to share.
(The good news is that we are nearly done with our master bedroom remodel. Once we move in there, we can remodel our ‘family room/office’, which is where we are sleeping right now, where I plan to display and shelve my books/binders until I can remodel the shop … one step at a time)
Tractor Field Books
Since this post about a 1954 Tractor Field Book ad for the Farm Jeep, Barry has been able to track down some Tractor Field Books and post the information at Farmjeep.com. If you are a vintage tractor fan and haven’t heard of the books, I think you’ll like them.
https://www.farmjeep.com/tractor-field-book/
This page from the 1951 Tractor Field Book advertised the Universal Jeep, but post of the book covers standard tractors:
Trench Art Exhibit at NOLA National WWII Museum
This article that Bill spotted mentions a trench art exhibit at the National WWII Museum, a place I still want to visit. I wouldn’t be surprised it there’s a few trench art jeeps there, too.
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/article_6542294e-1592-11ec-b22f-479c562f0e04.html
Here’s one example of a trench art SEEP at the exhibit:

From this site: https://www.historynet.com/what-is-trench-art.htm
Snow Day
Today we received our first “big” snow. Anything over a few inches is a big snow for us. So, I’ll be shoveling and using the tractor to clear some area. Thankfully, this stuff should melt pretty quickly over the next few days.
Anyone plow with a quad or ATV/UTV? Is that heavy enough to do a decent plow job? Most of my plowing is pavement (about a half acre worth). We could use a small little runabout vehicle for the property anyway.
Maury’s Lighters
Maury shared a pic of four of his lighters. I don’t know the exact dates, but made my best guess as to the order they might have been manufactured. Maybe someone else has a better guess?
My guesses:
1) The Willys Motors is likely the earliest, possibly not long after the merger with Kaiser. It didn’t take long after the merger for “Willys” to take a back seat to ‘Jeep’, so my guess is 1953/1954.
2) The 4 Wheel Drive one is my guess for second, maybe 1954-56. Kaiser was ramping up the advertising and “4 Wheel Drive” was definitely a prominent element of that.
3) The yellow-blue logo is from 1957ish. That logo appeared on a number of brochures of that era, including this one from 1957.
4) I can’t tell if the red ‘Jeep’ light is plastic/glass or a combination, but I will guess that one is the newest one? It kind of feels like late 1950s or early 1960s to me.
Pics from Facebook
I don’t think I’ve shared this specific jeep-trailer photo. It was posted by Morihisa Ochi on the G503 Facebook page. He’s posted a number of interesting WWII-jeep photos.
Here’s another interesting photo from Morihisa Ochi. It shows a Ford GP that’s been converted into more of a truck and a radio jeep.
No date on this photo posted by the Maine Forest Rangers on Facebook:
This customized jeep was on g503, posted by Graham Thrussell.
Roger Martin pointed me to this jeep with a modified hardtop sitting on the back:
Roger also pointed me to this unusual tracked mb:
Mario Maipid posted this May 09, 1943, article to Facebook. It indicates the FTC gave credit to Bantam for creating the jeep.
Article About Importing a Mini-Jeep from Alibaba
Bill shared this article about one person’s experience importing an electric mini-jeep via Alibaba. Included is the cost of shipping and importing the jeep, which raised the cost of the jeep by about 40%.















