This September 17, 1949, article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette states that the four-wheel-drive wagon evolved out of a military special order for four-wheel-drive-wagons. I’ve run across that fact previously, maybe on a brochure?
Features Research Archives
2021 Willys Reunion is Scheduled for May 21-22 in Aurora, OH
The 2021 Willys Reunion has confirmed it will take place May 21-22 in Aurora, Ohio, this year. My lovely bride and I won’t be able to make it, but hopefully we’ll be more settled in 2022 and can visit at that time. Maybe we can even bring one of our jeeps next time!
1945 Photo of Udem, Germany
Charles shared this 1945 photo from Udem, Germany, showing a British and Canadian forces, along with a of couple jeeps, one with a permanent looking top. What’s the vehicle in the lower right?
Military Jeep Photos From Various Databases
Here are some military photos that appear in various library databases.
1. This first one shows a jeep that was dug out from an avalanche in the Grand Tetons:
“lack and white photo showing a Jeep vehicle after being extracted from an avalanche at Glory Bowl in the Teton Range, Wyoming.”
2. Here’s a solider welding jeep fenders:
3. This 1947 photograph appears to be a Swedish family surrounding the family MB:

PHOTO CREDIT: https://jlm.kulturhotell.se/items/show/143021
4. This 1947 photo from Sweden shows the same jeep as above. It seems like some of the folks from the top photo also appear in this one?
November 1947 Ad for a Jeep Caravan in North Carolina
This is a great vintage ad for the Jeep Caravan ‘Free Show’. That’s a nice touch with the fire jeep shooting water up the side of the ad. This appeared in the November 6, 1947, issue of the News and Observer out of Raleigh, North Carolina.
1942 Americar Brochure w/ Willys MA Photos
This 1942 Americar Brochure includes a page that shows the Willys MA. I dropped out of the bidding at $30. I’ll keep my eye open for a cheaper version of this brochure.
Here’s the page with the MAs on it.
The following images might show the entire brochure in the correct order. Note the page showing the Americar’s “Willys Chassis” … anyone know how similar this was in size to the wagon chassis?
Jalopnik Author Shares a Bad Dealer Tale
The author of this non-jeep Jalopnik post tells the story of how a dealership intimidated his mother into signing paperwork she didn’t want to sign and how she successfully sued the dealership in return. Thankfully, she had read and understood the contract she had signed.
This story hit home with Ann and I as she bought herself a Red 2017 GMC truck the other day and we both left feeling like those folks had no interest in having us actually read what she was signing, though we did quickly skim the contract to the annoyance of the paperwork guy.
https://jalopnik.com/my-mom-has-her-own-terrible-detained-at-the-dealership-1846348696
A Date With Judy, Issue #22
Between 1947 and 1960, Judy (do we ever learn her last name?) dated A LOT. Every couple of months, Judy was on another date, hence the title “A Date with Judy”. During date #22, she hooked up with a feller who owned a jeep (who may have been her main squeeze named Oogie?), at least the jeep appears on the cover (I don’t know if the jeep plays a role in one of the stories inside the comic book).
As you may have guessed by now, I really don’t have any idea what I’m talking about regarding this comic book series! Anyway, here’s the cover.
Prior to the Comic book, there was a radio series by the same name.
Winter Park Villager: A DJ-3A Surrey Pulling a Matching Trailer
UPDATE: The two post cards at the bottom of this post were on eBay several years ago. I recently came across some newspaper clippings that give background about the Winter Park Villager tram’s purpose. The service began November 28, 1966, but I could not find an end-date.
This first article discusses the jeep tram’s beginnings:
This next article notes that Monday, November 28th, as the launch date for the jeep tram service.
This short article from March of 1967 describes some of the tram’s stops:
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This Winter Park Villager shows a DJ-3A Surrey pulling a matching trailer in Winter Park, Florida. One of these postcards is currently on eBay.
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Here’s another view of the same combo. One of these postcards is currently on eBay
Year? M-38 Willys-Overland Export Company Brochure
This sold yesterday on eBay for $51 +shipping. I gave up bidding on it, because I couldn’t tell how many pages there were. I was concerned there were only four and didn’t want to get into a bidding war over it (I got another cool brochure instead).