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Fiberglass Drag Jeep Bodies Monticello, IL **Status Unknown**

February 12, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Body Parts, Features, Parts, Racing • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: **Status Unknown. Was $1800. As of June of 2023 the link no longer works.

(11/26/2020) There’s a company out of Illinois selling drag ‘jeep’ fiberglass bodies called Dunn & Gone Racing, Inc. (some of the ads on the racing junk site are old, so, this may or may not be available).

https://www.racingjunk.com/Sand-Drag-Racing-Cars/184108659/RAMROD-JEEP-BODIES.html?category_id=&search=jeep&quickSearch=1&np_offset=32&from=search#6

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“The newset addition to our high quality fiberglass family
—RAMROD—
Each body is hand laid with the best resins and glass available
Specs
overall length 143 inches
cage opening width 30 ½ inches
rear width 63 inches
front width 52 inches
Basic wheel base from rear center to front center 96 inches
untrimed rear wheel well opening 34 inches, trimmed 39 inches
no body work required, just wetsand and paint!!!!
1800.00 in stock and available NOW
Thanks
JD
Dunn and Gone Racing Inc.
Located in Monticello Illinois”

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March 1950 Dealer’s Day Booklet

February 11, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Artists/Drawings, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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As best as I can tell, this booklet was part of a Willys-Overland Motors Dealer Day presentation on March 30, 1950. This particular booklet came out of Canada, so I am not positive whether this was a Canadian event or a Brand-wide (US, Canada, and other?) celebration.

At 5″ x 7″ the booklet is smaller than I thought it would be.
 1950-03-30-dealer-day-pamphlet-1-lores 1950-03-30-dealer-day-pamphlet-2-lores 1950-03-30-dealer-day-pamphlet-3-lores

1950-03-30-dealer-day-pamphlet-4-lores

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1949 Trip Down Africa in a Jeep

February 11, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old News Articles • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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On December 06, 1949, New York Artist and former Gallery owner Elenore Lust drove her WWII jeep  into Capetown, completing a 13,000 mile trek from France to South Africa. Their trek took them across ten countries. During one long stretch in the Sahara Desert she and her husband Paul Koston, who didn’t know how to drive, had to spread wire mesh on the sand, drive atop it, then roll it up, move it to the front of the jeep, then drive forward again, a process they repeated many times.

Unfortunately, I could not locate a photo of her and her jeep, but I was able to find a photo and an obit, which shared that after teaching art in South Africa, she returned to the US and began teaching art in Pennsylvania up until her death.

This article from the December 07, 1949, issue of New York’s Daily News provides some details about the trip.

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Here’s the only photo of Elenore I could find. It was printed in the June 08, 1988, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

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Her obituary was published in the April 24, 1997, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

1997-04-24-philadelphia-inquirer-elenore-lust-obiturary

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IH Scout Toy on eBay

February 11, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Features, Other 4x4s This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Brian shared this post from the AACA site that shared information about an IH Scout toy, a dealer promo that was given away or sold. I’ve never seen that toy, but I was also never around Scouts much either.

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There’s one of these on eBay, with the box. It’s pricey, but cheaper than a similar quality Al-Toy would be.

View all the information on eBay

“TRUE VINTAGE WITH MINOR AGED CHARACTERISTICS PLEASE SEE PICS FOR HIGH DETAILS
DISPLAYS WONDERFUL AGED PATINA WITH BOX!! STORED WELL AND SHOWS GREAT
BOX IS IN FAIR CONDITION CONSIDERING AGE, DOES HAVE SOME MINOR TEARS AND IS MISSING A FLAP”

1960-model-scout4

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Winter 2020 Issue of the Dispatcher is Available

February 10, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Features, Magazine This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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The new issue of the Dispatcher Magazine has been released. Jim Allen’s article on the Jeep Creep and other prototypes in the late 1950s was very interesting (something I’ve never documented), as were the restoration articles on the Tonka Surreys and the Jeepster Convertible. As always, there’s lots of good stuff in this issue!

2020-winter-dispatcher-magazine

 

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January 1951 Brochure for the CJ-3A

February 10, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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This is a CJ-3A brochure I’d never documented before finding on eBay the other day. It is form no. CJ3A-M2-50M-151-GG.

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This is the back of the brochure when folded:

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This is the first page seen when unfolded part way:
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This is the brochure completely unfolded:1951-01-form-no-cj3a-m2-50m-151-gg-3-lores

This is the back when completely unfolded:

Photos

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1953 Photo of Working Model Jeepster

February 10, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Features, Models, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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The Tribune newspaper out of Coshocton, Ohio, shared this photo and caption on the May 24, 1953. It shows three-year-old Terry Schley driving a model Jeepster his father built for him. It includes a feature that auto braked when the foot is lifted from the accelerator.

1953-05-24-the-tribune-coshocton-oh

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Photos of early DJ-3A Hardtops with Side Glass

February 10, 2021 • CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, Library Collections, Old Images • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: 2 more photos of DJ-3A Hardtops with side glass (note also the use of the modified hardtop with glass on the Jeep Creep jeep above). The first is a different 1956 DJ-3A with the same type of hardtop (side windows and small rear window) was posted to Facebook.

So, does this mean Willys Motors had planned on selling DJ-3As with side windows, but for some reason changed its strategy? Or, did they only intend these tops for commercial/governmental use?

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Caption: August 27, 1956. New Police Equipment: This new jeep, recently acquired by the City of Ann Arbor – Police Department, is being used to service parking meters throughout the city. The small vehicle has proven ideal for swinging into small spaces while meters are emptied. Patrolman John Biederman drives the jeep and is assisted in the meter collection by George Kaercher.

This second is undated, but shows a DJ-3A with a windowed hardtop for the Triangle Drive-in. It was posted to Facebook by Michael Canup.

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The photos of this RHD drive DJ-3A were posted by Andy to Facebook. They show a RHD DJ-3A at work for the Los Angeles School Police Department (that’s the department’s insignia on the door).

This is a 1956 RHD DJ-3A. It has the small rear window top that was halted sometime around late 1956 or early 1957 (http://www.ewillys.com/2020/03/17/different-version-of-the-koenig-manufactured-hardtop/), but also has the Hall tail lights which I am surprised to see on a 1956 (https://cj3b.info/Dating/Taillights.html). Oddly, it also has the rear side windows on the hardtop, which wasn’t common for the DJ-3As, but the side windows were standard for this model of the CJ-5 hardtop. So, this must have been a special order?

There was another photo taken with what appears to be the same jeep (same number on the door), but having a different driver (at least a different cap) named Officer Verne Schlotzhauer, while Captain Maurice W. Calfee watches the officer. The car to the right is different, also. This appeared in the July 24, 1956, issue of the Valley News, Van Nuys, California:

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The top pic was also syndicated to newspapers. The image below appeared in the June 22, 1956, issue of the Des Moines Register:

1956-06-22-desmoines-register-police-jeep-la-dj3a

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