This article was published in the May 20, 1945, issue of the Spokesman Review. One fact that surprised me is that by 1945 only 2% of world’s farms were mechanized.
Features Research Archives
2021 Ford Bronco “Built Wild” Coming Soon
Ford is excited to exorcise the “juice is loose” moniker from the Ford Bronco, a vehicle lined last produced in 1996, by introducing a new Ford Bronco line.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2021-ford-bronco-sport-suv-reveal-pictures-videos-teaser/
1943 Photo of Ford GPA at Schenectady Depot on eBay
This photo was on eBay, but will be sold by Monday morning. Still, a neat early look at the Ford GPA.
View all the information on ebay
“1943 Press Photo Amphibious Jeep at Schenectady Quartermaster Depot. This is an original press photo. Schenectady Quartermaster Depot – Amphibious JeepPhoto measures 9 x 7.25inches. Photo is dated 04-05-1943.”
1954 4-Wheel-Drive Wagon Brochures
UPDATE: This post has been expanded since it’s original published date in December of 2014. There are several, similar brochures published during 1954, all shown below.
The earliest of these family-of-jeep brochures is Form KW-1705 and titled “4-Wheel-Drive Willys Vehicles”:
A second brochure, Form KW-1763, was released highlighting the same four vehicles, but with a new form number and some re-organization.
1950s Willys Aero Taxi Brochure on eBay
This “All Hail the … Beautiful Economy Safety of the Willys Taxi” brochure isn’t jeep-related, but I found it interesting. I wouldn’t have guess that the Willys Aero car was ever marketed as a Taxi. Maybe it was only advertised that way internationally (this brochure hails from Australia)?
View all the information on eBay
“An original 1950s Willys-Overland advertising brochure for the Willys Aero Taxi car. This interesting fold-out brochure describes the main features of this Willys Taxicab with a range of illustrations. It was published by Willys-Overland in Toledo Ohio in the USA.”
1961 International Harvester Scout Vs. Jeep Booklet
In March of 1961 it appears that Willys Motors released a 4-page brochure that compared the jeeps vs. the International Harvester Scout. The IH Scout made it’s debut in late 1960, so Willys didn’t waste much time in producing the document in response to the Scout’s release.
In turn, IH didn’t waste time in publishing it’s own comparison with a technical booklet over 40 pages long. I’m not entirely sure for whom this document was intended, engineers? Sales force? Management? For Marketing so it could distill the information for the sales force?
February 1948 “See How Much More You Get” Ad
This “See How Much More You Get” advertisement appeared in the February 1948 issue of the Farm Journal. It measures 8.5″ x 11″. Both the half and full version of the top appear to be Worman tops.
This same ad appeared in the February 1948 issue of Successful Farming. It also likely appeared in the February or March 1948 issue of Country Gentleman.
T. Cohn Superior Plastic/Metal Jeep on eBay
T. Cohn made a wide number of toys, but this is the only example of a jeep that I’ve run across. It’s about 5″ long.
View all the information on eBay
“This is a great hard plastic military jeep which also has a metal base, free rolling wheels and nice detail. It is marked “Made in Gr Britain” on both sides of each wheel and it would appear that this toy is missing a “driver” and an “antenna” ?
This toy has great olive drab marbled hard plastic and the brittle windshield is not damaged. It does not retract and it does not appear that this was intended to do so. There is no glue residue, stressed portions or repairs. This item is offered as found.
The entire toy measures approx. 5 inches long. This toy shows the slightest soiling and it is a very hard to find item. It is offered as found with a number of other vintage hard plastic, diecast metal, rubber and other vehicle related toys. These items all dated from the late 1940’s to the late 1960’s.”
1951 Slide of CJ-3A from Venezuela on eBay
This is a great early photo of a CJ-3A out of Venezuela.
View all the information on eBay
“1 Original slide as shown. K5 013 Amazing old car JEEP WILLYS Caripito Monagas Venezuela 1951 Red Border Kodachrome”
King Top Manufacturing Company
UPDATE: This post has been merged and reworked after I figured out that the two tops were actually related.
In July of 1963, Fresno-based Automotive Fiberglass Company placed an advertisement in Four Wheeler magazine for its new fiberglass hardtop. I wonder if the builder of this top was also a member of the Fresno Jeep Club?
This is the 1963 ad:
This Automotive Fiberglass top appeared on a CJ-5 for sale in Fresno in 2010. It is the only jeep I’ve seen with an Automotive Fiberglass Top:
TIMELINE —
July 1963: Automotive Fiberglass places ad in Four Wheeler Magazine;
November 1963: Top King Manufacturing files design patent for an altered version of the Automotive Fiberglass top;
February 1964: Top King top is advertised in the Four Wheeler Magazine;
September 1964: A more detailed ad is placed in Four Wheeler Magazine.
A few months after the Automotive Fiberglass advertisement, two design patents were filed and assigned to Top King Manufacturing. You’ll note that the rear side-angle has been reversed. The mid-section insert piece for the side was also changed, altered from a triangle shape to a rhombus shape. Here’s the design patent information from the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office:

November 1963 Design Patent filing for Top King. Note that I haven’t had the time to investigate the designers mentioned in the patent.
By February 1964, King Top was advertising the newly redesigned top in Four Wheeler Magazine. Curiously, the company listed its name as the Top King Fiberglass Company rather than Top King Manufacturing (could be a relic from the Automotive Fiberglass company days):
Seven months later, this second ad was placed in the September 1964 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine. The company had corrected its name for the ad back to Top King Manufacturing. Additionally, Top King announced it would soon have flatfender versions of the top available, along with a half cab version. Have any of these survived?


























