Chuck bought this CJ-3A just over a week ago and already got it on the trails. He shared a couple great pics of it.

He writes, “The new Willys was in its element this weekend blazing the trail – first ones in cutting and winching downed tress across the trail. I went with two Rubi TJs and kept up no problem. The Willys doing what it was meant to do and doing it exceptionally well!”

“That said, the 51 Willys wasn’t without issues. The front pumpkin was milkshake and rusty. Had to take it apart /clean. Transmission was a little milky. I just changed every single fluid in everything. It also has electrical gremlins. The battery blew up and I spent the night in a auto parts parking lot. New battery, changed the alternator from a three wire to a one wire, did some rewiring and was back on the road with just hand tools. Can’t do that with a new JK or JL! Anyway, put over 300 miles on the Jeep in three days. It was a great adventure. The Jeep did fantastic but I’ll be happy when I get a chance to rip out all the wiring and start over – it really needs it for me to feel it’s a dependable rig.”

These two pics are way above Bass Lake back by Clover Meadow / Granite Creek area called Jackass Meadows in California:

This pic is on the Bald Mountain trail above Shaver Lake. (It’s a listed Jeep trail):

This guy provides rides along the beach in Fortaleza, Brazil. Maybe’ he’s a jeep lover? Thanks to Tom for sharing this cool pic.

I was able to purchase this old jeep club jacket patch. The Boondockers was a club based out of the south sound area, mostly Auburn (minutes from where I grew up). As of 1972 they had 11 members, most of whom had CJ-5s. I can’t remember ever seeing the club logo ever, but the group is documented in the PNW4WDA Region 1 book from 1972.

I now have jacket patches from several PNW clubs. I hope to secure some more.

This photo has been floating around Facebook the last few days and, not surprisingly, folks are all freaked out about it. Of course, most never bothered to read the whys, the hows, and the exclusions surrounding it.

First off, am I thrilled about this law? Not at all, but what the heck is the state of California supposed to do?

The Problem: California has a big problem with less-than-honorable parts resellers buying, stealing, obtaining vehicles, stripping them for some or all parts, and dumping the rest. An average of 1.2 million vehicles are abandoned every year (that is more than 3000 per day, though of course they aren’t all the result of illegal parts resellers).

That means the state has to deal with identifying, moving, and disposing tons of vehicles daily, along with any related hazardous waste. Let’s say it costs $100 to tow/handle/dispose of each vehicle (a low estimate in my opinion). That’s $120M each year. Thus, it’s not a trivial operations or budget issue.

How does this affect hobbyists?: There are exclusions for said hobbyists. For example, “Any person engaged in the restoration of vehicles of the type described in Vehicle Code Section 5004 or in the restoration of other vehicles having historic or classic significance” is excluded.

“The owner of any premises or property used in conjunction with any agricultural, farming, mining, ranching, or motor vehicle repair business” is excluded.

“The owner of any premises on which two or more unregistered and inoperable vehicles are held or stored, if the vehicles are used, or intended to be used, for restoration or as replacement parts or otherwise in conjunction with any business of a licensed dealer, manufacturer, or transporter, or in conjunction with the operation and maintenance of any fleet of motor vehicles used for the transportation of persons or property” is excluded.

If you’ve got a better idea? Then contact your state and suggest it; because, your state will likely be doing something similar, as this issue is a national problem. Look at these stats from the early 00s:

“Among U.S. cities, Seattle police received about 4,200 reports each month in 2002, the New York City Sanitation Department picked up over 9,200 vehicles in 2006, while Philadelphia police towed over 32,000 abandoned cars in a 40-day period in 2000. One year after Michigan implemented a statewide data system for tracking towed vehicles, over 92,000 abandoned vehicles were removed.”

• Or these reports I found with a quick search:
  In 2012, the city of Portland, Oregon, took 7,000 reports of abandoned vehicles. In 2016, it took 27,000.
• Anchorage, Alaska, has a problem with abandoned vehicles.
• Hawaii has a problem with it, too.

Given also that pretty much every town has some section of the law that discusses abandoned and junk vehicles, it’s seems obvious there are car abandonment issues everywhere.

So, in my opinion, this California law is specifically focused on shifting the cost of vehicle disposal away from the public and back onto parts resellers who are trying to skirt disposal costs. However, the marketing of this law clearly has to be rethought, as it sounds draconian to hobbyists everywhere (based on the Facebook responses).