Likely from around 1958, this illustrated brochure is 24 pages. The front page included the title, “Man moves forward on WHEELS”. Unfortunately, I did my final bid too soon and lost out at the end. It was dumb on my part. Below are the pages posted to eBay. Hopefully, the buyer reads eWillys and is willing to send a scan of the booklet.
Features Research Archives
1946 Jeep Testimonial by Unique Variety Service
UPDATE: Last posted October 02, 2017.
Bob Legee, of Unique Variety Service, a business that provided mowing, snow plowing, and other landscaping services, wrote this testimonial for Jeep in 1946.
Nelson, Nevada, Ghost Town Tour Video
Roger Martin shared this video from “Remote Trooper” that explores the ghost town of Nelson, Nevada, a place full of abandoned vehicles and other items. The tour includes a quick clip of an early Maverick Willys wagon complete with the rare emblem (at the 3:18 mark).
1946 Testimonial from the Wachusett Country Club
UPDATE: Last posted October 12, 2017
The photo of the jeep underneath the letter shows it without bow holders, but with an extra spare tire carrier. Does this mean the country club ordered it this way? Were the bow holders ever installed? There have been a couple early 2As that appeared unrestored, but without bow holders. I’ve wondered if they could be ordered that way.
Willys-Overland Porcelain Sign Johnston, RI $2750
Andy shared this sign, originally with neon. This would have been an early post-war sign.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/24697321019851283/
“3×6’ porcelain neon skin.”
Africa U.S.A. and Jeeps
UPDATE II: Here’s another Africa USA Postcard. It’s a available on eBay.
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UPDATED Aug 04, 2020: This post is an aggregation of Africa USA postcards and articles. Another postcard from the form adventure park popped up on eBay, this time with a CJ-5 pulling the trams:
View all the information on eBay
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Posted June 2019 on eBay, a CJ-3B pulling trams:
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From 2015: Africa USA, was part of a theme-park movement in the late 1950s that included New York’s Freedomland, Disneyland, Wisconsin’s Fort Dells, and others. By 1959, these parks were collectively generating revenue of $2 billion.
There is a feature article about these parks in the August 1, 1960, issue of Life Magazine. The picture below is from that article. You can take a ‘virtual’ jeep-train tour of Africa USA here (don’t expect much).
This article appeared in the December 1955 issue of Willys News. That’s the jeep train behind the animals.
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What 1946 Willys Overland ‘Jeep’ Owners Say ….
UPDATE: This was first published September 13, 2014.
These testimonials are from a Willys Overland Sales book dated 1946.
Some Jeep Slides on eBay
Here are some slides with jeeps currently for sale on eBay. The first one is an unusual tour jeep that I hadn’t seen previously. It’s somewhere at least semi-tropical, based on the upper right tree.
1. Here’s an FC-170 setup as a tour jeep. It appears to include a bed-extension on the back.
2. This slide shows a yellow CJ-5 and a ticket office at Harney Peak Black Hills SD:
3. This next two slides share images from 1962 of a Maine Forest Service MB. This is slide one:
4. This is slide two:
5. And, finally, this slide shows a rare yellow DJ-3A used by the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce. I don’t have many vintage photos showing a DJ-3A in the original yellow color (though they do appear on several brochures).
1946 Testimonial from Maine
Louis Mattar and His Cadillac Fleetwood
Scott spotted a story about Louis Mattar and his amazing Cadillac Fleetwood, which he and friends drove non-stop from the west coast to the west coast and back. Later, he drove it from Alaska to Mexico City, again non-stop. The article is worth a read!
Here’s the article from Haggerty: https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/more-than-70-years-ago-louie-mattar-drove-6320-miles-non-stop-in-his-fantastic-perpetual-motion-machine/
And, I found this video:
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And this earlier video from 1954, which shows them changing the front tire:
Finally, here’s a more modern CBS report about the car’s new home at a San Diego museum: