1952 CJ-3A on the left and a 1962 CJ-3B on the right.

In the ‘it’s a small world’ category, David Darrah grew up barely a mile from where I did in Renton. His father Ray was a charter member of the Seattle Rump Bumpers Jeep Club, so he’s had jeeping in his blood from birth.  Where David lived was just a street over from George Steele. George has been involved with jeeps a long time (and still is — I talked with him this summer) and my parents knew him pretty well. As a teen, David knew George well also, occasionally begging him for discounted parts for his first jeep, a 1942 MB.

A few years ago David had a chance to buy a green CJ-3A that George had rebuilt back in 1996 (though George no longer owned it). Despite owning several different flat fenders over the years (see end of post), just owning one jeep wasn’t enough, so David recently bought a second one Willys, a 1962 CJ-3B that needed a little bit of work. David feels like he’s well on his way to owning a ‘collection’ of jeeps. He just needs some more room (don’t we all!). David lives in Puyallup now, so I’ll be getting down there at some point to talk jeeps and see these in person. Thanks for sharing David!

1952 CJ-3A with some modern touches added by George Steele:
153 cu. in. Iron Duke 4 cyl, T14 3-spd, Dana 18 T.C, manual saginaw steering, Cherokee 11 inch drum brakes, Warn Hubs and Overdrive. Stock Dana 25/41 538 ratio. 3A needs nothing other than replace a few warn parts in Overdrive unit (growls a tad—still works good) Owned this Jeep almost 3 Years now.

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