Here’s a cool photo. I can’t say for sure where that was taken.
“1955 Press Photo A modern prospector using Geiger counter jeep & other gear”
Here’s a cool photo. I can’t say for sure where that was taken.
“1955 Press Photo A modern prospector using Geiger counter jeep & other gear”
I spent Saturday wrestling with our plumbing. A simple replacement of a spigot outside the house turned into several trips to Lowes! Simultaneously, we dug up around the pond to figure out where it was leaking. Once the pipes were exposed, the leaking stopped. Go figure! So, no updates for Sunday.
Congratulations goes to my daughter Kasia. She graduates from East High School in Salt Lake this June. She’s been accepted into a special science program at the University of Utah. However, she’ll be delaying college for a year, because she’s been accepted into the FEMA/Americorps program, the same one Karson did last year. She reports to Maryland in July. Wow, they grow up fast!
On Friday the Toledo Jeep Plant unveiled a Willys MB for a Veteran’s display. What makes this story unusual is that from start to finish the team only had five weeks to find a jeep, get it delivered, and rebuild it. That’s a pretty short window! The person tasked with finding the jeep was former plant manager Jerry Huber. Naturally, he turned to eWillys to locate the jeep. He shared his adventure in an email.
Jerry wrote, “I e-mailed you a couple of months ago to congratulate you on the ewillys website and to tell you how much I enjoy it. Well, here’s a short story you’ll enjoy. About five weeks ago, I was contacted by some of my friends at the Toledo Jeep Plant asking if I could help them find a donor Willys Jeep that could be turned into a Memorial Replica for a Veterans display at the Plant. After accepting the challenge, since they wanted it completed for Memorial Day weekend, I scoured your website for potential vehicles and since we were operating on a small budget it was pretty tough.
When I spotted a 42 Willys in Texas with an asking price of $995, the folks at the Plant immediately jumped on it. The seller was so impressed with the intended purpose that he offered to deliver it to the plant in return for a Plant Tour and a couple of Tee-shirts. We rec’d the Willys at the Plant on May, 10th and the mechanics, body and paint crews went to work immediately.
The Jeep workers and the current Plant Management really got behind the project and gave it their full support. Special kudos to the team from Jeep that pulled of the restoration in such a short time. Finding the donor Willys was a first step and this would not have happened without your ewillys site. Thanks for all your effort to sustain the Willys Jeep heritage.”

World War II veteran and Jeep retiree Lupe Flores, right, looks at the restored Jeep. Behind him is Ron Szymanski, and Bob Kiss, one of the painters on the project. THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER
You can read more about the event in the Toledo Blade:
http://www.toledoblade.com/Automotive/2014/05/24/WWII-vehicle-made-here-marks-holiday.html
Charles shared these photos.
This video is fun to watch!
Here are a couple pages from the 1944 Willys Overland Annual Report. I thought their inclusion of the Willys engine as an independent product was very interesting. As you can see they really thought there was a big market for it.
It’s just amazing how large the plant was and how little is left.
Here’s a scam I didn’t know about. The ad was pretty convincing, because the ad title “Old jeep army navy usmc” was so poorly written in terms of keywords. The seller acts as if they don’t really know what they have.
Honestly, I thought I’d scored big. However, I had enough sense to email Josh and he deflated my bubble gently. Oh well, I’ll keep searching . . .
There’s a discussion about this at G503: http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=334790
Bob just posted Paul Berry’s keynote speech from the 2014 Spring Midwest Willys Reunion. For those that don’t know, Paul Berry operates Willys America. The presentation lasts fifty minutes and covers some of the lesser known Willys/Jeep service vehicles.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
As late as 1957 they were still using/moving MBs.
“1951 USS Cabot LIFTING Jeep ship Press Photo 65”
Here’s an original press photo of Half-Safe landing in Shenya, AK, on July 9, 1957.