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Long Island or Bust

November 6, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features, GPA (SEEP) This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Neither rain, snow, sleet or hail will stop us as Ann and I begin our trek across the US with Long Island and the retrieval of some paintings for my parents as our ultimate goal. Ok, maybe the snow and sleet will slow us a bit, so I hope to see none of either!  On Saturday we arrived in Salt Lake for a quick visit with my kids.  We begin the trek west on Monday.

As we passed through Idaho on our way to Salt Lake on Saturday we made a quick stop at Josh’s for my first ever chance to drive a GPA!  Even though it doesn’t go anywhere just yet, it was still fun to pretend. Josh has plenty of work left to restore this rare vehicle and continues a search for parts.  So, if you have or know of any GPA/SEEP parts, please add a comment to this post and let him know!  Thanks Josh!

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Buz Visits the Good Guys Hot Rod Show

October 30, 2011 • CATEGORIES: CJ-3A, Features, Unusual, Willys Trucks • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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On Saturday Buz stopped by the Good Guys Hot Rod show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.  He saw some cool vehicles and took some pictures of them for us.  Thanks Buz!

Buz reports that the makers of these bags are waiting for approval from Jeep to produce this tool bag. He says everyone there wanted to buy this one prototype.

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1920 Trip of 25,000 Miles

October 29, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Camping, Features, Trips, Unusual This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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A few days ago in Omaha Ann took me to a favorite local chain called PepperJax.  Somebody decided to turn the concept of a buritto shop — where the customer moves down from station to station as someone builds their burrito — into a philly steak shop.  So, you can get steak over rice, in a sandwich, in a salad, and more.  It was quite good, with the bun made fresh minutes before my sandwich was built and piled high with steak.

After devouring my sandwich, I was admiring some of the old pictures hanging on the wall when I spotted this interesting photo.  I tried to find more information about it, but the story escaped my searches.  A caption underneath the picture states the image was of an Auto Camp taken September 23, 1920 at Elmwood Park in Omaha, Nebraska,.  On the car, which appears to sport all metal spoke wheels (or maybe part wood), were the following phrases:

1.  ONLY A FORD
2. 25,000 Miles in 1 YR
3. OVER – 11,000 M in 3 months
4. over 5,000 towns and cities
5. ______ OR BUST (I couldn’t make out the first word).

The car is pretty strange.  There must be a good story here.  Below is the whole picture followed by a closeup of the car.

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Chemical Smoke Testing At Dugway in Utah

October 29, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE:  A reader at Wes’ offroadaction site noted that these are likely pictures of smoke testing rather than chemical testing as claimed by the Tribune.  You can view Harold’s response here.

I spotted these pics at the Salt Lake Tribune’s online site.  I wish there were more close ups of the equipment.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52661179-78/lookback-dugway-weapons-testing.html.csp

 

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Willys Cab, Dodge Frame & Peterbuilt Front Ross, Tx eBay

October 29, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features, Unusual, Willys Wagons • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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From the “I would never have though of doing that department” comes this unique build.

“Custom 1 Ton Truck, 1953 Willys cab stretched 2 foot, with Peterbilt hood, sitting on a 1 ton dodge frame 12 valve cummings diesel, automatic transmission, it haS 142,000 miles on a complete drive train. has tilt/cruise control, a/c and heat work, runs and drive excellent. comes with a 27 foot flatbed trailer, has 2 7500 pound axles, tires on the whole rig are in excellent condition.

You can contact Frank at 254-855-4677”

View all the pics on eBay

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A Flattie at Crazy Horse Memorial

October 27, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Today’s journey took us in and out of the Black Hills and, as I write this, we are cruising towards Billings.  The first stop today was the Starbucks in Rapid City, SD, where we managed to cause problems.  Somehow, Ann and I got too busy talking and managed to drive right by the order box.  When we got to the window and explained that we missed the box, the servers quickly began jumped into action.  Mayhem and disaster followed as car after car backed up in the ordinarily slow-paced town, while the servers attempted to stick our order in between the finished orders of others.  By the time we drove away and saw the line of cars behind us, we knew we would never be welcomed back.  I’m sure the servers were muttering ‘damn tourists’ as we drove away ….

Our next stop was Mt. Rushmore.  This was very cool to see in person, more majestic than pictures make it.  I guess the Park Service has also embraced the majesty, by charging a kingly price for parking of $11.00.  Using some stealth techniques, we snapped some pictures and left for our next destination, the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The Crazy Horse Memorial costs $10 per person to enter, but for the money there is plenty in the visitor’s center to see.  After touring the building,  I spotted a flat fender in a painting by Jake Eggars hanging on one of the walls.  I thought that was a bit strange, the color and look of the jeep (the color and bumper both unusual) that I wondered if it was drawn from a real jeep.  So, when I got back to my computer, I started doing some searches.  I finally discovered the below pics of the jeep taken in April of this year.  No place is too remote for me NOT to find a jeep 🙂

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyhorsememorial/5672487678/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyhorsememorial/5671920257/in/photostream/

 

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James’ 1950 CJ-3A Project

October 25, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-3A, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Seventeen year old James emailed me the other day asking if I’d like to stop by and see his jeep while I was in Denver.  Of course, my answer was yes, so we arranged a time to visit yesterday.

After meeting him and his father, I learned that this was James’ first vehicle project.  After deciding he wanted an old flat fender, he looked around some before he found a great deal on a 1950 CJ-3A with an overdrive, a sound body and frame, and a running engine.  Unfortunately, after buying the jeep, he quickly discovered his 6’8″ body was a little lanky for a flattie.  Since he is a little big for it, his goal is to give it a light restoration, get it running good, and then sell it.  It looks oike a great father/son project and I wish them the best of luck with it!  So, expect to see this CJ-3A available on eWillys at some future point. Thanks goes to James for emailing me and sharing his jeep.

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Pikes Peak

October 23, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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I made my first ascent of Pike’s Peak today. Accompanied by Ann and her nephew Michaes, we braved the beautiful blue skies and perfect temperatures to wind our way to the 14,110 foot summit.  From Colorado Springs it took about an hour to reach the peak.  Three things surprised me about the ascent.  1) The toll road cost $39 to drive (car plus 3 passengers); 2) Santa’s workshop sits at the base of Pike’s Peak (who knew)?; 3) The concessionaire at the top of the peak is famous for its donuts (which were pretty good).

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A Unique Hunting Jeep

October 21, 2011 • CATEGORIES: Features, M-38 • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Paul forwarded me some images from a friend of his who built this hunting jeep for a client.  I think there is some nice work here.  Thanks Paul! My weapons specialist gf thought it was very cool!

Paul wrote, “this M-38 was built by a friend of mine (Rob Fife), who is a master at fabrication. He restored the M-38 for a customer, who then decided he wanted a hunting rack on it. He built the frt/rear racks to be quick attach, with quick pins,  and the rear seat mounts on pedestals so it can be used front or rear. Then the customer decided he wanted to use in parades so gun mounts were added for (3) airsoft m60’s for crowd control. It handles good and isn’t too top heavy.”

 

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