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1948 Photo of MB/GPW at Cape Hattaras

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This photo was taken August 8, 1948, at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It was posted to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Facebook page. According to the post, “On August 8, 1948 flags flew from the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, as the United States Coast Guard celebrated the 158th anniversary of its founding. Governor R. Gregg Cherry flew in by helicopter and spoke at the celebration, which also included Coast Guard apparatus demonstrations and a mammoth fish fry.”

The jeep looks to be an MB or GPW with a custom top accented by sliding doors. It’s a pretty nice setup.

1948-08-08-jeep-custom-hardtop1 1948-08-08-jeep-custom-hardtop2

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Circa 1945 Photo of Scott’s Grandfather

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Scott just discovered eWillys and is having fun digging through 59,000+ posts. He also shared the pic below and a story about it.

1945-N-Len-Jeep-color-photo-jeep

“This is a picture of my grandfather, Norman Len, in his Jeep. The picture was taken probably in 1945 at NAS Barbers Point, HI where my grandfather was in “Carrier Aircraft Service Unit TWO” (CASU-2).

The interesting backstory is that my grandfather, before going in the Navy in 1944, worked for the Willys Overland Aircraft Division in Toledo manufacturing center wing sections for the Corsair fighter. He used those skills in the Navy as an Aviation Machinists Mate working on a variety of carrier based aircraft.

Also, it’s likely that the jeep he is sitting in was partially assembled by family members – my Great Grandfather (Nickolas Len) and his brother (William “Bill” Len) both worked for Willy’s/Kaiser/Jeep from the late 30’s to the 1960’s.”

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1946 Photo of Jeep and New T28 Tank on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I suppose the jeep is included in this press photo for size reference purposes?

View all the information on eBay

“1946 Press Photo T28 Army Tank and Military Jeep in Aberdeen, Maryland. This is an original press photo. 100-Ton Tank Unveiled by Army – Aberdeen, Maryland – Jeep is dwarfed by new superheavy T28 tank, one of the new Army weapons showed for the first time at the 28th annual meeting of the Army Ordnance Association before 6,000 industrialists. The tank, said to be the biggest vehicle ever built for the Army, weighs nearly 100-tons and carries a 105mm gun.Photo measures 7 x 10inches. Photo is dated 10-03-1946.”

1946-10-03-tank-jeep-1 1946-10-03-tank-jeep-2

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1942 Photo of Jeep Stuck in Sand on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Barney Goodwin wanted to note that jeeps get stuck in duck ponds, too…

He writes, “While in the Navy in Stockton, I bought this 43 GPW from a farmer up in Anderson CA. After a paint using the local USMS detachment’s supply, we did a mechanical refresh, rollbar, and some stuff and took it our to test it at the base duck pond which I managed.

Got stuck in the marsh near it and had to pull it out with a friend’s M151. Fun times! Happy New Year!”

barney-pond-anderson-ca-stuck-jeep

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Yep, apparently this soldier learned the hard way that jeeps can get stuck in sand.

View all the information on eBay

1942-photo-camp-seeley-stuck-jeep-sand1

1942-photo-camp-seeley-stuck-jeep-sand2

“ORIGINAL WWII PHOTO – ORIGINAL TO THE TIME – NOT A COPY, SCAN, OR REPRO

QUANTITY: 1 – See the other original WWI & WWII photos that I have listed.
ITEM: Original WWII photo of US Army JEEP in DESERT SAND at Ordnance Desert Proving Ground, Camp Seeley, California, 1942. Photo was taken by GI named D. W. Bonachevski who was stationed at Camp Seeley.

SORRY. I WILL NOT SELL OR SHIP THIS ITEM TO RUSSIA, AFRICA, OR SOUTH AMERICA DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH POSTAL SYSTEMS.
DATE: WWII – photo does not glow under a black light.
SIZE: 3.75″ x 4.75″
CONDITION: Very Good; see scans.
BACK: Has descriptive note written in pencil; See last scan..

SOURCE: From the archives of the World War History & Art Museum (WWHAM) in Alliance, Ohio. WWHAM designs and delivers WWI and WWII exhibits to other museums. Our traveling exhibits include Brushes With War, a world class collection of 325 original paintings and drawings by soldiers of WWI, and Iron Fist, an HO scale model of the German 2nd Panzer Division in 1944 with 4,000 vehicles and 15,000 men.”

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Photos of Jeeps at Bauman’s Gas Station Toledo, Ohio on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

A half-cab tow-equipped CJ-2A at Bauman’s Service Station appears in two different photos on eBay. Both pics show the #4 on the doors.

The last photo shows a CJ-3A with the #9 painted onto the side. “DORR & SECOR” was painted on all the Bauman vehicles.

  1. 1961 Photo of Bauman’s during the day:
    1961-02-photo-tow-fleet-baumans-cj2a-0 1961-02-photo-tow-fleet-baumans-cj2a-1 1961-02-photo-tow-fleet-baumans-cj2a-2
  2. This undated photo was taken at night:
    1961-02-photo-tow-fleet-baumans-cj2a-10 1961-02-photo-tow-fleet-baumans-cj2a-11 1961-02-photo-tow-fleet-baumans-cj2a-12
  3. Undated photo of CJ-3A at Bauman’s with Tow Package:
    cj3a-baumans-tow-jeep

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Photo of 4 Bantam BRC-60s

• CATEGORIES: Bantam-FordGP-WillysMA-EarlyJPs, Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Brian spotted this photo showing 4 Bantam BRC-60s rolling down a hill. This was posted to the Butlers Standard Eight Facebook Group. The text on the photo reads: “Bantam BRC 40s”  Four of the 70 prototypes produced between September 1940 and December 1940. Despite what the text indicates, we know those as Bantam BRC-60s, not 40s.

4-bantams-brc-60-photo-2a-lores

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1957 Park ‘Jeep’ Dealership St. Louis Park, MN

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: As JoeB points out (and I missed), the van is an Economy 2WD Deliver Chassis with a Montpelier body conversion (vs. the Boyer version).

http://www.ewillys.com/2013/12/02/economy-delivery-van-image-comparison/#more-150114

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Several folks shared this photo with me. It was published by Paul Swanson on Facebook. HIs family used to own the dealership. The fourth vehicle in the row looks to be an unusual model of the economy/package/delivery van. You’ll note it lacks front hubs, suggesting it was 2WD. Some were 2WD and some 4WD vans: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/07/06/photo-of-an-unusual-boyerstown-built-2wd-delivery-van/

Paul dates the photo to 1957, but to me the FC-150 on the left and the first FC-150 in the row of jeeps look like they are not narrow tracks, which would put the photo later than 1957. Moreover, I cannot find any ads for Park Jeep earlier than the summer of 1958.

Paul indicated that he will post better images of the van.

1957-park-jeep-sales-photo-fb-dealer

1957-park-jeep-sales-photo-fb-dealer2

From the February 02, 1960, issue of the Minneapolis Star. Strangely, I could not locate any ads earlier than the summer of 1958. So, it’s unclear to me when the dealership opened. You’ll note this ad mentions an Economy van; maybe the one in the pic above never sold.

Clipping from The Minneapolis Star - Newspapers.com

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1944 Article on Former Decorator’s Japanese Prisoners

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This is a fun article about a former decorator turned jeep jockey named Pvt. Hurshal (Peewee) Wilson in New Guinea ‘captured’ 17 prisoners. It appeared in the Medford Mail Tribune (Medford,Oregon). His jeep was named “Helen” after his girlfriend.

Hurshal would survive WWII and leave the Army a Tech 5, but his relationship to Helen did not. Instead, he married Deedra R (Harman) Wilson. He passed away in 1991, his wife passing later in 2006, with both buried at Riverside National Cemetery. There is no evidence they had children.

After finding the article, a search on eBay led to this photo of Hurshal:

1944-05-03-hurshal-peewee-wilson1 1944-05-03-hurshal-peewee-wilson2

Here’s the article:

1944-05-03-mail-tribune-medford-or-17-jap-prisoners

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Wrecked Jeep Photos (2 With Wood Bodies)

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Wood bodies This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

These photos appeared on Facebook, though some have made the rounds over the years. The pics that really caught my eye were the wooden test body pics. Kaiser Willys has some history and more pics on these wood-bodied test jeeps: https://blog.kaiserwillys.com/the-wooden-willys-jeep-test.

jeep-wreck-wood-body1

jeep-wreck-wood-body2

The remainder of the wrecked jeeps:

jeep-wreck14

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