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Welcome to eWillys.com, a website for vintage jeep enthusiasts. I update this website nearly every day with jeep deals, jeep history, interesting reader projects, jeep related info, and more.
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The July 14th, 1955, issue of the Auburn Journal, Auburn California, highlighted events from a recent jeep trip in the Sierra Mountains from Wentworth Springs to Lake Tahoe.
William F. Baggerman in 1946 standing in front of his 1946 VEC CJ-2A. Behind the jeep is a trailer (a box on wheels). Standing to the side of the jeep is Charles Mum of the Laredo, Texas, AAA. William is just about to enter Mexico in 1946.
Wiliam F. Baggerman was born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri, area around 1914. He attended Washington University and Edinburgh University. He started Modern Management Co., a real estate management firm, in 1936, and later was employed with Sycamore Investors, Inc., a shopping center development company.
He entered what would become the Air Force right after Pearl Harbor and spent 20 months in the Pacific theatre, stationed for at least part of the time in Guam. While in Guam, for some unknown reason, he decided to travel to Central America after the war.
A year after the war ended, he purchased a jeep and, along with a trailer, headed south to Laredo, Texas, where he began his adventure.
After his trip, he wrote an 60 page book: Driving to Managua, Nicaragua (A Guide to the PanAmerican Highway Through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua).
The book is part guide book and part travelogue, as most of the text describes dryly how to travel through the various countries. Yet, the pics feel far more personal; there are at least 10 photos, almost all of which include the jeep. You can view the entire book online at Hathitrust.org.
The jeep he used appears to have been a VEC with indents and a column shift, but without the rear hubs. So, I’d guess a 15xxx to 30xxx serial number. The trailer is a box on wheels … anyone know what model?
Let’s look at some pics!
This is a map of the Pan American Highway. It’s not clear to me how much he veered off the highway:
This pic shows him just entering Mexico:
Those are some beautiful mountains. But who is looking at the mountains when you can peek inside the cab and see the column shifter:
Apparently, even the jeep couldn’t take William everywhere:
1. This first image shows a Cowboy in front of a CJ-3B with the jeep’s hood serving as a temporary desk. There is no description or date provided.
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2. These next three pics are included within one auction. View all the information on eBay. given the signs in the first photo, it would seem possible to locate where it was originally taken.
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“Original WW2 photos (2.5 x 3.75 inches), curled from age, with some handling wear. These belonged to Corporal Alton Gilbert, a soldier in Company A of the 506th Military Police Battalion.”
3. These three photos were taken near a mine in 1961. Based on the terrain, my off-the-cuff guess is that the scenes remind me of the area around Cripple Creek, Colorado. Anyone who knows the area better have different thoughts?
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“3 1960s 35mm Slides Family Enjoys Off Road Jeep Willys Mining Town Tour 1961”
UPDATE: As best as I can tell, it looks like 1963 was when Don Pratt’s Jeep Tours began working with the Kachina Cab company. The article appeared in the August 13, 1963, issue of the Arizona Republic:
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Originally posted June 2019: According to this Pink Jeep Tour site, Pink Jeep Tours is the oldest continuously operating Jeep Tour Company in the United States. It was started in 1958 by a Sedona Realtor named Don Pratt, who would drive clients to see homes at Broken Arrow Estates. The Broken Arrow tour is the original Jeep tour and is still today the most popular tour in Sedona.Why did he make the jeeps pink? Mr. Pratt got the idea while visiting the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach, where everything was pink.
But, that’s only part of the story. In her book Echoes of Sedona Past, Mary Lou Keller explains how her and her husband cleared the first trail and how, when Glenn Keller decided not to open a jeep tour business, their friend Don Pratt asked if he could do it instead. Mrs. Keller covers the story in five pages of her book available to read on Google.The book also includes the image below of Mary Lou Keller with her do Pico in her (probably) 1946 CJ-2A:
The negative of this below image was spotted by Steve. I wonder if the handling felt odd when the tank was full?
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“Original one-of-a-kind amateur 2 1/4″ square negative. Excellent condition. The listing image was created using PhotoShop to make a positive digital image. I did very little adjusting; you should be able to produce a much better print/image than the one shown in this listing.”
Steve shared this July 2, 1943, article in the South Western Adviser (Perth, WA, Australia) about a couple of soldiers in a jeep who decided to join an English hunt.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/149800975?
July 02, 1943, South Western Adviser, Australia
“JEEP HUNT”
THE UNITED STATES ARMY JEEP, ITS DRIVERS SAY, CAN GO ANYWHERE, AND DO ANYTHING, BUT, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, ONE WAS USED TO RIDE TO HOUNDS IN AN ENGLISH | STAG HUNT.
It happened “somewhere in England,” as soldiers developed their shooting eyes for Jerries on a rifle range. A firing group had just taken up places;’ adjust rifle slings, and were aiming, when the officer in charge yelled, “Hold it, men!”
Directly across the row of distant targets bounded a , magnificent stag. Soldiers’ mouths fell open as out of the; woods a Jeep hurtled in hot pursuit. In it rode two yelling, khaki-clad Robin Hoods.
The sergeant driver sent his vehicle bounding across small streams, missing trees by inches. A few seconds later a pack of hounds appeared in full cry. In fourth place, and well out of the
money, dashed mounted huntsmen.
An officer promptly ended the Doughbouys participation in the hunt. Huntsmen made it clear that chasing stags in Jeeps is definitely frowned upon in England. They also added—politely—that hunting is done only by invitation.
—Canadian Press Dispatch. J
Joe shared these two Albany Police Department police photos posted by Albany’s Times Union online newspaper. The CJ-2A riot jeep is pic #30 of 35. The Wagon is pic #2 of 35.
Roger Martin shared this photo of, most likely, a CJ-2A or CJ-3A that was modified and outfitted with a camera. He spotted on Facebook. It was used on the set of the original Road Warrior Movie.
I was unable to find another photo of the camera jeep, but I did find a modified CJ-3B used for the Road Warrior (Fury Road) remake.
Bill shared this photo taken by a young Jefferson Siegel during the 1968 Democratic Convention. He wrote about being a 16yo photographer during the eventful convention.
6am, the morning after intense street battles in downtown Chicago. Photograph: Jefferson Siegel
UPATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
A color slide from 1941? That’s a rarity.
“Original 35mm film slide.
Subject: U.S. Army MP Willys Jeep at Camp Sibert (or Siebert) in Boulder City, NV.
Date: Oct. 1941
Mount/Film Type: Kodachrome, red border
The scan below has not captured all detail, but shows the relative sharpness of the slide. The green text reading “embitt scan” was superimposed after scanning.”
An October 18, 1949, article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced Daniel M. Towns decision to drive a jeep from Magallanes, Chile, to Fairbanks, Alaska, then drive to Washington, D.C. He is hoping to be able to cross the Darien Gap rather than boat around it. He plans to use tracks on a jeep to get through the Gap. As of the date of the article, Willys-Overland (or a dealer) had already agreed to supply a jeep.
A few weeks later, Towns received some advice from Frank Buck, as described in a November 07, 1949, article in the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. Frank Buck died a few months later.
These three photos appear to show a CJ-3B with a Beck half-cab. Based on the background, my best guess is the photos were taken somewhere in the Colorado Plateau region. The price is good.
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“Lot of 3 Smae Image Original Vintage Snapshot Photos Jeep CJ on Farm dated 1956 largest Size is 3.5×5″ inches.”
