As I looked through Sebastian’s pictures from his trip to Colombia, I noticed the two images with toy jeeps.  It’s so shocking to see a toy made out of metal any more that they really stood out.  I asked Sebastian about them and this is what he told me.

Sebastian writes, “yes they are metal jeeps and done with such detail that is hard to believe. Even the interior (not shown on the pictures) is done exacalty as the real thing. The cars have stearing wheals and shockers. I never saw those before, the only down side was the price: $75 US Dollars, it is probably worth it because all the labor that requires, but it is still expensive specially in an economy like Colombia. They had red, pink, and olive green. On the other hand, in most cities of Colombia you can find small pottery Willys, they are probably 2 inches long, 1 to 1.5 inches tall, made with clay and decorated Colombian style as the “Yipao”, those are probably $2 US Dollars each; you can see the price contrast.”

Colin contacted me a few days ago.  As a tech article writer for the Willys Overland Jeepster Club site, a restorer and owner of multiple willys, and, as you can see below, a very creative guy, Colin has a wide range of Willys experiences.

He’s been kind enough to share images and information from both his restorations and a friend’s as well.  I’ll be publishing them over the next week.  Tonight I thought I’d share this unusual project. Thanks  Colin!

Colin writes, “Here are some photos of a little Jeep I built for my middle son and grandkids.  It is a 1/2 scale Bemak 1941 Willys MB Slat Grille body mounted on a 1980 John Deere 111 lawn tractor chassis and powerplant.  It has an 11 hp Briggs and Stratton engine with 5 speed manual transmission.  I had to do a little cutting on the body to get it to fit the chassis, but most everything worked out pretty easily.

It has a 12volt electrical system with working headlights from Harbor Freight, WW II blackout lights for the front parking lights, and a WW II blackout lens with red LED for the taillight, a Harbor Freight 2000lb winch and a trailer hitch and receiver on the rear.  I fabricated the front and rear bumpers to match the Willys stuff.   I used EZ Go golf cart front hubs to get 4 bolt pattern for the  Harbor Freight wheels and tires.  I modified the rear axles to accept the 4 bolt wheels.  I mounted a spare tire on the rear and fabricated a “jerry can” mount for the 1.5 gallon jerry can that is the fuel tank.  I used the old clutch and brake pedals from the CJ3A and fabricated the shift linkage for the 5 speed transmission.  The seat is a 1950s Willys station wagon driver’s side seat that I modified to do a double fold forward, where it covers the 12 volt battery. The windshield has Lexan inserted and a buddy made me a to scale WW II rifle mount for the back of the windshield.  He also has restored WW II Jeeps, one MB that he just sold and the other is a 1944 Ford GPW US Navy Jeep.  I painted it in WW II US Navy paint scheme, as our son is retired USN.”

See many more images by following the link below ….

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Gerald reports that Lego has put out some Toy Story Flat Fender Toys.  He found some other Lego flatties, too.