This is an interesting story. George Baxter of ArmyJeepParts.com rebuilt this 1946 CJ-2A with a Willys MB frame, one of handful of production CJ-2As with MB frames. Thanks to Mark Smith and WarJeeps.com for alerting me.
videos Research Archives
UPDATE: Jeep’s Groundhog Day Commercial with Bill Murray
UPDATE: There’s an interesting story about the making of this commercial; it almost didn’t happen. It was shot in the same town where Murray shot Groundhog Day, just two weeks before the SuperBowl. Murray calls it his first and last national commercial.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/how-jeep-landed-bill-murray-for-its-groundhog-day-super-bowl-ad.html
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Original Post Feb 2, 2020: Maury alerted me to this funny commercial. Hope you all enjoy it.
Jeeps in January 2020
Scott Gilbert shared these pics and the video from Joe DeYoung’s annual winter jeep gathering. Looks like a good time! A shout out is also in order to Richard Darr from Washougal Classic Jeep, who supplied some discounted rebuild parts.
As part of the event this weekend, Joe rebuilt a 1 1/8 shaft D18 to raffle at the Spring Willys Reunion (May 15-16, 2020). They’ll also be building one live at the show.
Greatest Show on Earth
Since the last ad in the post above promoted “The Greatest Show on Earth”, I figured it would be neat to see some video footage of an ad from that show. Here is one:
1953 Mighty Mite Video
What a great early video showing Mighty Mite testing.
Buster Keaton Lessons In Living Jeep Commercials
I didn’t realize the Buster Keaton had done multiple commercials for Jeep under the brand “Lessons In Living”. Here are three that I found:
1 At the end of this commercial Jeep highlights the Hong Kong and Maverick TV series:
2. This is the most common version I’ve seen on line:
3. You can depend on a service station jeep owner:
1958ish Snow Removal Commercial
Tis the season for a snow removal commercial. This one must be about 60 years old.
VIDEO: Ford Reconnissance Cars Join The Army
I’ve posted something similar to this video, but not this specific one (at least that I can find). This early 1941 film reel is narrated and shares the news that Ford’s Reconnissance Cars would be joining the Army. The video is located at the National Archives.
1952 Navy Foam Fire Fighting Jeep Prototype
UPDATE: Thanks to Ted, below I’ve added an article and more images from a March 1953 Popular Science article about the little fire fighting jeep, also known as the “Little Squirt”.

This video from the National Archives Catalog shows a special-purpose fire fighting jeep the Navy was testing. The video is divided into two parts. The first part shows the jeep fighting a fire. The second part shows the jeep from various angles. I’ve also included some images from the video below. (If the video is slow or doesn’t work, go here to download the video).
More on The New Mexico Jeep Derbys
The February 1963 issue of Popular Mechanics included an article about the New Mexico Jeep Derby held annually in Truth or Consquences, New Mexico. It’s a great article about the early days of jeep racing. I’ve also included a video of one Derby race, but the quality is poor. Still, in some clips, you can see just how much the co-pilot shifts his body around the jeep.
View Popular Mechanics February 1963 at Google Books









