I ran across Jeepster Jim’s Website. If anyone has any experience with him, let us know.
Website Research Archives
Shipping Via Grey Hound
I’ve heard that some people use Grey Hound Buses to ship parts, but Josh is the first to provide first hand experience. Here’s what he had to say.
“As a tip and likely often overlooked when trying to ship something, Grey Hound offers an excellent shipping service (cheaper and faster than USPS in every experience I’ve had) I recently had a full gpw windshield assembly with gun rack in a crate, a set of mb top bows, a skid plate, an air cleaner and a small pile of other parts all shipped in the same load by greyhound for less than $140. They are the way to go when it comes to these bulky parts. Also for a $2 fee they take C.O.D for shipping expense so no need for the seller to get back to you just pay for the part they drop it off packaged up at gray hound and you wait a couple of days for a phone call to come pick up your stuff! (sometimes they even help load )”
Witness to War
CNN reported on Witness to War, an interesting website devoted to the stories of Combat Veterans. I decided to search the site for “jeep” and discovered a story told by Tom Kennedy about surviving a blast in a jeep.
VMSB244.com Honors some WWII Vets
Alan has been sharing those great jeeping images from the Four Corners. He helps run a website called VMSB244.com where WWII men from the VMSB244 squadron are honored and remembered. One cool feature is that they have scanned original letters written by the men of that squadron.
Hotchkiss M201 ENTAC at Musee Des Blindes, Saumur, France
According to the M201.com website, in 2009 the Musee Des Blindes in Saumur, France, unveiled a Hotchkiss M201 ENTAC. I do not remember ever seeing one of these.
As far as I can tell, this M201 is the only jeep at this particular museum. These first and last pics are from this page on the M201 website. The 2nd pic was on Flicker and taken by Massimo Foti.
Hubert’s Must-See Jeep Family Site
Craig dropped me a note today about an old friend of his.
Craig writes, “I was doing a little web surfing and found an old lost friend, Hubert Cossard. I had been in contact with Hubert some 9 years ago about some awesome drawings he had made of Forward Control Jeeps. There were definite communication barriers back then as I am a little behind on foreign languages (even known to destroy my own language a bit!) [ed note: you aren’t alone!] but was in total awe of Hubert’s detailed drawings. Like many internet sites, there one day and gone the next, Hubert’s site disappeared.
Though I lost contact with Hubert years ago, by accident I just found his new, greatly expanded site. On the Jeep Family link there are drawings of just about every Jeep ever built or thought of. It’s a gotta-check-out-site!”
One quick trip to the site and I can only second Craigs description of the drawings. I couldn’t say for sure if they are scale-exact drawings, but they sure have the detail of someone who knows their jeeps. The site is in French, so if you need to translate anything, you might try Google Translate.
Here is an example of Hubert’s work below. Check out all of them here.
Willys Acres: Willys Restoration and Parts in Canada
Looking for Willys parts or a restorer for your jeep and are located in Canada? You might try Willys Acres at 3224 Line 7 North (Coulson) Oro Station, Ontario, Canada. They have a collection of jeeps for sale, including the Boyer Fire Jeep in the post below.
From the company’s website, “First and foremost, we are a Canadian company that takes pride in the satisfaction of restoring World War II military jeeps and being able to sell very rare jeep parts for those that wish to do the work themselves…. We restore complete vehicles. The customer vehicles in the Photo Gallery are awaiting restoration. Our facilities consist of about 8,000 sq. ft. … We have about 50 jeeps in our Jeep yard, so have a look to see if any suits your fancy.”
Check out this photo from Offroad Action
I was checking out Wes’ Offroad Action site the other day and ran across this amazing photo. There is no evidence to support the rumor that the driver was texting just before this occurred (in fact, texting was a few decades away yet). But, I’ll make the claim anyway. See kids, particularly my kids, don’t text and drive off road!
Click on the pic to see a larger version and to see other pics of this CJ-5 Camper Combo.
Flattie Parts from Brazil
UPDATE: Roberto had originally noted this was from Brazil, but when I checked out the website, I saw Londrina – PR, which I interpreted as Londrina, PR. So, I did a search from Londrina, PR and somehow found a town called Londrina in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, it seems I was a sleep at the keyboard. Because Hugo, from Uruguay, contacted me and told me the company was based in Brazil. Puzzled, I did another search and could no longer find a Londrina in Puerto Rico. Oh, the mysteries of the internet! So, thanks to Hugo and Roberto!
Roberto spotted this Cinfel website. I don’t know anything about the seller and I can’t tell if the seller is simply a reseller or manufactures these parts. Anyone know?
Green Diamond Tire
Gerald spotted these unusual tires. The theory behind these tires is similar to the “Sawdust tires” that were produced and sold a couple decades ago. Sawdust tires were recapped tires with sawdust (sometimes walnut shells were used too) embedded within the rubber mold so that as the rubber wore, the sawdust was exposed. These tires were only good for a year, but according to internet reports, worked quite well. Apparently, they were also much friendlier to the pavement than studded tires, though studded tires work better. Here’s a brief thread about them.
According to their history, the Green Diamond Tire of North America arrived in 1999. As of 2009, the company is under new management and seeking to build a manufacturing location in the Western US. Probably one reason for the Western Location is that a large number of Big O Tire retail outlets are selling the tires in Colorado. The company’s western headquarters is currently located in Denver.