A reader named Andy contacted me the other day about a flatfender that he purchased. He was told it was a former airport Jeep. Anyone recognize some of these mods? How about them rims!
Andy writes, “No data tags inside the body, but need to check the firewall tomorrow. The guy I bought the jeep from says that he saw another one with the same wheels on it at the hunting camp where he got this jeep …. There is some use of aluminum in this body, goes hand in hand with the airport shop mod theory …. It appears that the patches in the floors and sides were not really needed at the time they were done.. the body was still very sound in those areas. Looking in the wheel wells, you can see the original not rusted body covered by a layer of metal from the top. I think you may be right on the combination of manuf. top with some airport shop ‘extras’. Those doors sure are unique, I have not seen such before ..”
I would bet it was used to pull a train of luggage from the plane to the terminal as the hitch is what was used for the luggage train setups.. Interesting periscope, maybe to see over top of the luggage train. I guess the luggage folks rode in the jeep?
I wouldn’t use those wheels on public highways…the mod was to get a wider track from a stock rim. I don’t think I would trust only four spokes and questionable welding…
Many airport jeeps were cut down and used to drive the stairway to the plane, It is alittle unusual how high this jeep is, They would have had to be careful to stay away from the plane..
Is it going to be kept in its current configuration or restored to stock? I’d lean towards keeping all the mods…and using modern spokers with wider tires.
I just can’t figure out the rims. I’m thinking about them……
I’ve seen people do this to rims. Dangerous and unbalanced are the words I would use to describe them.
I love the periscope for watching the airplane behind you.