For a while I’ve run across Craigslist Ads for “The Jeep Guy Restorations” out of Scranton, Pa. Well, before I had a chance to contact him to learn more, the owner Bob Foster contacted me. He shares his history and provided some pictures. You can learn more about his restoration ship on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jeep-Guy-Restorations/273113772733381?sk=info Thanks for sharing your story. If you want to contact Bob, call him at 570 347-8998.
Bob wrote, “I inherited the business from my dad. He started the business in 1957. At first, we only did general repair work, but in 1963, my dad added bodywork and painting to our services. I helped him at a young age. Soon, I learned the fabrication of metal panels from my grandfather, who was a blacksmith that worked on the Erie locomotive shops here in Scranton, the anthracite capitol of the world. As a blacksmith, my grandfather even made his own tools. He passed down to me his knowledge of metalworking.
I started to help with the bodywork in earnest around 1969, eventually taking over the painting and bodywork. Most of the work was rust repair and full paints. Also, over time, I started to modify vehicles by cutting and shortening truck frames, adding dump bodies, making wreckers, and adding winches. I bought my first 4-wheel drive Ford in 1974 for $4,800 brand new. I still have it—I turned it into a wrecker. At my dad’s garage, we worked on Jeeps over the years, but not in large volumes. Not too many people in Scranton owned them in the 60s or 70s. To add to that, my dad did not like Jeeps: he had the impression that they did not hold up well.
In 1979, we bought a gas station, and my brother Ronnie joined us in running it. However, I had to oversee it and run the other shop, too. We later sold the station and bought 1 acre of commercial land, where I built a 40x30x16 garage for truck repairs. I still run out of the garage today. I added state inspections to the garage’s services in 1990. For most of the 90s and 2000s; truck repairs, vehicle inspections, bodywork, restorations, and modifications took up the bulk of my time.
However, in 2006, my wife and I were looking at projects that the boys at our church would enjoy, so I got the idea to find an old Jeep and work with them on it, getting it to run. So I advertised on Craiglist for an MB or CJ2A, and a young guy named Michael called in response. He lived about 20 miles away from Scranton, so we took our trailer and the boys along and bought one of his 40s civilian Jeeps. Michael is a WW2 reenacter, so he had his other Jeep painted OD green. It gave me the idea to do the same with ours.
Over time, WW2 and Korean War veterans that were my customers would come to the shop and tell stories about the Jeeps they drove in the War. As they grew older, I started to lose them as customers. However, because of their stories, I found a passion in restoring the Jeeps to remember the GIs that drove them. So after that, I bought two more Jeeps—they are like potato chips. This is the story of how I discovered my passion for army MBs and civilian Jeeps. They are a tribute to the men who drove them and worked on them.
As we were working on the Jeeps, getting them in running condition, people learned about my project. A worker at a local auto supply shop, an army veteran, told customers that had Jeep problems, “Go to that Jeep Guy over there. He’ll be able to help.” And the name stuck. For 40 years, I’ve worked on all types of vehicles, but now I’m looking to focus on Jeeps, both the old and the new.”
Here’s a project:
Here is another finished project:
