UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2000.
(04/30/2012) I tried to uncover more information about the use of Willys engines in Holt Forklifts, but I found nothing.
However, regarding forklifts, I found that Mercury forklifts were stamped ‘JEEP’ prior to the development of the jeep:
Otis Elevator and Baker Electric Truck combined to produce the first Lift Truck in
1907. It had a nickel iron battery and it had a chain lift. The company was know as Otis-Baker. Baker manufactured the Baker Electric Car but then switched to industrial tow tractors and pushers. They had tiller steering. Otis Elavator was the preeminent expert in all things lift so the marriage was perfect.
Mercury electric trucks were competition for the Baker and they eventually became Pettibone-Mercury. Mercury had nothing to do with the Ford Motor Company and their use of the name pre-dates Ford’s. Mercury was the first company to use the word “jeep” on it’s forklifts. The use of the name pre-dated the famous Willys Jeep. Forklifts to this day are still called Jeeps and occasionally in an old industrial scap heap you may still see a counter weight for an original Jeep.
Read more: What year was the first forklift made? | Answerbag http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2136154#ixzz1tXwQxWfI
I tried to locate the year in which Mercury forklifts were first called jeeps, but have yet to find it. Instead, I found this brochure on ebay that clearly labels the forklift as JEEP as early as 1950.
======
Below we have the Holt Forklift that is for sale:
“holt forklift don’t know what year it is. the motor is a flathead 4cyl willys manual shift 4×4 drive.right now it needs electric fuel pump to run. asking 2000.00 obo call manny 760-250-9975 after 5pm or leaeve message before then.”
http://imperial.craigslist.org/cto/3118683325.html
So back in February, my buddy Bob and I raided an old factory in Kent, Ohio, formerly the Mason Rubber Co., then the Gougler Co. We got permission from the owner to remove some of those old steel sash windows before the building was torn down. We spent a good 12 hours at this. Anyway, they had a large elevator in the center of the factory. On the first floor, next to the elevator door was a sign that said “no Jeeps.” I guess they weighed too much for the elevator. That little sign is in my breezeway.