Dan & Jean’s 1950 Willys-Overland Jeep Station Wagon
I was doing some research on a Willys Overland site in downtown Denver when I stumbled upon a blog from 2013 about Jean and Dan. They rebuilt a 1950 Wagon they called Jenny, then traveled 10,300 miles through 15 states to visit 12 western National Parks over 63 days.
This link summarizes the trip, with the latest posts at the top: http://www.ati-engineers.com/blog.
there are lots of pics and videos.
This link summarizes the build: http://www.ati-engineers.com/willys-trek-2013/history-of-our-jeep.html
This example video highlights a drive across Hoover Dam, with music playing and the engine chugging happily:
he gave a wonderful presentation at the first Southeast Willys gathering in October. He concentrated on on the road maintenance and such. Wonderful people and a very beautiful wagon 🙂 -Merlin
Interesting story.
Back in 1962 my family went on a 4-week vacation to the West, using the 1951 Willys Wagon.
It had 135,000 miles on it when we left. Did nothing but a tune-up and an oil change before
hitting the road.
I don’t remember exactly, but we put about 8,000 miles on it with no mechanical problems.
My mother kept a diary of the trip.
We continued to use the Wagon until 1967, at which time it had 200,000 miles on it, and
traded it on a 1965 Wagoneer.
Awesome stories.
David, any pictures?
There are pictures.
At the time 8mm movies, and 2×2 color slides (120 ektachrome)
I will see if I can find something.
I was going through the old photo albums from the 50’s and found quite a
few black and white photos of the trips my family did.
During our travels, we did 37 cross-country trips, the first one being in 1952.
Also, in 1950 we went to Texas, in 1951 we went to Florida.
Those trips were with the 1949 Jeepster.
Drove the ours from Norhtern AZ to Ste St Marie Mich and back one winter with no prep maintenance and none required during the trip. That was mid-sixties. I’ll never forget the trip and I’ll also bet there are a number of us here that have a similar story. A new thread Dave?
Lew
Great stuff. I like the story of the guy from Yakima, Washington, who in the mid-50s drove his jeep from Yakima to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, raced the very same jeep, then drove home in it.
David, I’d be happy to do a post about your trip. I love that stuff!
Lew, any pics?
No good ones, sorry. Hoping others will pipe in with some though.