Bill shared this article that describes this custom build as a 1948 M38. However, it’s appears to be a modified CJ-2A. It’s an interesting build, but calling it one of the “greatest flat fenders ever built” is a stretch (in my opinion).
https://www.motortrend.com/features/willys-m38-flatfender-rock-spider-soni-honegger/
“Fans of the War Wagon, the Scorpion MK1, and this apocalypse-ready toy hauler might already be familiar with this Willys M38 (the military version of the civilian Jeep CJ-3A) built by Soni Honegger. It’s been called the “Slickrock Spider” for its remarkable ability to articulate its way over and through some of the hairiest obstacles known to four-wheel drive vehicles, especially with Soni at the helm. Let’s take a look at what makes this machine one of the greatest Flatfenders ever built.”
Dave, I agree with your opinion, To call it one of the greatest flat fenders ever built, what is this guy talking about. Decades ago, I subscribed to Motor Trend, but lost all respect for the publication, they “pander” to their special interests, and feature articles by writers who know nothing of what they write.
DITTO
Huh. Didn’t know they made a ‘48 M-38. A little literary license?
This Soni rig was pretty influential when it was built. The suspension change to coils and radius arms/ links was innovative for a flat fender. Now four linked and 3 linked crawlers are commonplace, especially since factory Wranglers went to coils. It’s hard to do it well in a small flat fender though, and this was an early well done example with some clever ideas. On the magazine front, JP was a great magazine for modified jeep info and had lots of early jeep coverage. It disappeared into Four Wheeler, which then became part of Motor Trend…Four Wheeler under Motor Trend still has some good articles on older its and fabrication work from some of the same JP folks, but the coverage is heavy towards new model stuff. Nice to see there is still some coverage of early jeeps, and interesting modified jeeps. I’m glad the Dispatcher is around too!
That flat fender has been around since the 1990’s, it was innovative in the day
1999 video…
https://www.facebook.com/Jeepingoffroad/videos/soni-honegger-and-the-rock-spider/969233673204644/