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This eight page August 1962 Jeep News Issue leans heavily Hatari. Pages one, four, five and six all focus on Hatari-related images and stories.
Page two notes that the Post Office order for FJ-3s had grown to 7,082 multi-stop vans, of which almost 6,000 were already operating in over 600 cities. Pages three, seven, and eight offer a potpourri of jeep-related images and captions.
Page 6 mentions Jerry Scheuer of Scheuer Motors Located on Vreeland Ave, Paterson NJ, one of my favorite places to visit on my bike rides, almost daily. I was so dependable that I became the “Coffee Boy”. Scheuer Motors was about a mile and a half from my house in Clifton. They also were a Studebaker dealer. Al the parts department guy sold me the fiberglass roof panel for the Chicken Delight Dispatcher, and delivered it to my house one day after I came home from school. He was so impressed that a 14 year old kid would tackle a burned out Jeep such as this, we became life long acquaintances. I’d ride my bike to to the showroom and just marvel at the shinny news Jeeps asked questions then go home and try to convince my dad to buy a new Jeep with money we didn’t have and could not afford. I can remember the day when they had a 1961 Willys wagon white with red rolled & pleated interior seats, dragged dad down to see it, used with low miles at about 2 grand, still out of our price range. Great memories Dave, Thanks.
Nice to see some CJ-5s in the paper, makes a nice change from the FCs and Surreys normally featured.
I’d like to see a better photo of the DC-3, at least one showing the registration on the tail.
(If anyone has photos, please let me known the N-Number).
Like many private DC-3s of the time, it features panorama windows in back, an “air stair’ door with drop down steps, and a large aft baggage area.
The only question is, is it a factory built DC-3 or (like most) a converted wartime C-47?
The museum where I volunteer has a very similar ship. It was built for the Army Air Force as C-47B in 1944. After going civilian, it was converted to civil DC-3C spec and turned into a corporate aircraft with those modifications and a 12 seat VIP interior. A nice plane to fly in.
On page four is a shot of a rare CJ-5 convertible…with John Wayne and the DC-3 (talk about three American icons!).
Yes, Many have a soft top,but they are usually an on-off thing.
Yesterday, somewhere on this site, I read that for a while, Jeep offered a folding top that worked like a regular convertible top.
I had never heard of such a thing…but here is a photo.
A folded top on the top of the rear panel doesn’t do the Jeep’s looks any favors, would make using the tailgate difficult, gets in the way of the spare tire, and scrunched up the way it does, would likely wreck any vinyl windows in short order, but aside from that, not a bad idea.
Does any one have an example today?
JohnB – You may be correct about the offering of a traditional convertible top that folds in place – probably why the DJ3A convertible had a top that angled in so you could lower it without resting on the spare tire. But I don’t see that here. It’s too sloppy. This looks like a regular top that’s overhanging the tailgate with the bows still inside. On our ’71 (to the right and below) we have an original top (shown) and there is an instruction sheet showing how to fold it to store on the vehicle – including the side curtains. The rear, longer bow can be removed from 2, 1-foot extensions so that there is no overhang. The last step is to install the top boot. It all fits and rests neatly at the rear with no overhang, and looks great. The tailgate can still be opened to carry long items. The doors have to be stored in your garage as they don’t fold like an M38A1’s would. Here, they just unfastened it and dumped it back. And it shows.
Only have a few seconds, but:
The DJ-3A did have a convertible top that folded back. That’s why it had the twist knobs on the windshield rather than the channel — to make attaching to the windshield easier. Notably, the DJ-3A also had a boot for the top to site in (good luck finding pics of the that).
It’s unclear to me if there was a factory top for the CJ-5 that acted as a convertible fold down/up top, but there were 3rd party tops. We used to do this with out tops while out jeeping. Here’s one example from Kayline: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/04/23/1958-kayline-soft-top-brochures/
White also had convertible tops: http://www.ewillys.com/2017/10/07/1960s-white-automotive-soft-top-brochures/
I am sure there were others.
As for new tops, I’m not sure if Bestop makes one.
– Dave
David
Considering John Wayne is standing next to a Jeep with one at a high profile corporate sponsored event may mean it was an official option.
Then again, it could have simply been a dealer installed piece.
I enjoyed the Kayline brochure, though I still think the clear vinyl wouldn’t last long…
John,
After looking through the brochures of 1961/1962, my feeling is that this top was a White Manufacturing top. See the following points:
1 The Jan 1961 jeep family brochure makes no mention of a convertible top: 1961-01-need-a-friend-dog-jeep-family-brochure4-lores,
2) A March 1961 White Manufacturing brochure highlights the new convertible top, including a special document to dealers that the top was only available in white, but would be available in black in the future: http://www.ewillys.com/2017/10/07/1960s-white-automotive-soft-top-brochures/ … note that the top was also included at the Chicago annual car show, so it sounds like it was a big deal.
3) In the April 1961 Jeep family brochure, the convertible top appears (for the first time?), with credit being given to White Manufacturing (see back page of his post http://www.ewillys.com/2021/01/11/april-1961-to-get-the-lions-share-brochure/).
4) The very next month, the May brochure neglects to mention the manufacturers name; instead referring to the top as simply the “new convertible top”. This brochure also pictures the top installed on the back of a CJ-5 http://www.ewillys.com/2019/12/13/may-1961-big-family-brochure-fearing-a-bunny-theme/ (see CJ-5 pictured on the upper right of the brochure when fully opened).
5) The June 1961 brochure is similar to May’s brochure. It mentions the convertible top, but drops the manufacturer: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/12/12/june-1961-for-short-hops-kangaroo-inspired-brochure/
6) If you compare the top bow anchor points and brackets depicted in illustrations/photos with photos of the jeep with the top, it appears to be the same White Manufacturing style of top.
Because of these observations, I am convinced the top was made by White Manufacturing and promoted by ‘Jeep’, at least in most of the brochures of the era, as if it was a factory convertible top.
Dave
Thanks!
Have a happy Thanksgiving!