The eight-page 1964 Jeep News Volume 10 Number 4 kicks off with continued coverage of the Smithsonian Institute jeep donation with coverage of the official acceptence event. Page two highlights the appointment of Compton advertising to manage all advertising for Kaiser Jeep. Does anyone know if this was the first time Kaiser-Jeep (or descendants) used an outside ad agency in such a big way? The ad folks were also shown twenty-eight vehicles; it would be interesting to see this complete lineup in one photo. Page two also has more information on the Smithsonian gift.
Page three highlights jeeps’ appearances at seven different sports shows. Pages four, five and six discuss dealer updates. Page seven has several international stories, including one about a 1942 MB/GPW that was abandoned when it went over a cliff in Hawaii. Two years later, it was overgrown with foliage. Someone decided it was worth saving, so they pull it out, replaced the battery and spark plugs, and it started right up.
Page eight focuses on a Wagoneer chosen by Lockheed to tour the world. A small blurb at bottom right of the page notes that a USPS purchase of 3,868 fleet vans, raising the total purchased by the Post Office to 11,219, though no specific models are noted.
It’s interesting to see a civil C-130 Hercules. During the 1960-80s, Lockheed sold a fair number of civil L-100s. Most were purchased by dedicated freight lines, but some were sold to airlines including Delta and Alaska for their freight operations. Some were also sold to foreign governments which for various reasons (political or economic) could not buy the more or less similar military version.
The shot of “TV star Paul Burke” is also interesting… you don’t know if the shot was taken to promote him, his sweater, the Jeep, the tramway or Palm Springs.
The next year he would take over the lead role in the ABC series “12 O’clock High” for its final two seasons. In it, when not flying a B-17 (or occasionally a P-51), he’d be driving a MB/GPW.
Thanks John. This is all before my time (was born in ’65).
It’s okay, I’m just 10 years older.
I recently had to pull out my Lockheed books to do some research on civil Hercules for a friend who is building a model of one. I forgot to mention that most of the civil models back then came with the fuselage stretch which is now standard on new USAF C-130Js….yes, they are still in production almost 70 years after being introduced.
As for “12 O’clock High”, I recently watched some episodes on cable & Amazon. Not a bad series, it was made when there were still a lot of 8th Air Force bomber vets alive, so they tried to get it right. In one episode, a wartime group commander made an appearance as a general (to account for him being 20 years older).