I 2012 I purchased this July 1951 brochure, an 11-page “Your Opportunity to Profit with Willys” (from number FB 1 4CM-751 GG). At that point, I hadn’t bought many brochures before winning it on eBay. Unlike 99% of Willys-Overland brochures, this one was unique, because it targeted potential Willys Dealership owners.
The reason I bought it, and the reason I never published it (only now remembering that I hadn’t), was that it was the foundational piece for my idea for a jeep museum. It was the backbone, the narrative that I wanted to course through the entire experience. It was the type of business case study (example study), that I had read many times while getting my MBA, but rather it being on paper, it was an experience.
The overriding question centered on the brochure. If it was 1951 and you had the means and opportunity to invest in a Willys-Overland franchise, should you?
A ROUGH MUSEUM OUTLINE:
Folks would begin the museum in a room with a 1950s feel. A presentation would begin with the look and feel of a 1950s commercial, except this would be trying to sell folks on the WO franchise. The video would end encouraging folks to take.a walk through history to better get to know Willys-Overland’s roots, starting with a Pre-WWII display, with 1920s and 1930s music, showing and explaining the history. It would be intimate, quiet, peaceful.
The next room would be the drums of war, the approach of WWII, the early development of Recon car options, ending with the Bantam/Ford/Willys options, with Willys winning the bid, just in time for the US to enter WWII.
Folks. would enter to the sounds of war. Maps would show jeeps being lease-lent all over the world, Britain, Africa, Indonesia, Australia, etc. The room underscores the the wide uses for the jeep (and GPA and other oddities).
As the war was being waged, visitors would encounter a more pastoral room, a relief from the war, showing WO experiments with jeeps and farming. It would also demonstrate Willys attempts to advertise the jeep, linking the willys and jeep brand, whenever they could, until the FTC case and the Ford lawsuit caused WO to shift their branding ideas.
The next room would be the introduction of the CJ-2A, the ads, the multiple implements, the implement companies. The next room would show the competitive landscape, with Willys adding other vehicles, and how the big three were responding (and how consumers were responding). Also highlighted would be WO’s continuing shift in brand marketing, the shift away from Jeep as the overriding brand to Willys as the over riding brand.
Subsequently, visitors would be taken into a unique room, showcasing the newly introduced Hurricane engine, but this would be a bigger-than-life walkthrough engine in plexiglass, so folks could look below at a crankshaft turning, a camshaft above, pistons to one side, etc. It would be a truly unique experience.
At this point in the museum, visitors would face reach the time period of the brochure. It’s the point in all business cases: What’s the decision, to invest or not to invest.
At this point visitors transition to the troubles at W-O and the decision to sell out to Henry Kaiser. The finally room showcase the Kaiser years, as the company took control of Willys assets and focused back on the unique 4WD capabilities of the jeep lineup, while also embracing “JEEP” as the brand.
The museum ends at 1963, when Kaiser shifts to more modern vehicles, such as the Wagoneer and Gladiator, and how those vehicles pushed sales to new heights, as well as a push away from jeeps as pure utility vehicles and more as a fun, family, or sporty vehicle.
Anyway, that was the plan, but time and resources never quite materialized.
Ann and I visited a lot of museums on the way to developing ideas in hopes of creating an experience that would bring in folks from outside of the jeep world, because based on my early research into auto museums, if it doesn’t cater to non-jeep folks, it likely won’t generate the income necessary to sustain itself.
“If it was 1951 and you had the means and opportunity to invest in a Willys-Overland franchise, should you?”
If depends on several things, location being one.
-Can you sell just Jeeps, or do you have to take the WO line of cars as well?
Having owned an Avanti and having researched the history of Studebaker, I know independent automakers had a tough fight against the “Big 3” who were fighting for sales and cutting prices for market supremicy. In short, they could build cars for less cost.
Hudson and Nash became AMC, Studebaker merged with Packard.
-On the plus side, back then car dealers didn’t have a lot of overhead. As late as the mid ’70s, I knew of a successful Ford dealer in a Wisconsin farm town that had 3-4 employees… including the owner/GM/salesman.
Remember too, dealers for small brands, like Willys , were often part of gas stations.
-If one were in the right market…out West or in snow country, yes, it would be neat to sell Jeeps.
But even then, I don’t know if anyone had the imagination to aim them as “lifestyle” vehicles. I don’t think that came along until the Surrey/Tuxedo Park/Renegade days.
Great topic.
Thanks John,
I think we had a discussion where I noted, based on some ad terms, when I felt Willys Motors began to shift away from ‘Utility’ and more towards ‘fun’ to describe the jeep experience. It was a topic I had planned to discuss more in depth, but haven’t had the time.
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Certainly if a person were going to actually invest, there would be a myriad of considerations, but at its core, a dealership at various scales will only bring in certain amounts at that time. (my early background was in corporate finance and business banking)
I believe clear, concise language as part of the initial presentation to frame a few different scenarios (gas station owner, existing dealer of other vehicles (wanting to add W-O or replace current car franchise dealership), or business owner wanting to create W-O dealership; I would think those three scenarios will cover a lot of the potential dealer scenarios.
My hope was to convince visitors to think about the automotive business in 1951 using jeep and it’s compelling story to look beyond jeep. A visit should be an experience of the mind and senses; I didn’t want it to be a visit to an indoor parking lot of jeeps.
lol. When I bought my first CJ5 brand new in Stockton CA, the dealer was an indoor parking lot of Jeeps.
Dave,
If your future endeavors lead you to planning a museum, I can share some of the trials and tribulations involved. And I do have a Willys dealer sales training filmstrip.
For the last 5 years as a volunteer I’ve been involved with the Curation aspects of a Car Museum in Chicago as they transistioned from a private collection to a private 501c3 charity, to a public 501c3 charity .
In that time period, I received support for several significant Jeep acquisions including Tremaine Cooper’s AGRIJEEP CJ2-06, and the so-called Knorr Jeep (lowest mileage most original CJ3A?).
I think there are 13 Jeeps out of 250-300 vehicles in the museum. The Jeeps are very popular, but I haven’t been able to concentrate on the display as you outlined. I have all the advertising including movies and brochures as well as a thorough collection of technical and plant records.
I think you would find that the Canaday family Willys records as well as the Kaiser Archive records and the Carlisle Barracks archive could answer almost every question you could pose.
The museum is under a heavy transition phase but the Jeep segment still receives significant support.
I’m hoping that once I retire I can finally dedicate the time to assemble at least a representative sample of the “real” story.
I lose hope everytime I log on and see what AI has done to the search responses regarding Jeep History.
Meanwhile I would like to give STEV from THECJ2A@PAGE.COM credit for donating a twin stick PTO to replace the broken one on the 1955 CJ5 CUTAWAY Serial number one that is being repaired.
Keith,
Thanks for that update. I’m happy to hear that a few of Tremaine’s jeeps have found a good home. I hope this endeavor works out! Not sure what I can provide to help, but let me know if I can.
I hear you regarding jeep history. Even without AI, just look at how many incorrect comments are posted to Facebook. Sometimes it feels like fighting a fire with a garden hose.
As much as we need a museum to carry forward jeep history, we also need place to land various websites that have recorded countless articles, posts, and comments. I haven’t had much success in solving that you. However, given the recent discussions I’ve had, I am hoping that the place eWillys lands is the potentially the start of an archive that could host other sites over the longer term. I’ll announce more once everything is confirmed.
Thanks,
– Dave
David
looking for a set of dual wheel adapters for 1949 willys jeep, any thoughts?
Premo,
I don’t know of anyone selling these at this time. The Midwest Willys Reunion in May might be the best bet.
– Dave