The Alaska Or Rust Crew and Chris McKay (https://www.facebook.com/groups/533087846854829/) are giving away a second $150 gift certificate for Kaiser Willys. The winner will be chosen at random.
To enter, simply add a comment to this post OR, if you have a Facebook Account, add a comment to the Alaska Or Rust Facebook post. In your comment, indicate the first jeep you owned or drove (either one). On Thursday, July 6th, at 5pm PST we’ll select the winner.
Please don’t enter twice. We’ll be going through the all the names and then using a random number generator to determine the winner.
Many thanks to Kaiser Willys for these certificates! #alaskaorurst #kaiserwillys #ewillys
The first Willys I ever rode in was a 1962 Dispatcher 2WD like Patterson belonging to my uncle. After searching for a year to locate it, I now own it and am trying to bring Nellybelle, as he called her, back to life as a Memorial to my mentors, including my uncle and my parents. Fond memories, then and again soon I hope.
Greetings! The first jeep I drove was after high school graduation on my job as a auto parts department counter man at the local DodgeChrysler dealership (circa 1962/63). The dealership was a downtown South Bend, In. 3 story building with driving ramps between floors and as a part of the duties of delivering and picking parts would “learn” to drive/manuever in cramped areas. The jeep was I believe, a ww2 unit(floor start) of now lost type in pretty poor condition. I hadn,t thought about it for 50 years. Thanks for the memories!!
Still driving my 1st jeep…Have had ‘Lola’ my ’42 GPW since 1969…
This is a really nice thing to do! Thank you!
My first jeep was my first car.A 1944 GPW that I still have.It was a basketcase that I put back together from a 46 cj2a and the local parts store.I still have it,and thanks to Dave’s ewillys site for giving me the interest in getting it running again after setting for close to 30 years.I have been gathering parts to rebuild it to a motorpool jeep.Thanks again Dave!
I was 18 [late 70s ] and traded a 1960 ford 1/2 ton for late 50s wagon with a small block ford. After getting stuck a few times I figured out how not to get stuck.
I have been following the progress on Bill’s CJ5 build! (Limestreet Carriage) What an opportunity of a lifetime! Safe travels to all!
My first jeep to drive was a 48 cj2a about three years ago. I have always loved the old jeeps and was finally able to get one and haven’t looked back since.
My ’47 cj2a is my first jeep. I’m having a blast working on it and driving it. My Dad was in the last few months of WWII. During the summer of ’45 he did basic training for infantry, then when the war ended suddenly he was stationed in a truck maintenance unit in Caserta, Italy. As a mechanic in that shop he says he did basic tune up type work on lots of vehicles including many jeeps. He can still climb into the jeep at 90!
First jeep I rode in was a ’72 cj5. Dad has owned it since he was in high school and still has it today. We built me a ’64 cj5 in the early 2000’s and I still have it. Also acquired a ’45 mb that is currently my work in progress.
Wishing all the drivers (and passengers) on the Alaska or Rust tour a safe journey. My first jeep was a 47 CJ2A. I remember my older brother bringing it home when I was 12. It’s fuel tank was a Wesson oil container strapped to the windshield and it had a roper post hole digger on the back. I drove that thing all over the farm doing chores as a teenager and when I graduated from high school, my brother signed the title over to me for all the help I had given him over the years. I still have that jeep and although it’s not my nicest one, it will definitely be the last one that I part with when those days come.
My first Jeep was a 1972 Jeep Wagoneer. It was ex-Philadelphia Police Department and several owners after that. By 1985, when I bought it, it had more bondo than metal in the lower third of the body. The rear cargo area was the frame and a sheet of marine plywood. The steering box was very worn. You had to jiggle the key to make the accessories (including wipers) work. The AMC 360 was still strong with only 120k on it. I hauled tonnage in this thing. I lent it to friends to move their motorcycles around. It was unstoppable. One day I was driving it home from the lumber yard with 16 sheets of sheet rock in the back when I heard “bang” and then the exhaust got really loud. I was about 500 feet from my driveway, so I got it into the driveway and then investigated. It didn’t take long to diagnose the problem as the entire exhaust system, all 12 feet of it, was laying in the street. I ended up selling the Wagoneer to a Vietnam vet who wanted it for hunting for $300, since it wouldn’t pass inspection without an exhaust system and I didn’t feel like repairing it at the time. In the years since, despite owning a 63 Wagon and a 62 pickup, I’m still looking for a 72 Wagoneer to round out my collection.
My first Jeep came to me through marriage . It is my wife’s grandfather’s 1954 CJ3B that he bought from the power company he worked for in southern Oregon. It sat for a long time after he passed. I eventually decided we should get it running and I took on the task myself. Luckily it was in pretty good shape. It now gets frequent short trail rides around our small forest with his great grand children who love it.
I own a ’46 cj2a but I am still working on it. Haven’t driven it yet but I hope to in the near future. I’m probably one of the very few people here that doesn’t have any past family/friend/previous job jeep experience. Owning an old jeep just appeals to me at a very basic personal level. I guess everyone else here kind of understands that too, right? I have been am enjoying myself a lot just working on it, reading about them on eWillys and the CJ2A forum and any other source I can find, and going every year to the Great Willys Picnic in Kempton, PA.
Good luck to everyone going on the Alaska tour, hope all goes well.
First Jeep ride was at age 4 in my dad’s friend’s CJ5. He brought it out to the family cabin for deer hunting. There is a picture of me behind the wheel somewhere – with a huge grin on my face. Nearly forty years later, that Jeep grin still hasn’t disappeared.
I own a 66 cj5 that my wife bought from me. 5 years ago my brother took his life and 10 months later my mother died of a broken heart. In 10 months I lost half of my family. This 66 cj5 has been the best therapy for me. I love tinkering with it and going on drives especially when I feel down. It allows that escape that I desperately need at the time. I got the jeep bug when my dad bought his 79 cj5 Renegade. I have owned a total of 5 jeeps. I love eWillys and Kaiser Willys. I am jealous of everyone going on the Alaska Tour.
’53 CJ3B, learn how to drive in it. Still have it!
My first jeep was a 59 cj3b Willy’s. Drove it last year high school. Mostly on estates in the Philadelphia suburbs. Took it camping to Shenadaoa national park, world’s end state park Caledonia state park.
Count me in! My wagon needs all the help it can get so we can try this trip some day….thanks!
My first jeep was and is a 1946 CJ2A. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to drive it yet because it’s in pieces in my garage…..and house! 🙂
Nice idea guys !!! Way to support Dave and anyone going on this awesome trip. First Willy’s Jeep I ever owned (the love of my life) was a beat up crusty old 2A I drug home from Vermont many years ago. Didn’t have a trailer at the time, and let my old buddy at another camp convince me it would flat tow home to CT , no worries. Needless to say after pulling front shaft and putting transfer case in neutral (should have pulled rear shaft too) got half way home and blew rear shaft and pinion right out of the jeep!!! Picked up the pieces ,got it home and running ,put some serious snow chains on the front and made the most incredible two wheel drive yard and woods buggy ever. We called it the spider and it would go just about anywhere. Loved that little Willy’s ,and that’s what got me hooked !!! Since then I have had over hundred of all makes and models Willy’s Jeeps , but the Spider started it all !!!
The first jeep I ever rode in was my grandfathers 1971 cj5 with the Buick v6. It was red with white wheels. I wanted to buy it from him when he sold it in 1985, but could not afford it. I looked for a jeep just like it for years. I realized that I would have to build my own . I found a 1967 cj5 with the Buick motor and built it just like the one my grandfather had. I completed it in the spring of 2015. My first ride with my grandfather when I was just a kid, got me hooked on jeeps. Today I have 10 jeeps and will most likely pick up more along the way. Good luck to Scott and Dave and everyone that is lucky enough to be going on this historical trip. BE safe.
My first jeep to ride in was our 1948 Willy. We lived in CA at the time. Went keeping almost every weekend. Moved to WA state sold whiplash our jeep. I’ve had four jeep science then. At this time I have a 1995 wrangler. Would lrather have a Willy. Wished I could go on this trip. Keep keeping.
First one I drove was the 1971 cj5 that I still have. A friend owned it and I bought it from him in ’89 or ’90. It was trashed when I bought it but I drove it for a while before tearing it all apart and taking the next 9 years to rebuild it. Just pulled it out of the garage on Tuesday for it’s annual state inspection. I’m ready to tear it down and do the things I wanted to do the first time but couldn’t.
My first Jeep was a ’67 M715, and I still own it.
The first Jeep I ever drove was my dad’s 51 Willys 4wd pickup that we used on the ranch in southeast Arizona. That Jeep would go anywhere, loaded with wood, rocks, you name it. That little F-head 4 was one tough engine. The first Jeep (MB or GPW???) I rode in was in October, 1944, in Shrewsbury England. It was my dad’s assigned Military Police Jeep and he brought me and my mom home from the hospital in it after I was born. In 46, Dad got out of the service and came home to Illinois, brought Mom and me over a month later. He couldn’t by a car, so he bought one of the first 46 CJ2As and paid for it by plowing farmer’s fields. I have a photo of me standing on the hood of it in my stuff. My sister came home from the hospital in that Jeep in March 1947. In late 1950, Dad bought a new 51 Willys 2WD wagon and we came to Arizona in that. In 1955 he bought a 53 Willys wagon. In 1956 He survived a head on collision with a Chrysler in that. In the summer after my sophomore year in high school, we moved to the ranch and we had the Jeep truck. He owned several Wagoneers and a Cherokee after that. The first Jeep I actually owned was a US Navy surplus 1953 CJ3B with an Arctic cab on it. Dropped a 283 Chevy in it. Sold it in 1973 when I moved to Phoenix, and then I had a 51 Willys wagon that I got from my Dad and then traded it in early 1977 for the 48 Jeepster we still have, and a 74 CJ5 with a 304 V8 that was a beast!. Have owned a 52 CJ3A that we restored and also currently have a 1960 Willys DJ3A Surrey that is restored with some minor L-134 engine modifications, like a Vic Hickey aluminum cylinder head, home built dual carb manifold with two Weber single barrel carbs and Petronix electronic ignition, using an F-head exhaust manifold for better flow.
Good luck everyone on your trip north.
The first jeep I drove was my new 1990 YJ…as it was called in Canada. I wanted something small to drive in traffic that had a real frame. Did a few Jeep Jamborees then started organising them along with Chrysler Canada until they called it off…
My first jeep was a 1962 cj5.
First Jeep was a 1969 CJ-5, V6, 3 speed, 1/2 cab, snow plow, rear PTO. That was 1978. Still have it. It’s a career.
First ride was in a GPW but first jeep was an M38A1.
Since you specified “jeep” and not “Jeep”, my first was the M151A2 quarter ton truck in the Summer of 1981 provided for my exclusive use by my Uncle Sam. The next several “jeeps” I had were M151A2s (through 1989) until I bought my first “Jeep”, a 1996 Cherokee in 2005 for my son.
My story is almost identical to the 6th poster, bill. I was 18, and traded my ’51 Chevy 1/2 ton for a ’50 Willys wagon. It had a 289 v-8, warn o/d, and I wheeled the heck out of that ol wagon. Sold it in 1977 for my first cj-7, and the jeep fever was born.
In1968 I was 13, I worked for a guy that had a 1958 Jeep FC170 that he had bought new. He bought a farm and built a 5 acre lake and put a housing development around it. I drove the FC around the development and even out on the main roads. I’d even haul dynamite that we used when we were putting the sewer down through the shale rock in the bottom of the creek. In 1970, the engine went bad and my older brother and I pulled it out and my boss took it to be repaired. They wanted more than he was willing to pay so he said, “Throw it in the trash.” The truck just sat around, and I wanted to buy it, but I waited too long. One day in 1971, I went up to the shop and my 15 year old younger brother had just cut it up with a torch.
Those were the good old days. I could drive before I was old enough to have a license. I could take gun to school for “Show and Tell”, and I carried a knife to school all the time. You could go to a local hardware store to buy dynamite.
In 1976, I’d borrow an MB Willy’s Jeep to use on dates. In 2007, I bought a nice restored CJ2a.
I finally got my first FC in 2008.
Thanks everyone for all the great stories! I was supposed to do the drawing last night, but I’ve been so busy working on Patterson that I forgot. I will work on that right now and then pick the winner.
– Dave
The winners of the gift certificate are Brian and Misty Wolfgang. They entered on the Alaska Or Rust FB site.
As runners up for entering the contest, I’ve held an eWillys only drawing for some Alaska Or Rust t-shirts. Alan Jones, John in MO and Craig in PA all won shirts. I’ll email you three separate for a size and an address.
Again, thanks for all you stories and support!
– Dave