Free-lance writer Ernie Rydberg wrote the Mystery in The Jeep, one of at least eleven books, hundreds of short stories, screen plays, and more over his lifetime (1901-1990). I’ve ordered an inexpensive copy of the book and will report on it when I get a chance.There’s a first edition of the book on eBay for $63.74 and another edition on Amazon for only $19.

According to the synopsis from Goodreads.com, “A pretty librarian helps two high school students, Lefty and Gloria, track down a gang of diabolical confidence men. Their clue is a book, which starts them on the track of illicit real estate deals and other unsavory enterprises.”

Here are two examples of the book cover:

Author Paul Moxham, an Australian writer, has published The Mystery of the Amphibious Jeep on Kindle. At 4.61 stars on Goodreads, it seems to be a popular kids story. Where the referenced ‘jeep’ is a Ford GPA SEEP or a DUKW (or something else), isn’t clear. Given the author’s Australian background and Australian Ben Carlin’s fame, I’m leaning towards it being a GPA.

According to the synopsis on Goodreads:

“After meeting an American adventurer who is travelling around the world in an amphibious jeep, the Mystery Kids invite him to spend the evening at Rose Cottage. However, the night has barely began when the jeep is stolen by two men.

What do the men plan to do with the jeep? Who are the stowaways? Why does the jeep go round in circles?

Set in 1950’s Britain, this adventure story will suit anyone who enjoys Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys or the Famous Five”

Here’s a reasonable price for a circa 1952 4 Wheel Drive Booklet. It appears in pretty good shape. You can see a scan of this here.

View all the information on eBay.

“This is an original 8.25″ x 5.5″ 20-page Willys Motors booklet made for Jeep dealers to help familiarize them with the 4 X 4 features & help sell their vehicles by showing they can go anywhere,anytime,under any conditions.It’s in nice condition with only minor wear on the covers”

Will Parish & Perk Perkins authored a book about their trip around the world in a CJ-5. Anyone familiar with it? The cheapest price I could find was priced at $49.

Abstract: Around the World in a Jeep recounts the 1975 grand plan of Orvis CEO Perk Perkins and his then college roommate, Will Parish, to drive around the world in Will’s beloved red Jeep. Over the next 20 months, Perk, Will, and their trusty Jeep crossed five oceans and seas, exploring 35 countries and covering enough road-miles to circumnavigate the earth twice. In addition to cementing their relationship as lifelong best friends, the trip also generated some 2,000 pages of journal entries, which make up the text of this remarkable volume. Illustrated by stunning full-color photographs taken by Perk, Will, and the people they encountered, this beautifully printed and bound adventure book belongs in the collection of everyone who has a yearning to explore, travel, and discover the richness our world has to offer. 12″ x 9″ hardcover

There are at least two book covers:

Here are a few pics from the book from https://www.influx.co.uk/cars/around-the-world-in-a-jeep/

A reader (and my pea-sized brain can’t remember who) noticed that the front of the Overground Railroad, a book by Candace Taylor, had a Jeep Wagon on its cover. It looks to be a 1950-1951 wagon to me.

I haven’t read the book just yet, but look forward to it. The book is about 300 pages, but has at least 100 pages of photos. The reviews for it have been very good. Here’s a review from a Route 66 website.

Roger Martin spotted this book on Facebook. It looks like it’s been up since July.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559268460802697/permalink/2509192215810312

“This book contains invaluable knowledge from the experts themselves, to shape the future mechanics of WWII. They understood the competence of the students could be a matter of life and death. This incredibly scarce, all original book is entitled “Service School for U.S. Army Instructors on Ford U.S. Army Vehicles 1941”.

It was put together by Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan to be used by the school at the Rogue Plant, as well as traveling schools at military posts around the U.S. The contents of this book include:

*The service school program for U.S. Army Instructors on Ford built U.S. Army Vehicles at Rouge Plant
*Program for traveling service school for U.S. Army Instructors on Ford built U.S. Army vehicles
*Ford equipment-specialized services
*Universal equipment-specialized services
*Universal equipment-general shop use
*Individual mechanics equipment
*List of tools – U.S. Army Reconnaissance Car
*List of tools – U.S. Army Staff Car (Fordor)
*List of tools – U.S. Army Bomb Service Truck (Tonner)
*TM10-1101 Maintenance Manual for Ford Truck Model G.P. 1/4 Ton 4×4 for the U.S. Government *U-7434 Service Requirements Ford Army Reconnaissance Car
*To remove front door glass – Staff Car
*Remove and replace w/s glass – Staff Car
*Ford parts numbering system
*Ford Fordor Sedan Body Parts and Price List for U.S. Government
*TM10-1100 Parts Price List Special Model G.P. 1/4 Ton 80″ Wheelbase 4×4 for U.S. Government *Ford Form #7084 Ford and Mercury Chassis Parts and Price List 1938-39-40-41 Passenger Cars and Trucks

Adding further nostalgia, the first page includes a hand written message “Put it back where you found it It’s property of Neil Goldsmith Co A 27th Bn Camp Croft, S.C.” (which was dismantled after the war) The paper cover of this book is in rough shape (shown in pictures). However, the contents are remarkably clean and is a complete set. There is some damage to the back few pages (shown in pictures) but none of the print has been compromised (picture shows the page with the most damage).

Considering the rarity of this collection, aesthetics are variable. Here’s your chance to own a rare piece of American history! Asking $750″

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $10.

Here’s a great price on Fred Coldwell’s Preproduction Civilian Jeeps book.

UPDATE: I received my copy of this book. Published in French, the book is full of French-specific photos (over two hundred). Most are from WWII, but some are from later years other areas around the world. Besides jeeps, photos of GPAs during the war years appear and, from later years photos, a few military CJ-3As along with a five-star Jeepster.

The author also explores the inscriptions/markings of French WWII jeeps in-depth, but lacking any background in that information, I can’t say how accurate (or not) the information is.

On the downside, the book promotes the phrase “General Purpose” and “Government purpose” as the words behind “GP” in GPW. The book also only recognizes some prototypes, but not others in it’s brief chart of production numbers (pg 16). 

This book is written by Paul Gaujac. It’s a 144 page book that you can purchase on Amazon (I’m sure it is available elsewhere, too).

I can’t remember how I obtained this photo of a Dutch jeep book cover, but I see no evidence that I ever posted it (found it on my old computer). So, here it is. The publishing date appears to be 1949.

Chris is selling this huge book of Willys/AMC information. He also has some other jeep-related items on eBay.

View all the information on ebay

“Vintage Willys Jeep Parts and Accessories catalog early Willys w/AMC pages. Older casing with AMC parts pages. Please look at photos carefully. Good condition.”

Seems a bit on the pricey side (currently $145), but I don’t know what these are worth.  A neat piece though.

View all the information on eBay

“Used Jeep Dealership parts book holder, vintage not known but likely 50’s or 60’s. missing one rubber foot insert. Original condition.”

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

Sounds like it is a fictional book based on the Rat Patrol. It is 210 pages.

“THE RAT PATROL – THE IRON MONSTER RAID 1968 TV PROGRAM RAT PATROL

210 PAGES HARD COVER GOOD CONDITION, YELLOWED PAGES

REFERENCE THE TV PROGRAM “RAT PATROL” KIND OF STORY ABOUT COMBAT ACTION FICTION USING WW2 WWII WILLYS FORD JEEPS MB GPW IN DESERT RAIDS.”

UPDATE: I originally wrote this post prior to the end of the auction, as I new I’d be busy all night. I should have known that someone would sweep in and snap this up for more than the $10 I was willing to pay. So, I actually missed out on this one.

I could imagine there are few, if any, left. I’ve considered doing a coloring book, but have no way to gauge the interest on something like that.

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My son bought me The Oregon Trailer: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck for my birthday. I just finished reading it and really enjoyed it.

The book’s author, Rinker Buck, is a New England columnist who decided he wanted to do a crazyass (his description) thing: drive the Oregon trail in a covered wagon. To my surprise, it turns out that, despite all the Oregon Trail re-enactments, there had been no documented drive of a wagon from Missouri to Oregon since 1910 when Ezra Meeker did it at the age of 80 (Ezra’s credited with igniting interest in saving the trail back in the early 1900s). So, in 2011, Rinker and his brother Nick (along with Nick’s Jack Russel Terrier Olive Oyl) set out for Oregon with a 3-mule team, a wagon, and a trailer.

As Rinker shares the success and failures of his adventure, he also delves into the history of wagons, pioneer emigrants, famous landmarks, and important events that have shaped the trail.

Most of you probably know Ernie Pyle from his wartime articles and books. However, prior to WWII Ernie Pyle had already made a name for himself as a widely traveled columnist under the title “Hoosier Vagabond”. Between 1935-1942 he and his wife traveled extensively across the US, north into Canada and south into Mexico. In 1947, after his death, some of his articles from this pre-war time were bundled into a book called Home Country. 

In his homespun style, Ernie shares his experience climbing to the top of the newly build Golden Gate bridge, learns the challenges of being a white professional wrestler in heavily hispanic Laredo, Texas, and tells the tales of some regionally famous (at that time) folks like Rufus Woods, a local Washington State character who had a significant impact on Eastern Washington, yet was a name I didn’t know.

Near the end of the book he interviews the inventor of the Ross Steering box, David Ross. Matriculating with an engineering degree from Purdue University in 1893, Ross contracted Typhoid shortly after leaving college. A doctor advised him to be outdoors to regain health, so he returned to his family farm and began tinkering. He developed the box and other inventions that made him wealthy. Ernie Pyle’s description and stories of the Ross provide some great insights into who he was.

UPDATE: You can now download a high resolution PDF here (25mb):

http://www.deilers.com/be-your-own-inspector-m38-m38a1-booklet.pdf

One reader asked about a donation in exchange for the PDF.  You are welcome to download it for free, but If you want, you can donate a few bucks via PayPal: payment@ewillys.com. The money goes toward the purchase of more brochures (and the documentation/sharing of them).

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Original Post April 26, 2019: Here’s the booklet I won off of eBay.

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