I spent yesterday been working on a series of marketing posts related to the Kaiser Willys integration in 1953 and 1954. So, just a handful of posts today.

July 23, 2017, after a long day of driving, Scott had a long night of engine work.

Some of you may remember the July 2017 Alaska Or Rust adventure and the problems that Scott Gilbert’s wagon engine gave him (and Bob Christy and, part of the way, Rick Pacholski) … how has it already been 2 1/2 years?? Yikes!

After several engine rebuilds during the trip, the Scott and Bob were forced to turn back early and could not complete the trip. Eventually, Scott reinstalled a rebuilt engine and got the wagon going again. However, not surprisingly, Scott’s especially diligent these days about checking the condition of his wagon’s engine.

In an effort to monitor the engine’s condition, he wondered if there was any way to test the oil (he runs Lucas classic 10-30 oil) to be sure there wasn’t extra engine wear occurring. After checking with other folks and finding no answers, he hit the internet. Eventually, he tracked down Blackstone Laboratories. For only $25, Blackstone tested his oil and reported the results within a week.

About Scotts’ engine, the lab reported that the oil looked in good shape, which provides Scott with more reassurance that his newest rebuild will serve him well over the coming years. Still, he plans to do a few more tests occasionally, just to be sure. So, if you are concerned about your engine oil, you might check out Blackstone Laboratories.

Barney Goodwin of Barney’s Jeep Parts brought up an interesting bit of history regarding Canadian made Kaiser Jeep CJ-5s for the US (and Canadian?) market.

He wrote, “Your Canadian made Commando brochure post got me thinking. A customer of mine in my hometown of Houston has his dad’s ’69 CJ5 bought brand new at Woodie’s Jeep in Houston .

And, it was made in Canada!

Dave, the only reason I can think this happened is that Toledo had a military contract(s) they were running at the late 1960s and required the Toledo capacity. Around that same time, Kaiser Jeep had a short contract for M-151A1 MUTTs, contracts for M-274 Mules, and contracts for the Kaiser Jeep M-35 Deuces. Keep in mind it was also the first year for the Postal D100 Dispatcher DJ-5A. All of this was before AMC bought Jeep and moved government products production to Indiana as AMGeneral.

Kaiser Jeep’s solution? Shift the production of CJ-5s (and other vehicles?) to Canada.

Below is a picture of the data plate for my friend’s 1969, the one bought in Houston. Note the location of it and size. It’s right below the regular VIN plate on the firewall.

Most CJ-5s of that era had the 4 holes already punched in that location and they exist on our Toledo made 13,000 mile 1971 CJ-5. 

If anyone else has insights into this, we’d welcome them!

Originally appearing in the Christian Science Monitor, this opinion piece was published in the Milford News, a newspaper out of Utah, on August 31, 1944. I think this piece is right on in terms of honestly evaluating consumer desires vs. the new jeep, hence part of the struggle Willys-Overland encountered at the turn of 1950.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

Maury spotted these three jeep-related patches on eBay. I suspect they were removed from a jacket, as they look to have been sewn onto something.

Happy New Year everyone!

The biggest event for me in 2019 was Dad’s passing; he had a good run. Last year at this time he was pretty sick; so, we knew what would happen, just not when. Now, this time, it’s Ann’s mother who is in that same situation. We know what’s going to happen, but not when. It’s just that time of life for us.

Dad in the foreground, a few days before his death. Me in the background grabbing some zzz’s. Yep, I was a big help!

EWILLYS: 

I mentioned last year that eWillys, as we know it, might change in April of 2020. I have pushed that date back to January 2021. My goal with those changes is to free up more of my time for other projects. Moreover, during this last year, it feels like prices have really skyrocketed on 1940s-1960s jeeps of all types; the variety of jeeps feels like it has declined as well. Deals are less frequent, which means providing daily content has become more difficult.

On top of that, it’s getting more of a challenge to find new content for ‘feature’ posts. I’ve built a pretty substantial collection of brochures/magazines/books/misc and, from that, have been able to generate new content over the years. But, there are fewer and fewer items on eBay that I don’t already have, so locating rare items takes more time and money. For example, I know there are other mid-1950 Willys News magazines that remained undocumented and more than twelve mid-1950 Globetrotter magazines (maybe as many as twenty of them) that would be of interest to everyone. But, I’ll keep at it.

This excerpted pic is from the July/August 1955 issue of Globe-trotter magazine.

Currently, there are 53,726 posts on eWillys. While I will add approximately another 4000 posts this year, I also plan to be cutting much of the dead weight throughout the year; these are posts that provide no useful insights, modifications, or other aspects that might be interesting to me or readers.

2019 TRAVEL:

For the first time in seven years, we didn’t take an eWillys trip that lasted longer than a month. Dad’s illness (and frequent trips to Seattle) combined with tight finances kept us around home. On the positive side, the summer in Pasco was perfect temp wise––like Goldilocks porridge, not too hot and not too cold––so I spent a good deal of time pouring through Ernie Pyle’s old columns next to our garden-pond area (Ann’s flowers and plants were beautiful this year).

Summer 2019 Backyard courtesy of Ann (well, she selected the plants, while we dug).

I found Ernie’s account of pre-WWII America fascinating (he traveled all over the US between 1935-1941). Then, when he finally got the chance, he traveled with troops from the frontest of the front lines to the most removed troops far in the rear performing critical, but often forgotten, roles. I believe his columns provide a comprehensive, perhaps unequaled look at why the behind-the-scenes military operations are so important to fighting conflicts.

The one major two-week trip Ann and I did manage to accomplish was a fast trip to Pennsylvania and back during early July, to deliver Rusty the DJ-3A to its new owner. We were very lucky to leave after the rains finally subsided in the Midwest, but before the heat arrived on the East Coast. It was a wonderful to be on the road again, even if it only lasted two weeks.

Rusty the DJ-3A all ready for his trip east in July of 2019.

LOST BISCUIT: As for work on Biscuit, that’s come to a halt again. Time is proving difficult to find, and will so for at least the next year. So, I plan to sell Biscuit (and all the trimmings); I just hate to see it sit there. Meanwhile, I’ll keep Patterson and fix some of his small issues. Then, in two years, I’ll have the money to buy another flattie.   Continue reading →

Our own Joe-in-Mesa had a chance to drive a WWII vet to his 100th birthday party. I bet he enjoyed that! Great work Joe!

This year, 2020, it is estimated that 75 percent of new vehicles sold globally can be linked to the internet. I’ve discussed this issue before, but I thought this article https://www.dailywire.com/news/washington-post-hacks-into-chevy-to-show-how-much-cars-are-spying-on-owners does a good, short summation of how much data is downloaded by new vehicles when phones are connected to them (the full WP article is here).

Of course, even if you don’t pair your phone, your new vehicle still provides a variety of metrics to automakers. Why do automakers want that data? For a wide range of reasons, as this report points out: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carmakers-are-collecting-your-data-and-selling-it/ . Though automakers will shout “safety and convenience” every time when cornered on the topic, it seems much more about increasing revenue outside of vehicle sales.

Worse, some new vehicles are arriving to showrooms equipped with cameras to monitor driver behavior, such as warning drivers when they appear to be distracted or monitoring their eye-lids to detect fatigue: https://www.consumerreports.org/automotive-technology/who-owns-the-data-your-car-collects/

My personal belief is that, in the end, it will become very difficult to avoid being monitored by both corporations and the government, the former possibly being even more insidious and impactful than the latter. Perhaps the best hope for anonymity is not to try to escape it, but try to make it worthless by flooding it with disinformation (for example, a disinformation app that produces false location geo tags). A simple example of this was how Miami police were falsely reporting their positions to Waze to prevent drivers from knowing their true locations.

Good luck out there in 2020!