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A Bobcat in California

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Thanks to Chuck for giving me this Bobcat hood, which has NEVER been mounted. It was purchased and then hung in a California barn. So now I have my very own ‘Brand New-like’ Bobcat Hood!

Over the last two days Ann and I have been driving down to California. This has kept us very busy and mostly out of service, so only a couple posts today.
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Our first goal was to drive down the center of Oregon, something neither of us had done. So, on Wednesday we got up early and headed south. When we reached Pendleton, Oregon, we turned onto Highway 395 south and worked our way down to Burns. We didn’t stop during our drive or take any photos, mostly due to the driving rains that shadowed us through most of Oregon.

After Burns, we turned onto highway 205, which took us passed the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which isn’t well known for anything at this point other than the Bundy family’s odd decision to take it over in February of 2016. Again, due to the rain, we drove past the refuge.

I had hoped we would have a good view of the Steen Mountain in southern Oregon, but the rain didn’t let up for a good view of it. I am hoping to return sometime to do the mountain loop tour, which begins and ends on 205, but that will have to be saved for next summer.

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Steen Mountain web photo (It’s all one giant mountain).

Eventually, Highway 205 ended at US-95, which we followed into Winnemucca (with the rain still pouring down). After checking the weather, we decided to drive southwest to Fallon, hoping that we would leave the rain behind. That plan actually worked! So, we spent the night at Super-8 and Bonanza Casino, which also provided free drinks for the attached Bonanza casino.

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Super-8 and Bonanza Casino in Fallon, Nevada. This may be a web photo, but it is exactly the way it looked when were there.

We don’t gamble a whole lot, but we did spend about an hour playing 5-cent video poker. We ended up losing $10 total, but got three free drinks out of the deal. I can live with that!

Yesterday (Thursday) morning, we left for Tulare via US 95, which took us through Hawthorne, Nevada, home of the world’s largest ordnance depot, where they both manufacture and store ordnance (and I’m sure they do much more).

Our first stop in Hawthorne was at the local park, where they have several wind machines made out of bombs. Ann was thrilled!

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1950 Photo of General Walker in Jeep on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I wish we could see more of the mods, but still plenty of changes to see from this one photo.

View all the information on eBay

“1950 Press Photo General Walton Walker stands in jeep crossing Kumho River. This is an original press photo. Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker, CG, U.S. Eighth Army in Korea (standing in a jeep) crosses the Kumho River as he heads for the front lines in Korea. Photo measures 7.5 x 9.25 inches. Photo is dated 09-18-1950.”

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Heavy Duty ‘Jeep’ 6 Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I snagged this rare Heavy Duty ‘Jeep’ 6 Engine and Power Unit off of eBay for a good price. I’ve never seen another of these. Given the Kaiser Willys Motors branding and the lack of a date/ad stamp, I’d say this was mid-1950s.

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1965 Photo of CJ-3Bs Among Barrels on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This appears to be a series of CJ-3Bs that are ready for some kind of shipment.

View all the information on eBay

“1965 Press Photo Military Jeep at Port of Embarkation with Barrels -This is an original press photo. Military Jeep at Port of Embarkation with Barrels Photo measures 8 x 10.25 inches. Photo is dated 07-27-1965.”

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Surrey Key Chain From St. Thomas, VI **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay. The final price on this was $55!

I was in the bidding for a short time on this, but it quickly reached more than I was willing to pay. It was at $12.50 when I dropped out.

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CFFC Fall Colors Tour (Sept 15-20)

• CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: My bad. I believe that only members of that FB group can see the video. When I clicked on the link it opened just fine.

This year’s Fall Color Tour in Colorado (Sept 15-20) is currently ongoing. This past weekend Lew was provided the rare opportunity to test drive a Davis 3-wheeled prototype Jeep Car. Here are a few screen shots from the video.

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Here are some other pics from the Fall Colors Tour thus far:

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Photo of Bantam BRC-60 on Raft on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: This auction ends later today.

Great photo of a Bantam BRC-60 powering a raft.

View all the information on eBay

“1941 Press Photo Lt Col JA Considine & soldier in jeep at Ft Oglethorpe, Ga. Photo measures 9 x 7 inches. Photo is dated 1-24-1941.”

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Ventura Manufacturing’s Harrow Brochures

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

These two two-page brochures from the Venture Manufacturing and Implement Company appeared in an early Willys-Overland Equipment Book. One advertises a “spiketooth” harrow, while the other advertises a “springtooth” harrow.

The Springtooth Harrow:
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The Spiketooth Harrow:

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Pics From the 2019 FC Jamboree

• CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Dan Devries’ FC Jamboree is happening this weekend in Lake Mills, Iowa. Here are some pics from Dan along with some pics from Dave.

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JeepRod Pull Wagon Ride-on Toy Rosco, IL $389

• CATEGORIES: Features, toys This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This unusual build appears to be a kids’ ride-on toy.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/347361319295335/

“This is one bad to the Bone custom built pull wagons built by the one and only radio flyer wagon “Pete”. This is a must see!! Unbelievable build by Pete”

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Unusual Rear Extension on a CJ-2A

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This photo appeared on Facebook. The rear bed extension is either a one-off customization or a dealer-related modification. Either way, I’ve not seen another one of these.

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The photo was take of Joe Smith by his son Albert Smith, Sr. It was posted to FB by Douglas Elliott.

It reminded me that these two unusual, extended 2As were also from Seattle (taken at Arthur Warn’s service station. I’ve never seen another like this or the one at the top.

 
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The WWII Jeep’s Engineering Flaw

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

David Tracy writes about the engineering flaw that makes the WWII jeep dangerous, taking a close look about how that happens. The article’s title (The Legendary World War II Jeep Had a Dangerous Engineering Flaw) seems a bit hyperbolic, but, as usual, his article is good.

https://jalopnik.com/the-legendary-world-war-ii-jeep-had-a-dangerous-enginee-1797186236

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The Rat Patrol – Iron Monster Book **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Books, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

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

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“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.”

 
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Photo of Giant? Man Next to Jeep on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Thanks to CJ2atlas for potentially identifying our ‘giant’ as 8’6″ Felipe Manzo Reyes, who was called, among other things, “El Gigante Mexicano (The Mexican Giant)”.  In the late 1940s he spent time as part of the Cole Bros Circus’ side show. The outfit appears to be the same. 

Given the signature on the back and the size and fancy dress of this gentleman, it appears this guy may have been someone famous, at least in Mexico? He also looks like he is REALLY tall.

View all the information on eBay

“Mexico Man in Sombrero Hat with Jeep Car Real Photo Vintage Postcard ”

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A Slat Grille Rebuild

• CATEGORIES: Builds, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Kees’ nearly restored Slat Grille MB.

There was some debate on G503 back in 2016 about whether a modified jeep for sale was a slat grille MB or not. After seeing the jeep for sale in October of 2016 on eWillys, Kees took a chance that it was a slat grille and bought it.

He had it shipped to Rotterdam, only to learn it was in worse shape than he’d hoped. What happened next was several years of hard work to bring it back into drivable condition. Here’s his story:

Hi Jeepers,

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In October 2016, I bought a Jeep that I saw for sale on Ewillys. I had hoped it the Slat Grille I had been seeking, but was it really a Slat Grille?? A lot of folks on G503 were not convinced. Nonetheless, I took the risk.

When it arrived in Rotterdam I was shocked. It was in VERY bad shape. The body was covered in a layer of bondo, up to one inch in places. The sidepanels were almost gone. The gas tank was a drum bolted onto the cargo bed and the body was bolted to the frame with pieces of scrapmetal. There was a giant dent in the dashboard and the front of the jeep was a mess, replaced by bubba modifications. No effort had been made to clean the jeep, so it was covered with rust and dirt.

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Did I feel lucky? Not at all. But, it’s not like I could send it back! So, I started forward, one step at a time.

The first thing I did was bring it to our version of the DMV for inspection. The VIN in the title was 11358, but we could not find it on the frame. Fortunately, we did find a body number of 15160. With those two ID numbers the department did some investigation with their American collegues and found out the VIN is 111358. That was great, because they were able to determine that it was an original Slat.

Once that was settled, I sent a lot of detailed photos to an friend who is an expert on Slats. It was from him I learned I had a lot of rare Slat details like axles, body, frame and some engine parts.

The first year was no fun at all. None. Zip. Nada.

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I spent month after month cleaning, sandblasting and torching bondo. Yet, under all that bondo, I found perfectly good, shiny metal in some places.
When the body was clean I brought it to a welding expert, a pensionado who liked to keep busy welding. Thankfully, he was not expensive because it took him many weeks to reshape the complete body. The only replacement he did where the 2 side panels and the fuel tank container. He was able to restore all the other parts. In the meantime I was busy cleaning the frame. Continue reading

 
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The Dowden Potato Digger Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This potato digger was featured in a late 1940s Special Equipment booklet. Probably not many of these left.

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The Story of The Legend

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Blaine shared Jeep’s take on the history of the jeep. Of course, the company continues to ignore the importance of Bantam and Ford’s role in the origination of the jeep. One of the odd decisions was to select a photo of a 5 lug DJ-3A as representative of the DJ-3A. The history does include a mention of the DJ-5s and CJ-6s, so that’s good to see.

Also, a blurb about the CJ-6 claims the running gear was heavier duty, but as far as I know, the CJ-6 used the Dana 27 and Dana 44. Am I correct on that?

https://www.jeep.com/history.html

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Fall Willys Jeep Reunion This Weekend

• CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

The Fall Willys Jeep Reunion will be this weekend. There’s a good story in the Fulton Sun about the upcoming 24th Annual event.

http://www.fultonsun.com/news/local/story/2019/sep/07/willys-jeep-reunion-returns-auto-world-museum/794071/

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Popular Science: Alaska Fire Jeeps & M-170

• CATEGORIES: Features, Magazine This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

The May 1953 issue of Popular Science including the following 2 jeep-related short blurbs:

Cold Alaska has so much warm water (from volcanic springs) that 17 new Jeep fire engines being sent there for civil-defense duty are equipped with special “heat exchangers.” They’ll cool the water sprayed on fires — cold water put out fires faster.

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The same issue also includes an unrelated mention of the new M-170:

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1952 CJ-3A Smoker/BBQ Stanwood, WA **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $1500.

For $1500 you can buy a pretty good smoker and a bbq.

“1952 Willy’s Jeep BBQ/Smoker. This smoker is tow-able and works great. Has built in fold down table in back with storage in cab area. We’ve used it for many years.

$1500 obo or trades (dirt bikes or boat)”

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Time for a Biscuit

• CATEGORIES: Biscuit, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

As I may have mentioned, I’m in Renton for the next week at my mom’s place while she’s away. As part of rearranging the garage, I’ve finally pulled Biscuit out of his corner.  My goal is to have him running by February, in part because my mom plans on moving!

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FC Jamboree Sept 13-14 2019

• CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Just one update tonight.

Dan Devires plans to hold his FC Jamboree again this year on September 13-14 in Lake Mills, Iowa. It should be a great time! I wish I could be there; instead I’m cleaning out my mother’s basement for the next few days.

http://thefcconnection.com/3rd_annual_fc_jamboree.htm

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Newgren Porto-Mill Feed Grinder Brochure

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I published the green version of these (seen below) of this brochure, but not the red/black/white version. This red version really pops.

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1944 Photo Henry Larsen Talks to Alexander Vandegrift on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This might interest someone.

View all the information on eBay

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“1944 Press Photo Henry L Larsen talks to Alexander A Vandegrift in jeep, NC. This is an original press photo. Vandegrift, Alexander A. (Lieutenant General). Lieutenant General Alexander A. Vandegrift, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, recently made a four-day inspection tour of the Marine Corps training base at Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina. It was his first visit since he became commandant and the first trip back there since he left it in the Spring of 1942 to lead the Marine assault forces that drove the Japanese out of the Solomon Islands.

Lieutenant General Alexander A. Vandegrift (front seat of Jeep), listens to Major General Henry L. Larsen (right), describe a re-enforced rifle company’s field problem on a musketry range Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina, during his inspection tour. General Larsen, Commanding General of Camp Lejeune, and Colonel William N. McKelvy (rear seat), of Washington, District of Columbia, Commanding Officer of the Instructors’ Group, Replacement Battalions, accompanied General Vandegrift during the field problem. Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches. Photo is dated 3-2-1944. “

 
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BCA Film Services, Jeeps and More

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Need military items for a film shoot? Are you near Toronto? Look no further than BCA Film Services, a company spotted by Gary that provides military set dressings, props, and vehicles.

https://bcafilmservices.com

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