UPDATE: There’s another set of Bantam BRC-60-like cards on eBay. I’ve got a set of these (those are mine pictured below). Pretty neat!
Features Research Archives
July 1966 Las Brisas Menu Surrey on eBay
Here’s another Las Brisas Menu from 1966. I have one from August of ’66. This one is from July.
“Date: July 30, 1966.
Restaurant: Las Brisas Hotel.
Location: Acapulco, Mexico.
Size when open: 14 x 23 inches – 3 panel card stock menu.
The World’s Only Hotel With Room Service By Jeep.”
UPDATE: MVPA Route 66 2017 Convoy
Joe-in-Mesa joined the MVPA last weekend (You can track the convoy’s progress here) while they were camped in Williams, Arizona. He filed this report with photos!:
“I trailered my ’42 GPW up Friday to join in the festivities thru Sunday morning. She ran pretty well, despite not liking cold morning air and me forgetting to tighten the points adjustment securing screw (oops). I understand 47 MVPA vehicles rode into Williams, and our Phoenix area clubs brought up another half dozen-ish. Our AMVCC club treated them to breakfast Saturday morning at the vehicle parking encampment. It was truly a perfect weekend: the vehicles, venue, weather, and so many great people!”
I’ve attached about 14 of the many pics I took, focusing on the jeeps. My GPW shows up at least 5 times since I wanted to include the Rt 66 and Grand Canyon RR images that were the backdrop to the whole event.
Kaiser Willys News Vs. Willys News
Not too long after Kaiser acquired Willys-Overland the company introduced a dealer news periodical. What I learned recently is that initially the periodical was called Kaiser Willys News. It wasn’t until March of 1955 that the Kaiser name was dropped and it was renamed Willys News. Apparently, it was felt that the jeep dealers needed different information and support from that of the auto dealers? I don’t know for sure, but it makes sense.
Here are examples of each periodical.
Maverick Dealer’s Contest Award on eBay
This is some kind of award related to dealers and the Jeep-Maverick partnership. Anyone know more? Seller describes it as a “Maverick Sponsorship ERA”
Porcelain Jeep Engine Sign **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** on eBay.
Cool sign. Bidding is up to $307 already. No description or size estimate provided.
More Pics From Charles
Here are some random photo Charles shared. I don’t have any information on the time period or location.
WWII Vet and His Ford GPW
UPDATE: Yep, I fell for the story and didn’t check the “Willys MB” close enough. Thanks for correcting me guys!
Joe shared this story from the Wall Street Journal about a WWII vet who restored a 1942 GPW.
1960 Review of the CJ-6
Heinz History Center Blog: Jeep as a Lady
Check out this article from the Heinz History Center. It’s even pretty accurate (I have my quibbles, but you can’t explain everything in a short blog article). Thanks to Mike for pointing me toward the article.
http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/blog/western-pennsylvania-history/see-the-jeep-as-a-lady
Here’s a neat magazine cover that I hadn’t seen previously:
This one you may have seen. It was going around Facebook:
These two pages from a 1946 magazine ad are likely for sale, since it appears the image came from here: http://www.thejumpingfrog.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=1088408&keyword=tomboy&searchby=title&offset=0&fs=1
1950s Jeep-A-Drill Brochure
UPDATE: Heres a photo showing a CJ-3A with a Mobile Drill, before it was branded a “Jeep-A-Drill”:
=============================
Originally posted October 2017: Mobile Drilling, Inc., produced this brochure about their Jeep-A-Drill product. there were there models (100-A, 100-b, 200), two powered by hydraulics and the cheapest one, the 100-A, powered by a hand crank.
Unusual Ambulance Jeep
UPDATE II: It’s now red and for sale again: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/12/25/1950-modified-cj-3a-celestine-in-10000/
UPDATE: It appears this jeep has been re-themed into a resort vehicle.
This unusual ambulance jeep was shared on Facebook. I’ve tracked down an additional photo that shows it’s got a standard gas inlet on the side, so I think this may have been a CJ-3A.
This vehicle is located in Vincennes, Indiana (still there??). I’d really like some better photos of this. I’ll offer an Alaska Or Rust T-shirt and my everlasting gratitude if someone could get some more pics of this unusual rig.
Photos: 2017 Southeast Willys Jeep Get Together
Buz shared some photos from yesterday’s 2017 Southeast Willys Jeep Get Together. He estimated there were thirty jeeps in attendance. http://www.southeastwillysjeepgettogether.com
This first pic is actually from Merlin Hansen. It shows Rick Palchoski (Old Jeep Carbs) holding a clinic at the event.
Here are Buz’s photos:
1950ish Canfield Wrecker Brochure
I like this brochure. It includes some nice visuals of the Canfield Wrecker stowed in the back of the truck and jeep.
1960s White Automotive Soft Top Brochures
White Automotive was based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company sold different types of soft tops for a wide range of jeeps. They also sold tire covers, half-doors, spare-tire carriers, and other items. The brochures below are currently on eBay. The company also used the brand name Whitco and/or White Mfg. at times.
1. This one page brochure includes a dealer’s note.
View all the information on eBay
2. White Automotive’s bikini top and half doors.
View all the information on eBay
3. This is an example of a brochure that uses the brand name “Whitco”.
Traci Clark’s Stude-A-Willys Article
It you haven’t read it already, check out Traci Clark’s Stude-A-Willys article over at the Four Wheeler Network. It’s nice piece about a CJ-2A powered by a Model 6-170 Champion Studebaker engine. The roller-chain PTO is pretty interesting, too!
Kayline Brochures **SOLD**
1.. These hardtops were produced out of Colorado, but also marketed by Kelly Manufacturing east of the Mississippi.
More Early Worman Brochures
I stumbled upon some more Worman brochures in my archives. I’d meant to include these in my Dispatcher article, but my not so organized organizational methods thwarted my best intentions. These are from either 1947 or 1948. It’s possible that these tops still exist, but are easily mistaken for the later Sears tops (at least, i could have easily made the mistake).
Laurel C. Worman and the Worman Products for Early Jeeps
UPDATE II: More history on the Worman company in the January 1948 issue of Wilys Overland Sales News.
UPDATE: This article appeared in the 2016 Winter edition of Dispatcher Magazine. The original of this was posted in October of 2106 as a series of notes, but is now updated with text from that article along with some additional photos.
Willys-Overland equipment manufacturers experienced a range of successes and failures. One of those who entered the market at the dawn of the CJ-2A to achieve the former was Laurel C. Worman, a businessman who created the first set of jeep hardtops for different applications, most sold under the brand Jee-Cab.
EARLY YEARS OF LAUREL C. WORMAN:
Laurel C. Worman was born in 1898 in Toledo, Ohio, to Ernest and Clara Worman. He was the younger of two children. The boy’s father Ernest was a self-made man, who developed a large hardwood lumber business, something Laurel must have watched with fascination. When he was old enough, Laurel married Muriel Florence Jackson. The pair had two sons, Ernest “Ernie” William and Lester Lee Worman. The couple later divorced. By 1940, Laurel had remarried a woman named Ruth.
Perhaps Laurel’s father’s entrepreneurial influence led him to become a self-made man himself. While his early employment history has yet to be unearthed, by 1941, Laurel was president of Packard Toledo, Inc. Well known in Toledo automotive circles, Laurel later that year became a northwestern Ohio distributor for the new Willys Americar. It may have been the car that interested him most, but more likely it was the potential of the jeep, which had garnered automotive interest for more than a year.
About this time in 1941, Laurel C. Worman incorporated a company by the same name, under which he placed the Willys dealership. It was only one of several companies he would co-found. In December 1941, he went to Washington, D. C., as a dealer representative and gathered with other auto industry to reps to establish a ceiling on car prices, perhaps in anticipation of war. Four days after returning from his D. C. meeting, the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor.
The war doesn’t appear to have slowed Worman down. By 1942, he was placing ads in the Toledo Blade, arguing how “Willys Truck Owners Are Lucky!” Laurel noted that Willys-Overland had produced the most economical line of trucks. He told potential customers they would be well-served by the truck’s low use of gasoline and their rugged nature, two characteristics important for enduring war time challenges. Worman also made sure to note that Willys was the producer of the jeep, already famous by September of 1942.
As an automotive dealer seemingly in the thick of things in Toledo during WWII, there’s no evidence he formed plans for any jeep equipment. But, as a Willys dealer in Toledo, he certainly would have stayed abreast of the CJ’s progress and must have saw potential in the jeep following the war.
THE CJ-2A ARRIVES:
When the CJ-2A was introduced to the public in July of 1945, options included a front soft top ($55) and rear soft top ($39). The first civilian hardtop half-cab, according to Fred Coldwell in his Preproduction Civilian Jeep book, didn’t go into production until the fall of 1945. Somewhere around that time, the Army asked Willys-Overland to design a full steel cab for the late 1945 MBs. The result was a stretched version of the half cab, but it never went into production. One probable reason was that steel was in short supply. Another reason was that they were heavy.
In August 1945, Worman invited prospective buyers to visit his dealership and see the new “Universal ‘Jeep’” for themselves. The amazing “4-in-1” vehicle was advertised as a light truck, a light tractor, a runabout, and a mobile power unit. But, it still lacked the comfort of a full cab, a fact that must have been apparent to Worman as he engaged customers and sold jeeps through ’45 and into ’46.
Perhaps after hearing from dealers and customers that they’d prefer a hard top over the canvas front and rear tops, the Willys-Overland decided to contract with Laurel C. Worman to produce a line of hardtops. The hardtops would be made of aluminum, which, unlike steel, was amply available and light.
Koenig Hardtop Brochure
This Koenig brochure highlights the early tops made by the company. This brochure was produced circa 1948.
C. W. McCall’s CJ-5 W/ Four Wheel Drive Song
I remember this song fondly. It was on the first and only album (Wolf Creek Pass) my father brought home for me. I think he won it as a door price at some jeep event. Thanks to Maury for sharing the link. You’ll notice that the person who assembled the photos didn’t know the difference between a CJ-5 and CJ-7….
10 Page Garwood Dump Bed Instruction Booklet
I missed out on this rare Garwood DumpOMatic Hoist Bed Booklet for the FC-170. It sold for $28.97 on eBay yesterday morning. I
Year? Photo of Performer on Jeep on eBay
That young lady must have been tiny.
“Press Photo Dawn Peterson Performs Acrobatics on Vintage Jeep USO. You are bidding on an original press photo of Dawn Peterson Performs Acrobatics on Vintage Jeep USO. Photo measures 7.5 x 10 inches and is not dated.”
WSYR’s Testimonial For the Jeep
In late 1946 radio station WSYR-FM out of Syracuse, New York, sent this testimonial for the jeep touting the ability of it to overcome the sometimes muddy terrain to reach the transmitter site.
April 1955 Issue of Willys News on eBay
UPDATE: The starting price on this is $8.95. That’s a good price! This issue includes an article on the jeepcade with 284 entries.