Bill shared this quick-assemble jeep video, though this doesn’t quite look as quick as others we’ve seen.

What’s more interesting is that one of the comments under the video shares how some US jeep dealers ran some contests challenging folks to assemble actual jeeps completely taken apart. This is the first I have heard about this type of contest. I wonder if it was ever documented in any news articles or magazines. Here is the full comment:

“My grandfather’s garage did this in the 1950’s. He owned the first Jeep dealership in Manhattan, because he was selling Willy’s before WWII, so automatically became a Jeep dealership after the War. [Willys] did a promotion where they set up this contest in different dealerships, to see how long to assemble an entire Jeep. But it was completely apart, not in sub assemblies like here. My grandfather won with a time under 4 hours, and they presented him with a solid gold Bulova watch. On the back was engraved his name, the date, and the time it took to put the Jeep together.”

This is another example of a “jeep-assembly” demonstration.

“Jeeps While You Wait (1951)
Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

LV. Elevated, officers watching demonstration in jeep assembly, four men with RCEME SCHOOL written on backs ready to assemble jeep. CU. Officer firing gun to start demonstration. SV. Demonstration team jack up frame and fit in engine. CU. Jack being put onto chassis. CU. Soldiers putting on wheels. CU. Soldier doing up wheel nuts. CU. One of demonstration team. SV. Two members of team putting back axle into position. SV. Team fixing on back axle. LV. Elevated body being put on completed chassis. CU. Body being put into position. CU. Clock. SV. Team fixing on bonnet. CU. Soldier looking on . LV. Team piling into jeep. SV. They drive off.”

Portions of this short video show that John found show the rapid assembly of a jeep. It’s easy to see how this evolved into assembly competitions.

“The King Inspects Cadets In Training (1948)
Aldershot, Hampshire.

General view of tanks and infantry taking part in a cadet training manoeuvre at Aldershot. Back shot of King George VI and party in foreground. Pan from the King watching manoeuvres to tanks moving across plain. Tank being loaded onto lorry belonging to a tank servicing unit. Troops assembling jeep in record time. King with an army officer viewing assembly off jeep. Four soldiers hard at work assembling front portions of a jeep. King and army officers watch cadets carrying out a wireless training exercise. Army wireless equipment with back of radio operator at right of screen. King and two army officers seated in jeep enjoying private joke as jeep, which is mounted on tracked army servicing vehicle, moves away from camera.”

Straight from our Jakarta bureau comes this video about a ‘Jiffy jeep’ team that could use a little more practice. However, what they lack in speed, they make up for in enthusiasm. The event was part of the Parjo 2015. If you are up on your Indonesian language skills, then you can read the story in full.

If you’ve never seen a Jiffy Jeep quickly disassembled and reassembled, then you’ll enjoy this link: http://www.ewillys.com/tag/quick-disassemble/

Uploaded in 2010, this disassemble/assemble of this ‘Jiffy Jeep’, unlike this competition video and this parade demonstration, shows the action from the front, giving a different view onto this unique performance.