Jeepster Commando and Gladiator Postcards-1970

Today we have a couple of dealer postcards that were found in the same collection that I had picked up from a seller in Texas. It was quite a varied selection of cards and brochures that seemed to originate from dealers in the Corpus Christi area. It appears that in 1970, which I would guess both of these cards date from, the prospective owner was looking into one of two of the most distinctive larger models, either a Gladiator or a Jeepster Commando. Enjoy the cards and come back next week when I’ll have another brochure from the collection. Click here to be taken to the album where you can view the full-sized images.

The FC-170 Brochure

The Forward Control models produced by Kaiser Willys had their entire production run in the short time period of 1957 to 1965. In this short time they were the ugly, but lovable ducklings of the jeep world. They’ve always sort of resembled a big Saint Bernard to me. Big and ungainly looking, but able to push through anything. These rare creatures are getting harder and harder to find, but they have their adherents. here are a couple of sites that I’ve found, http://members4.boardhost.com/jeepfc/ and the FC Connection here- http://www.thefcconnection.com/ This FC-170 brochure came with last week’s Wagon and Pickup brochures and likely dates from the same time period. I would hazard a guess that it dates from 1957-58 as it doesn’t mention one of the very few changes made to the Forward Control lineup in its entire run, the dually rear end that was made in 1959. It also fits in nicely with the supposed ages of the previous brochures. Again I can only hope that the previous owner of these brochures did get to experience first hand the joys of jeep ownership. Check back in next week for another installment in this find from Texas. I still have the oldest, 1945 and the newest, 1976 brochures to post and some in between. And in the meanwhile be sure to click here to see the entire brochure!

Willys Wagon And Pickup Truck Brochures

In another example of the wonderful design ethic of the time these two brochures were offered by Kaiser-Willys dealers for their Utility Wagon and Pickup Truck models. I purchased them in the same lot as a number of other brochures from a couple of dealerships in or near Corpus Christi, Texas dating from 1945 to 1976. These two are likely to date from the same year. Based on the styling, they would have to date from somewhere between 1954 and 1959 when the five horizontal bars that were used from 1950 to 53 were reduced to three and just before the one piece windshield made its debut in 1960 in both models. You can click here to view the entire truck brochure or here for the Wagon brochure. The two were being sold as a jack of all trades to as large an audience as possible with everything from farming and small business hauling to a wrecker configuration, a hunting rig, a veterinarian’s vehicle and a rural mail delivery truck as pictured in the front covers. I can imagine the original owner picking up both brochures and dreaming of owning a piece of the American dream in these post-war years. I only hope that he or she had a chance to experience it first-hand. Come back next week for more in honor of the American legend, jeep!

The All-Purpose Vehicle For The Farm, The Universal ‘Jeep’

Going back to the earliest days of the jeep, Willys-Overland had always planned on marketing it to the civilian market one day. Willys found that a perfect niche would be the farming sector for use as a farming implement, runabout and general companion in the rural areas of the world. And so it was that much of the earliest literature was geared towards introducing the new civvy model to the agricultural producers of the late 40’s and early 50’s. After its stint in the service the jeep was, like many a GI of the greatest generation, a laborer before it became a legend. Enjoy this brochure. Its filled with alot of tech specs and many a classic photo, some taken from early agricultural tests. The bottom right photo is one of the many doctored photos that Willys used to acclimatize the public to the look of the new CJ. The lines were faintly airbrushed and the front grill was probably an MB 9 slot accidentally airbrushed to an 8 slot! To view the rest of the brochure and many more, you can click here.

Come back next week when we’ll have more from my collection of the legendary jeep.

Happy New Year And The This-Old-Jeep.com 2012 Calendar- January

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you had a safe and fun New Years and much luck and happiness in the coming new year. I like New Years, always full of hope and promise for what is to come. And another reason that I like it is for the new calendars that get hung up. This year it’s a new This-Old-Jeep.com calendar for 2012. It’s available directly from the This-Old-Jeep.com online store right here. You can find it and many more jeep gifts in our store, t-shirts, ornaments, bumper stickers, caps, bags, mugs and more! The photo is an anonymous shot of an MB and driver standing in a winter landscape that I hope that you aren’t experiencing just yet this year. It makes me cold just looking at it, especially contemplating a ride on a day like that with only a soft top for protection. But many a GI did! Once again, enjoy this New Years Day whether or not you’re taking the jeep out for a drive doorless or not!