Sunday, September 21, 2014- A Little Bit Of Jeep Humor

On this dreary rainy early fall day and the last day of summer I’ve decided that I needed to dip into a special folder that I’ve kept that has sorta surprisingly filled up not so slowly over time. The jeep and its near invincible reputation has lent itself to humor and exaggeration greatly over the years. Its ability to do near anything has been a great source to poke fun with in these images. Hope that you enjoy and get a laugh or two. Come back next week and I’ll try to have a longer writeup. You can view the entire collection in the Website Finds folder here.

I’d also like to take this time to thank our sponsors, Extreme Terrain and Montana Overland for their continued support of This-Old-Jeep.com. Both have decided to renew their commitment to helping me bring you the best of the jeep since 1940. Please take the time to check them whether you need a part for anything from the full sized jeep pickups, wagons and Cherokees and Wagoneers from 1946 through 1988 to your YJ, TJ and JK parts. Whatever you’re driving, restoring, wheeling, working with or on, check them out. Extreme Terrain and Montana Overland have you covered! Click on their links above or call 1-406-741-5337 to reach George at Montana Overland or talk to Extreme Terrain’s Jeep enthusiasts at 1-855-556-8044 Mon-Fri 9-8 EST. Remember, their support is what keeps this site online, so please support them.

Sunday, September 7, 2014- 1950 CJ3-A Camper Conversion

Like so many things in life and in the history of the jeep there are mysteries. This, for me is one of the big ones. The first half dozen negatives showed up on Ebay about last year or so and it was intriguing. They showed a converted CJ3-A that looked as though it had its front end grafted onto a large camper trailer. There was no further info in the listing other than its date 1950. It was a mystery. Who made this? Where was it and why? Did it still exist? How did something like this handle on the road? What was it powered by? Certainly I would think not the original flathead Go Devil 4? Inside the photos showed a pretty standard camper with sleeping berths, gas stove and a refrigerator with a basic utilitarian driver’s cockpit. It was pretty unique to say the least.

A few months later another contact sheet of negatives showed up again on Ebay. They showed a further ten negs with people inhabiting the camper making it look like posed commercially shot photos for a future advertising campaign. The only other info that was supplied was that it was again from the 1950’s, but also that the camper was pictured in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. Certainly this wasn’t the first time that someone envisioned a bit more comfort while using the jeep in the wilderness or as a camping/ hunting vehicle. A 1952 Motor Trend article shows off one hunter’s modification of his Willys pickup.

Much later on in 1969, Kaiser introduced the short lived Jeep Camper which was designed to be piggybacked on the back of a modified CJ-5 (that is with the Buick 225 V-6 and 4.88 gearing... but they would fit any CJ-5.) They made only 336 of them and are pretty rare nowadays. You can read a bit more here @www.cj5camper.com/. Was this a mockup of something that Kaiser was envisioning a decade before the production camper? There are many good questions and if anyone can supply any answers or would be willing to share higher resolution scans of these negs please contact me @ thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com. You can view all of the negs in the website finds album here. Enjoy this end of summer fun and come back next week for more of the best of the jeep since 1940!

Monday, September 1, 2014- Jeeps On The Farm

Happy Labor Day to everyone! I had wanted to get this up yesterday, but it was a very long day trying to squeeze as much as possible into a three day weekend. Regardless, today is more fitting as I wanted to bring to you a selection of new images that I’ve found of the jeep hard at work. Specifically of the jeep at work on the farm. Post-war, Willys-Overland targeted farmers as an important market for the new jeep CJ2-A. I won’t go into a whole history lesson, but W-O test marketed the jeep in farms across the country and had them photographed by the press while performing various tasks such as hauling hay and milk to running agricultural devices with the rear power take-off. Many of these jeeps were the first CJ’s, the CJ-1 which were slightly modified MBs and then the next incarnation, the CJ-2, the famous “Agrijeeps.” These photos represent them and mostly the years of 1944-45, though some are undated and represent the years of the CJ2-A production. There are also a Bantam BRC-60 being used to tend to the cows and a Ford GP hauling milk cans as well as a couple of GIs lassooing cattle from the seat of an MB. There are also some fanciful photos of a CJ2-A and as well the first introduction of the CJ-5 in 1954 being shown in a pastoral landscape. You can view them all right here in the album section of Website Finds.

I’d also like to take the time to thank Extreme Terrain for their continued advertising support of This-Old-Jeep.com. Its due in part to our sponsors like Extreme Terrain that I’m able to keep this site up and running year after year. Please take the time to support them by clicking through their link at the bottom of the page. Enjoy your holiday and we’ll see you next week with the best of the jeep since 1940!