My Willys Jeep will be Enjoyed for a Lifetime

They all laughed at me when I brought in my $100 prize find on a trailer. Before I loaded him on the trailer, he already had gained his masculine name… no sissy stuff in my garage! Of course, his name is Willy! I had always wanted a Willys Jeep. My dad was a lifer in the air force. Both of us “had” to watch every WWII movie. We both really loved WWII stuff! I even looked for one when I first got to the 1st Ranger Battalion. At that time they were hard to come by and I was in need of “ready to go” and faster more practical highway transportation. I opted for the next best thing, a 1977 CJ-5. At the time, this was 1991, and I really wanted an “MB”, but there was no internet. Not easy to pick and choose back then. I found that if you found one Willys, it’s owner might put you on the trail of two more they knew of. Out of maybe fifty reckons, I was able to look at 25 or so “actual” Willys Jeeps. Junk, missing lots of parts, they were really proud of ‘em, mostly CJ-2As, CJ-3Bs, a few scraps of MBs. I convinced myself that a CJ-2A ain’t much different than an MB. A hundred bucks? All of the stuff below the body was there! How could I go wrong? How could they all laugh at me? I had really thought it out big time! Even though it sorta still looked like a Jeep, there was no floor at all and the sides were held together with assorted metal patches along with a 55 gallon drum of bond. I am an Airborne Ranger… served four and a half years (got out of the army three years earlier) with that ranger stuff being said.. I can do anything! I had the vision, I felt more than capable, I had quite a few tools, and I was 27 years old. I figured it was now or never! This was the biggest project I ever took on near all by myself… I was now a plumber! I went through it all, with the help of my four year old daughter.. it took “us” two years in a one car garage before we exclaimed, “it is alive!”

Luckily, I did get picks along the way! Things were modified for better drivability, comfort, and just to “keep things rolling” (like turn signals).. 98% of the population don’t know and don’t care! “Hand-cranking” (1/2 a turn) is a real crowd pleaser! The main thing is, “my bunch” loves him and he really gets the looks, when he’s in traffic! The best thing he’s got is a 1943 MB grille… he really has “the look” now, I don’t feel so bad about not actually having an MB. My daughter’s birth date is in the Willys Hood Serial Numbers “11181987”. At age 10, she was proficient in driving him (she’s now 27). I drive Willy quite a bit on the road, he almost qualifies as a daily driver… still using the L-134 that I rebuilt in 1992! Yes, I still have things I want to do on him, like grab handles and another paint job, maybe even a little tilt! The pics I’ve submitted were taken a few days ago when my wife and I took two of the grand-youngin’s for a nice slow ride down a nearby dirt trail.

Remember the old saying… He who laughs last, is “still currently” driving a really nice 68 year old Willys Jeep!

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