Ricardo Dendena’s Willys M38 Restoration in Brazil

The legend M38 army Jeep restored in Garibaldi-Brazil – Click here for more restoration photos

My admiration and interest for Willys Jeeps started since I was an adolescent when I used to watch war movies and see them doing amazing things. I’m also an enthusiast of antique objects and like to know about wars history as well. I think all these facts motivated me to restore a military Jeep to its originality and glory.

I bought my first CJ-3A 1951 Jeep in 2000 with the intention to restore it to military version, but the vehicle was too much modified and adapted for 4×4 off-road adventures tours. I kept this vehicle for 8 years, I enjoyed it a lot doing off-road adventures and driving around but ended up selling it because it would be too difficult to restore to its original military version.

In 2017 I acquired an M38 1951 which was imported from USA by the previous owner. This vehicle was in good shape with most of the original accessories and features relatively in good condition for restoration.

In 2020 with the pandemic started, I talked to my friend that restores cars, Diego and Valerio Simonetti, and decided to do a complete restoration on the Jeep. The restoration took 20 months to be completed, they completely disassembled all components, checked every single part, fixed the ones that needed minor repairs and replaced all that were in bad condition. With the help of Kaiser Willys and other suppliers I was able to find original parts and accessories to maintain its originality. The result was excellent, now everything is working in perfect conditions, it looks great and maintained its original appearance and functionality.

Now I’m very happy to have this 71 years old legend army Jeep in great condition and am enjoying driving it around. I’m also very pleased to contribute and preserve the history for future generations to appreciate the simplicity, robustness and to remember the Jeep history.

The M38 was a military version of the civilian Jeep CJ-3A, built to support the North Korean war in 1951.

Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – Ricardo Dendena

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