~ Sent to us by Gabriel Mayernik
This Jeep, which I have fondly named Susan, after the most common female baby name of her model year, is a 1948 CJ-2A. She was purchased brand new by my great grandfather, and used as a farm truck in the Great Falls, Montana area up into the late 1970s. Around that time, she was parked in the barn. In the 1990s, my great grandfather and great uncle tried to bring her back, but I believe they stopped when my great grandfather died in 1999. In mid 2020, I had a model Willys MB, and my grandfather mentioned Susan to me, but I didn’t have a chance to actually see her until mid 2021, when we all went to the family farm for cattle branding that year. I know it sounds silly, but it was love at first sight. I couldn’t stop thinking about that old Jeep, just sitting there in the barn. On April 23, 2022, Susan left that barn for the first time in over four decades.
I want to make clear that I had ZERO experience with vehicles, old or new at the time, so Susan was the project I was going to learn on. Today (August 17, 2024), Susan runs well, drives well, and is almost ready for paint. The body is almost pristine; very little metalwork had to be done to her. I have learned a ton and I am so grateful that I got the chance to keep a family heirloom alive, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the amazing community that surrounds old flatties like Susan, as well as the veritable pillar that holds it all up: Kaiser Willys Jeep Parts.
- Gabriel Mayernik
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Greetings and congratulations on your project with your flat fender family friend. I am a huge fan of the CJ-2A and was three years old and with my parents when they bought Jeep, as we called her. My Papa was a country doctor in south Missouri and they didn’t even yet gravel the roads, much less pave them and he wanted the four-wheel drive. I drove Jeep in highschool and college and put Jeep in the barn for thirty years while I was off in the military. ( I’m a Vietnam vet) I was able to drive Jeep intermittently. After retiring we moved to Idaho and Jeep is drive daily in the summer and is still a work vehicle, pulling shrubs for neighbors and such. The dogs love riding in it and it has been topless for the last thirty years and I just bought a summer top from our friends here at Kaiser Willys. My dear Mama taught me to drive in Jeep and I taught my son and Jeep is definitely a family member. Jeep is completely stock with original engine and still twelve Volts. We are in Idaho Falls should you ever make it down here. My tele is: 208-521-5500 and it would be great to hear from you and to see your Jeep. We decided that Jeep is proud of every nick, scratch and scrape and you can tell it has been a work vehicle. Best of luck! Joe Stokes
Hello, Your SUSAN is very nice , Best way to learn is hands on . Now you will enjoy being out driving an known every nut & bold of your Jeep, but think of Family . Lot’s of back roads an places in Montana to Drive . I am working on a CJ 3A , working on the tub, and rear end , engine on it’s stand , it is my retirement present for me . Enjoy