~ Sent to us by Derek Strouse
Just picked up in June 2024. I originally pulled it out of a collapsed garage in October 2023 and came back in June 2024 to purchase and transport it from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania. As my first restoration, I hope to save what I can of the original Jeep and preserve its history. The story I got from the previous owner was that it started out on a farm where the farmer would intentionally get it stuck in the fields and tell his sons to go fetch it. After several rounds of this, the sons got together and painted it with tractor paint when the father was away from the farm. Which started a cycle of different colors. The original color was a shade of green (unknown exactly which paint code). Then it became John Deere yellow, Massey Furgeson orange, and finally Rustoleum Red spray paint which became pink in some spots from years of sun exposure. Now I have it 72 years later. It was last registered and inspected in 2015 and I plan to get it back on the road as soon as I possibly can.
- Derek Strouse Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – If you would like to share your Willys Jeep Story please send us a line. We’d love to meet your Jeep.
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Looking for, Willys Jeep Parts, Willys Jeep replacement parts, Willys Jeep body parts and much more for your 1941-1971 Willys vehicle, you have come to the right place!
I own a 1948 Willys CJ2A that has been in our family forever. It was purchased by my uncle and he took possession of it on Jan.7 1948 from a dealer in Angola, Indiana, He ordered it about 4 months earlier.
It has extra items on it that he ordered as his prime purpose was to use it on the farm. At the time he was working with a group of his neighbors as a thrashing crew and they used a steam engine for power.
The other neighbors were going with small tractors and eliminating their teams of horses. However the tractors were not equipped to run a thrashing machine. Thus entering Jeep power.
As I said this Jeep has extra features on it as he ordered it that way. Extras; Full and complete top with back and side curtains, 4-wheel drive, 325# front weight, all seats including the rear seat, drawbar, power takeoff, belt pully attachment, and a governor with throttle and governor controls on the dash, and heater for winter warmth.
My uncle passed away in 1962 and my aunt(my dads sister)wanted to move off of the farm. So my dad purchased the Jeep and a few other pieces of farm equipment. Then around the early 70’s my dad had the opportunity to purchase a newer jeep. I told him to act as though he was going to trade it in and I would buy it from him at that price. Thus we now had 2 Jeeps in the family.
I restored it about 12 years ago and it has been judged in the AACA organization as a Senior 1st place several times. I drive it to local summer car shows and explain its history to car buffs and the general public.
I am making arrangements to pass it on to my family members upon my passing.
Hope you enjoyed a little of Jeep history. Thanks.
I have a ‘49 CJ 2 or 3
How do I determine which it is?