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What was your motivation?

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Brian3 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 1:53pm
I'm curious, what got other people into Jeeps?  Or when did the bug bite?  I "got it" when I started volunteering at a local museum that has a '42 MB that saw service in Italy and Northwest Europe.  I'm sometimes assigned to drive it in "Tank Day" shows.
I wish people would quit hittin' me on the head. MQ
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bob3b Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 2:35pm
When I was maybe 9, my dad woke me up one saturday morning and asked if I wanted to go to the Jeep races...I was hooked after that.
1946 CJ2A #23881
1953 CJ3b, nice!
1949 Jeepster
1947 Empire Model 90
1985 CJ10A
Spen "S" Utility trailer
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joe DeYoung Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 2:46pm
My jeep exposure started very early with my Father having a 51 willys 473 truck on the farm. My siblings are a decade+ older than I and had jeeps on the farm as well. We moved to the city in 69 when I was very young but kept the land. I would go out there every weekend with my brother working on something... often jeep related. When I was a teenager, I owned a few jeeps myself but I sold off all my willys stuff (except for the 47 2A I had as a kid) a year after I started my Machine shop in 1995. In 2003 my brother asked me if I wanted to go to the Willys Reunion in Baraboo, WI. I had know idea what that was but it sounded like fun and agreed to go with him. Well.... that was like throwing a match on gasoline and the obsession has been burning ever since. Within a month I had bought an early column shift 2A and have never looked back. Now my shop looks like this....
 

 

 I guess the Willys Reunion worked Big smile
 
 

Edited by Joe DeYoung - 06 Feb. 2019 at 2:49pm
Joe DeYoung
to many jeeps, parts, and accessories to list here, but apparently enough to keep me in trouble with my wife.





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RSR_MK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 3:08pm
A jeep was the first thing I was allowed to drive by myself, mostly on the farm. Took it hunting and fishing with a few trips over to the neighbors. I would guess I was 10 or 11 then. I think I was in my 40’s when I thought I needed another one. One of the best things I’ve done. Handy as a pocket on a shirt around the farm. Unless it’s raining I use one daily for the choirs. Cold weather is fine, I have to be out in it anyway, cold and wet is not so good. 


Mike
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark W. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 5:33pm
Dad had a junker 49 3A when I was born. I have only one memory of it. That of it sitting next to CHUG A LUG at some time prior to Oct 12 1962 (Columbus Day Storm) At the time I was 5 years old I remember a little bit about Dad dragging CHUG home from a farm in Scotts Mills about 10-12 miles away. And then the first big memory of CHUG is sitting in it (before dad got it on the road) trying to shift the gears and Dad telling me I would wear out the transmission. I was still age 5 at the time.

Dad got Chug Running and started driving it to work sometime in early 1963. I remember both times he painted it in the driveway. And then I remember going to the very first meetings of the Salem Jeep Club in 1964-65 (club history has them forming the club in 65 but it seams to me like their were meetings at the local Jeep Dealer either very early in the year or late 64.

Form the forming of the club until maybe as late as 1970 we did all sorts of adventures with the Club from visiting the Oregon Dunes in Central Oregon to trips to Sand Lake at the beach. Dad also joined the Marion County Search and Rescue (part of the Sheriffs Dept.) we did stuff all the time with CHUG Parades and Hunting and Fishing etc.

Our Family car from 1965-76 was a 65 Deluxe Wagoneer Yellow with Black interior Dauntless 6 3spd on the column

Dad continued to drive CHUG to work through the 60's then in 1970 he bought a Green J3000 Gladiator Pickup. And Chug kind of went to pasture.

Then in the summer of 1974 I got a job (at 15) working as a framing carpenter with my uncle and I drove CHUG to meet him about 3 miles from the house I parked CHUG in the ditch for the day after ridding into Salem to the Jobs in Uncle Arnolds falcon station wagon. Which must have had 13" Disc brakes on it cause he drove it at full speed up to every stop only applying the brakes a few feet from the stop sign or traffic light. Scared the hell out of me every morning.

After that summer I started driving CHUG on dates and going to Bicycle races etc. Through High school it was my car. But dad would not let me actually drive it to school. He said he paid taxes for the bus we were going to ride in.

Last time CHUG was driven on the road was Sept 19th 1976 3 days before I left for college and at the end of about a 1000 mile 3 day weekend were a buddy of mine and I took CHUG all the way to the Alvord Desert in Easter Oregon on the back side of the Steens Mountain.

EDIT: And my first vehicle I ever bought was a 57 Willys Wagon stock drive train some idiot had done a SOA which led to the roll over that ended its useful life.

So I don't think there ever was a time that Jeeps weren't part of my being.


Edited by Mark W. - 07 Feb. 2019 at 4:29am
Chug A Lug
1948 2A Body Customized
1949 3A W/S
1957 CJ5 Frame Modified
Late 50's 134L 9.25"clutch T90A D18 (1.25") D44/30 flanged E-Locker D25 5.38 Since 1962
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 5:50pm
Hard to say.  I've been a motorhead all my life.  My grampa's fishing boat with a 5 horse Merc was the first vehicle I could drive.  I think I was about 7 when I started taking it out by myself.  I got my first go kart when I was about 10 and went through several over the next 8 years.  Due to lack of pavement to drive legally on I started driving the karts off-road.  They broke a lot so I switched to dirt bikes, but really was more of a 4 wheel guy.

I was about 9 when I subscribed to my first 4 wheel drive magazine (PV4).  I remember being interested in Jeeps before then, but there weren't any in my family.

My dad bought a 1929 Model A Tudor sedan as a father-son project when I was 10.  That got me hooked on old iron.  We started that rebuild which I ended up finishing after college.

I bought my first (and so far only) Jeep not long after college (before the Model A was done).  It was a '75 CJ5.  It was just a beater / driver until I finished the Model A, then I rebuilt it into a decent trail rider.  I had hoped to keep the Model A, but life said I couldn't keep both, so when the Jeep was "finished" I sold the A.

My sons outgrew the back seat in the Jeep so I upsized to the '71 Bronco I still have.  Again I had hoped to keep both but wasn't able to, so the Jeep went away.

Now I'm a (new) empty-nester and I'm trying to figure out what life will look like.  I'm hoping to keep doing automotive projects, and I'm looking for what the next one will be.  I love the Bronco, but there was something a little more fun (if less practical) about the more open CJ5, so another Jeep has always been in the mix.  I've always like the looks of the early flat-fenders, and that, along with my Model A induced love of old iron makes a 2a attractive (the fact that it's less practical than a CJ5 is sort of irrelevant since I have the more practical Bronco).  Then I started running into videos with some of the guys from this page so I dropped by.  It seemed like a great group so here I am, Jeepless (for now at least), but still hoping!
Bob

Flatfender wannabe
'71 Ford Bronco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote drm101 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 5:51pm
My father-in-law offered me his old '47 CJ2A. My son was 8 at the time and I thought it would be a cool father and son project. My son's 15 now and we still tool around in the summer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote berettajeep Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 6:15pm
I've been told my Grandfather plowed in a Scout that had no brakes. I would ride with him from time to time. This was before I was 4. I have no memory of it at all but it put a lasting impression on a young me.

Not much later My mom took us kids ( my sister and brother) to visit a high school friend. Her friends husband had a multi colored CJ7 and he took us kids down a bunch of trails in South Eastern Ohio.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nofender Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 6:19pm
I guess i was around 11 or 12. My older brother and I were out "four wheeling" in a 1966 Rambler. We got that poor thing quite stuck. We hiked out to a pay phone (remember those?) and he called a friend. Said friend showed up around an hour later in this amazing vehicle. It had some sort of device on front with a rope and hooks. Being the smallest - it was my job to crawl under the Rambler and find something solid to hook to. He pulled us out with very little effort. 

Turns out that vehicle was actually a Toyota Land Cruiser with an 8274 on the front. I didn't know at the time what the heck it was. But it was cool. I became obsessed with anything 4WD since that day. I read every magazine I could. I'd ask any person willing to answer questions about their 4x4's. 

The summer I was 13, I worked on a farm picking corn. The old man has an old CJ5 with a plow that i was obsessed with. HE never let me drive it. But he taught me all the features and was quite proud of that Jeep. 25 years later I ended up owning that Jeep. but it was just too far gone to salvage much at that point. Still breaks the heart.

My first 4x4 was a 74 Cherokee Chief. I was 14. Still wish I had that one. Anyway, I've had all sorts of 4x4's. But I always gravitated to the Jeeps. Eventually all other brands and projects we abandoned. Soon after that all Jeep models other than flat fenders were abandoned. 

So it was a Land Cruiser that got me into Jeeps.....in a round about way. Wink
46 CJ2a rockcrawler
46 CJ2a - 26819
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mbullism Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 6:55pm
Early on, maybe ten or twelve, I graduated to being allowed to drive the page garden tractor around the yard for chores, which quickly led to trips around the back 40 when dad wasn't looking.  That graduated into home built go carts, then vw bugs, all bombing around the back forty.  Upon getting my license, mom's 2wd std cab toyota pickup got run up and down every highline, sand pit, woods road I could find..sometimes hunting, sometimes keg parties...woods bombin', lol.  That truck went places it had no business... saved up some money, dad matched, and the obvious answer was something to go where the toy wouldn't... '69 Kaiser cj5 fit the bill.  Over the years that ride got a small reputation amongst my circle and I was hooked.  I was in the process of searching out a 2a to stick a buick in when life does what it does...wipes that youthful smile off your face with a slap of reality, lol...

Never found that 2a, but hauled that buick all over for 35 years...and life slowed just a touch.  Started searching out a 2a for the buick, and found one but in my advanced age I fell for the L-head, hard...  the last several years have been a blast.

I'm back, baby  LOL


Edited by mbullism - 06 Feb. 2019 at 6:57pm
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it... Welcome to 1930's Germany
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 63owner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 7:33pm
When I was 7 or 8 (mid 1960s) we'd visit my uncle and aunt who lived in the country in central Kentucky. My uncle had a good-size wood mill on his property along with an old Jeep. I'm guessing it was a surplus MB but it was so long ago I don't remember any of its details.
My dad, a World War II vet who had a lot of experience driving Jeeps in Germany post-war, would take us for rides around the farm and would never miss an opportunity to climb it up the side of a large scrap pile. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
I never knew what happened to that old Jeep but fast forward 40 years when life settled down, I was able to buy my own.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AKoller Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 8:47pm
I was about 10 years old when my dad bought a 1983 CJ7. I loved riding around in that thing. He sold it after a few years and bought a 1948 2A. I drove that thing around all through high school. It was then that I was hooked and knew I had to own my own some day. I was about 20 when I bought my first Jeep. If you can call it that. It was a 1992 YJ. I did some modifications to it over a few years and put a ton of trail miles on that thing. I always knew that I really wanted a flatty. I just had to wait for the right time and the right vehicle to come around. I was about 24 years old when it happened. I found "Thumper" my 1950 3A on Ebay. I got to looking at the listing and found that it was located only about 25 miles up the road from me. I contacted the seller and asked if I could come look at it and he said I could. That evening I went and looked at it and knew I had to buy it. I asked if there was anyway he would sell it to me off Ebay. He thought about it for a few minutes and agreed to do it. I went back and picked it up the next night.
1950 CJ3A "Thumper"
1966 M151 A1
1942 GPW #70221
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Offshoreman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Feb. 2019 at 11:18pm
I grew up in ours.  I was never a Jeep Fanatic, always just loved ours.
Martin
CJ2A # 24928

Fair Winds and Following Seas...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bill2A Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Feb. 2019 at 1:49am
Mine is almost family.
Dad got it when I was 3 or 4.
He drove it to construction sights for years and every so often hunting.
In time, it became my first car.
I tried to climb anything that looked challenging.
Soon I got the thrill of learning how to fix what I broke. LOL
Fast forward a half century and Dad is gone, but the same Jeep remains.
1946 CJ2A 14098
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LuzonRed47 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Feb. 2019 at 1:52am
To Joe DeYoung: My goodness, your shop is Willys Heaven! Racks of flatfenders! A tractor and even a Model T! Love the pics, thanks for sharing!
CJ2A #140275 "Ziggie" (purchased new by my dad in 1947)
ACM #124334
CJ3A windshield, Warn Overdrive
1953 Strick M100 trailer
Serial #18253
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote usmcpmi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Feb. 2019 at 2:07am
While being a young boy in the '60's, playing "Army" was just something that was done...so my best friend and I had our "troops" the 2" green Army men that came in the set with a...JEEP! Then, there was the ads in the Popular Science that advertised the "Jeep in a crate" Boy did I want one of those! Then I spent time building models...when I was 15, I spotted a familiar grille in the weeds behind the local volunteer fire department. 1948 2A! After a call to the local firefighter who lived down the road, a price of $500 was set on. It took most of what I had saved from working the summer before, but it was mine! So with help from some friends and their Dads, i got it back home. It has the typical issues from sitting. Stuck motor, no battery, no brakes. That winter, I worked on it non-stop. When it had warmed up some, it was time to try and get it to start. The battery was recharged, but still a little weak to spin the motor fast enough to start. A buddy said he would pull me with his truck, and I could pop the clutch and start it up. Great! So off we go..up and down the oil top roads...pull and pop...pull and pop..no go...we checked the wires, switches, plugs, wires..everything looked good..pull and pop...pull and pop....finally Jeff stops and walks back and starts talking...then he gets this look on his face. Then he starts laughing and hitting me in the arm! "You big dummy! You have to put the switch to "ON"!" After that, we pulled it about 10 ft. before it started. It was the best feeling ever finally driving that Jeep!
'48 CJ2A/192948
'15 Wrangler Rubicon

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JeepFever Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Feb. 2019 at 3:45am
Not much time,  but skimmed thru the thread,  looks like some great stories here!  . .  I need to come back later to read more carefully.
 
My fever in nutshell:
 
Grandfather had flat fender when I was really young
Father bought '62 CJ5 with 283 Chevy when I was young teen
   A few years later I drove that to high school when nice weather
     (and snuck it out to mud bog or hill climb when I could,  but had to meticulously clean afterwards LOL)
College was a Jeep "black hole" :-(
After college,  married with 2 sons,  my uncle bought a '2A as a hunting vehicle.  I loved that thing.  He could not keep it running, got frustrated with it,  and so I bought it from him for $300.
That was 30 years ago,  and is Wilson today.  Smile     (my uncle's last name is Wilson)
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ol' Unreliable Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Feb. 2019 at 2:47am
I was probably 5 when I first found out what a Jeep was.  I pretty much always wanted one after that.  I finally was able to buy one when I was 20.  It was a severely-demilitarized M-38 with a Buick V-6 under the hood.  I kept it for 14 years, then had to sell it.  I was fortunate enough to find Ol' Unreliable 12 years after that, and this coming August I will have had this one for 20 years.  There's just something about a flatfender Jeep...  Smile
There's a reason it's called Ol' Unreliable
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