You just have to love this mini Willys Jeep build! It is a 1/2 scale Bemak 1941 Willys MB Slat Grille body mounted on a 1980 John Deere 111 lawn tractor chassis and powerplant. It has an 11 hp Briggs and Stratton engine with 5 speed manual transmission. The 1.5 gallon jerry can on the rear is actually the fuel tank. Colin modified the tractor to run on 12volts so he could have working lights! I want to build one! I do not have kids, but that does not matter, right? Now, I wonder where to find a Bemak body.
Do you remember the Orange Blossom Special 2wd pull truck from the 80’s? It was probably the most popular pulling truck of the time. Check out the video below that we found on the Orange Blossom Special Facebook page!
Lately, we have featured some posts with lots of vintage off road desert race Jeep photos. There has been lots of discussion about Ray Russell in this article, this one and this article, along with some photos that Kevin Vaughan sent of the desert race Jeep CJ-5 that his uncle used to race in the 70’s. Ed Bray from Tacoma, Wa lvoed the vintage desert racing photos and sent us some photos of the Jeeps that he used to race. The Willys is at Riverside and the Mint 400 in 1978, which the CJ-7 was at the 1982 Baja 1000. We love the photos Ed! Do you have old off road racing photos that you would like contribute? Contact us!
What an awesome landing photo! Great use of chain on the sand.
We recently came across this 1961 Chevrolet Apache 4×4 Panel Truck for sale on Hemmings.com and fell started drooling. The truck has been restored. It is definatly a unique truck, but I am not sure that it is worth the $49,900 price tag. What do you think?
In October, we featured a camperized 1966 Ford Bronco for sale, along with a later article with more photos that the owner sent us. At that time, we mentioned that the camper Bronco had been sold to someone in Michigan. We knew who the new owner was, but were not allowed to say…It is now public knowledge that Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard purchased the early Ford Bronco and will be restoring it. Check out the gallery of photos on their website!
EWillys.com posted some great black and white photos from the Willys Jeep factory. Does anyone know when these photos were taken? I think these may be some of the best Willys Jeep Assembly line photos I have seen in a long time!
How about this 1943 Dodge WC63 Power Wagon 6×6? What a beautiful piece of machinery. Does anyone have more photos or information about it?
Last Jauary, we posted some photos that Kevin Vaughan sent us of the 1972 Jeep CJ-5 that his uncle used to desert race in the 70’s. After seeing the interest and discussion that the Jeep off road racer Ray Russell photos and article created here and here, he decided to send me some of the photos of Ray that his uncle had in his photo album. Two of the photos are from the 1976 SNORE 250 while the other two are from the 1976 WRA 300. Note that the WRA 300 photos must be of Ray and his co-driver prerunning as they are not wearing helmets. Also note that these photos are from before Goodyear sponsored Ray Russell. He is running Cooper tires. Do you have any more photos of Ray Russell or off road desert racers from the 70’s?
A few months ago, we featured an article about the 1969 Kaiser Jeep XJ001 prototype. Today, we have this photo is a 1969 Kaiser Jeep factory shot of the XJ002 “Bolide” concept. The word Bolide means “a large meteor that explodes in the atmosphere,” which is maybe appropriate for a flashy concept car that was never produced. It”s also an unusual name for a Jeep, but this was an unusual Jeep. Its plastic roof had bulges for head clearance. Built on a Commando V6 chassis, the off-road sports car was shown at the 1970 NYC Auto Show, and reportedly the XJ002 still survives and is undergoing restoration
