CJ-3B Owners On the Trails

Here's a collection of high hood action photos. Click any picture to see a larger copy, or follow the links to see more details on these Jeeps.

William Castillo is in Costa Rica, and he owns a pair of CJ-3Bs -- this camo-painted '54 and a red '55 whose photo has been on the CJ3B.info cover page twice. William can be seen on trails all over that beautiful country.

Erik Scharpe's '62 3B looks unassuming but has lots of upgrades which make it very capable on the trails. It also has an unusual detail -- a WILLYS stamping on only the driver's side of the hood!

See 1962 Owners' Photos for more details on all the work Erik has done since he acquired the Jeep in 2021, including 'Trackick' disc brakes, TRE locker, ATV overdrive and Ian's rock slider kit.

Brian Palmer in Michigan describes his 1958 CJ-3B this way: "It's a FrankenJeep -- 95% of the parts were bought used off Craigslist." See more on Brian's project in CJ-3B Rock Crawlers.

Jason Powell sent me some photos of his '53 3B some years ago from Gainesville, Florida where he said, "I pretty much drive the Jeep whenever it isn't raining outside."

Joel Persinger calls his 1953 CJ-3B Lil Red. He tells the story of a trail ride he went on with his son and some friends who all have "big money mega Jeeps. Over and over they kept saying 'You might want to wait here, Joel. That little old Jeep might not make it.' Well, there's a good little rock climb at the end of Coyote Canyon. Six of us tried to go up. One mega Jeep broke an axle on the way up. Another got stuck going up and my son and I pulled the poor fellow out with Lil Red.

"Only four of us made it to the top. Lil Red was one of them. Of those four only three made it back down under their own power. One of the mega Jeeps broke a spring hanger just as he got to the top and spent most of the night putting the thing back together. As I reached the bottom and drove past one of the broken Jeeps the guy nodded his head and said, 'They don't make 'em like they used to.'"

Daniel Oldani sent a photo of his 1965 M606 in Argentina, packed with gear for a trip all the way from Buenos Aires to northern Argentina, across the border with Bolivia and back.

When Paul Maddox in California finished rebuilding his '54 in 2014, he said his aim was to take it on the Rubicon Trail, and he has done it several times since.

Josh Marcum's 1961 3B in Kentucky was on the CJ3B.info home page for April 2023, pulling his '57 Lone Star Malibu with its Johnson 35 hp Super Sea Horse. Here's a better look at the boat as he heads out to the water.

Sandro Langer has lots of water in Joinville, the largest city in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Joinville is on Babitonga Bay, which leads out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Also in Brazil is Marcelo Marchiodi in a 2012 photo of his 1954 CJ-3B with its 4-litre, 6-cylinder engine from a GM Opala, which he says is a very reliable engine swap in Brazil.

The principal mods on Steven Van Zanten's 1957 CJ-3B in Washington are the lift, the 33" Super Swampers, a Buick 231 V6 and a full roll cage. The Warn overdrive means it can go 60 on the freeway as well as crawl through the woods.

Jason Windemuller in Michigan has lockers front and back on his '64 CJ-3B "Ol' Blu" who is otherwise all stock. He's making good use of them here, on Trail 15 at Windrock Park in Tennessee.

Jason set up his roll bar on Ol' Blu to be removable with 16 bolts when he's not wheeling. He says when the Jeep is on the trails he is also equipped with an onboard welder and just about everything else needed to fix it (or other peoples rigs.)

The Windemullers are a real four-wheeling family in Michigan. Here's Jason with Ol' Blue and his nephew Hudson's '53 3B O'l Red, ready to hit the trail at Windrock. Hudson's brother Hunter has a '93 YJ, and their late dad Jon, a former Marine, drove a '43 GPW.

Dick Williams who has a '54 CJ-3B and a '68 CJ-5 in Washington state, was in northern Idaho for the Cabin Fever run when these photos were taken.

The high hood is Dick's trail Jeep, while the V-6 CJ-5 is more of a vintage original (see it in Universal Jeep CJ-5 and CJ-6). The 3B rides on 33 x 12.5 Wild Country tires on aluminum wheels with Superwinch locking hubs.

Flatter terrain, but good work for a Jeep nonetheless. In March 2016 Curtis Hickman sent this photo of his 1954 CJ-3B in Oregon, via CJ3B.info on Facebook. He said, "Every year we collect winter limbs. Often requires two or three bonfires. The CJ-3B helps me skid them from out back."

John Goering in Montana headed to the Tobacco Root Mountains in his highly modified '55 in 1992 for a little fishing and skiing.

John says, "This photo was taken on a really nice day in May 2014 when I took the B to town to run a few errands and when returning, drove up to the FS trailhead behind our place and then up another small drainage (Watts Creek) on our property."

These are the Danskin Mountains near Boise, Idaho -- Doug Hoffman's territory. Behind Doug's '63 here in November 2015, is Danskin Peak, the highest point in the range.

Doug bought a hacked-up beater in 2005 and spent seven years turning it into this nice, stock Jeep, so he's enjoying it now. Here he gets a little muddy on the same November 2015 trip.

Pete Ward in Pensacola, Florida has owned four Jeeps in his life, but had only had this 1954 3B for a year when he sent this photo in 2016, and was prepping it for paint.

Kealoha Jax, in Waihou on the island of Hawaii, also spent about seven years building his dream Jeep, after originally intending only to do a valve job and fix the brakes. It's been road legal now since summer 2014. See his pictures of the restoration of the Aloha Jeep.

Perfect place to relax after a day in the back country. Jax took this photo in spring 2015, and says, "Cruising the slow roads and came by an old-school, family-owned store in business since the 1930's. Real nice people, good conversation, and grandpa had a Willys like mine a long way back. After a couple of hours, a great burger 'n' Coke, I was on my way with a lot of good stories and a great day's ride."

Thanks to all of the photographers. -- Derek Redmond

Go to the index of Jeep CJ-3B Owners and Photos.