Here are some CJ-3B Jeeps that have been through a lot. In some cases, their days as anything but scrap metal are finished, but others are still alive and kicking.
Taylor Gipe Rogers took this photo in August 2021, commenting "Sadly my family's '53 CJ-3B has been taken by the Dixie Fire in northern California."
The Dixie Fire was the largest single wildfire in the state's history, started by electrical lines in Butte County on 13 July, and not fully contained until 25 October. It destroyed or damaged over 1,300 structures, almost half of which were residences.
Vipin Tawari sent this photo from Indore, the largest city in central India. He says the owner of this Willys doesn't want to drive it or restore it, but is also not willing to sell it.
It's not uncommon to run across a Jeep body where the hood and grille are solid, but everything else is Swiss cheese. So turning it into a different kind of grille seems like not a bad idea. Thanks to Hanno Spoelstra for finding this photo.
Well, this has got to be the biggest pair of trees I have seen actually growing through a Jeep. Unfortunately, I don't know where this picture was taken, or whether a lumberjack eventually arrived to start a resto. Thanks to Alan Hunter Johansson for the photo.
This Australian CJ-3BL was spotted by Dave Kemp in 2019, south of Brisbane, where it was one of the CJ-3Bs lengthened by Willys Australia in 1958.
Pretty rusty, but some of these fragments seem to be from another vehicle.
I hadn't heard from Rod Walker in Australia for a while, when he sent some photos of CJ-3B remains he found on the town dump at Jundah in Western Queensland in 2004. He said, "Looks like someone went over it with a dozer. When we unfolded it, the fuel tank and seats where still inside. Along with a WW2 jeep windscreen. It looks like it had already been stripped. We rescued any of the bits that were salvagable, which wasn't much!"
See also the front view (200K JPEG) including the oil bath air cleaner on the firewall.
Tornado or man-made disaster? Here's another mangled 3B at an old sheep station in the central part of Western Australia. The twisted body belongs to 57348 45208U, one of the many 1958 CJ-3Bs converted to right-hand-drive in Australia. Paul Rundel ran across the sad sight, reminiscent of the dried bones of an animal in the desert. He says, "Besides the chassis, steering wheel assembly, dashboard fittings, serial plates and air filter, not much more remains!"
See also side view and rear view photos (70K JPEGs) which show the tub itself to be pretty well complete although mangled.
The frame lies nearby among the remains of a windmill and other machinery, and appears to be reasonably undamaged compared to the body. See also a front view of the frame (70K JPEG).
Late model 3B! Includes fresh air heater; the defroster hole is filled with a gauge, since there's no windshield.
These photos show a couple of the four CJ-3Bs that Bill in Indiana found in a fence row.
This '53 is missing one or two important bits. But the big news is that the other two Jeeps are now running.
This 1953 3B has also been through a lot. All that remains of the original body seems to be the grille, hood and windshield. Somebody went to quite a bit of work to keep her going, creating a completely new tub, hardtop and front fenders from scraps of sheet metal, plexiglass and junkyard parts. The top and doors were designed with plenty of window space; in fact the Jeep is reminiscent of a Popemobile.
The front fenders show a design similar to the conversions seen on many Jeeps in Iceland, and the hoses projecting through the left parking light hole suggest that it pushed a snowplow. The hood scoop is a design flourish that appears to be purely decorative rather than functional.
The Jeep is now retired, out back of Harold Carlaw's Memorial Military Museum in Campbellford, Ontario.
Here's a 3B wrecker owned by Leonard Mullenix of Lancaster, Ohio, who says, "It's a '53 with a Canfield wrecker (30K JPEG) on what appears to be a homebuilt tow body, Koening PTO winch (30K JPEG) and snow plow attachment. It's been through many hands before it came to rest on my property, and I know it was at a service station in Southeast Ohio for most of its life. One of these days I'd like to restore it to its 1950s pink and chrome glory, but in the meantime I'm gathering up some of the missing parts.
"The faded white lettering on the side of the hood appears to have been hand lettered, and that seems to be a lost art in this day of vinyl and digital output. So, I'd probably put the pink at no later than the early 80's."
This used to be for sale for $750 at Davey's Jeeps in Salem, Ohio. Had no engine, but had two winches -- the one in the front raised the boom, and the one in the rear would do the lifting via the pulley. See a rear view photo (50K JPEG).
No worries about building a new body for this 1954 Willys M-606 in the Philippines; all that remains of the original tin is the radiator guard and a fragment of the cowl, but the vehicle is still working as a farm tractor. The engine has been replaced with a Japanese Isuzu C-240 diesel. The photo was taken by Danon Dizon for the website of the Angeles Combat Jeep Owners. Webmaster Jojo Coronel is at the wheel.
Jean-Francois Lavie sent this photo taken in Port Aventura, a Universal Studios theme park located near Tarragona, Spain. He comments, "This Spanish EBRO CJ-3B attached to a Land Rover trailer sees a lot of visitors every year -- it's part of the Mexican area of the park. Poor car, left without transmission and to the abuse of the crowd. Two Dodge M37's share the glory or misfortune. The CJ-3B must have been military as the blackout lights are still visible."
Here are a couple of photos which can serve as a timely warning to many of us. Two people were injured in a downhill rollover in this Jeep. The 1961 CJ-3B flipped forward coming down a steep clay bank, and landed square upside down. The windshield, roll bar and steering wheel were badly bent, and there was a lot of body damage.
This nasty experience demonstrates the value of having a roll bar installed on any Jeep driven offroad. (It's also a reminder of one of the reasons the Jeep windshield was built to fold down.) Most of all it points out that there are real dangers out there, and the off-road driver has to expect the unexpected.
For some good advice on safe offroad driving, see Jim Allen's Four-Wheeler's Bible, which is reviewed on The CJ-3B Bookshelf.
Thanks to all the contributors. -- Derek Redmond
See also The Dilapidated CJ-3B Competition.
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