Willys Form SX-229-4 is the hard-to-find four-page brochure for the Model CJ-3B Jeep Fire Engine, and is reproduced here from Gary Keating's collection.
The drawings on the first page of the brochure are fairly detailed little sketches of the Jeep in action, including climbing a flight of stairs, and attacking a brush fire while rolling with a water tank trailer.
The large photo of the Fire Engine was hand retouched by Willys to accentuate all the details, a style of illustration often used by Willys in advertising and manuals. It provides a good look at the front-mounted American Marsh pump, and the bump in the center of the hood to accommodate the carburetor, raised to connect a line for governing pump pressure.
Interestingly, Willys' export division had already designed their own brochure (right) for the overseas market. They used the same photo on the cover, but without the retouching.
The rest of their brochure is very different, focussing on the new Hurricane engine and the fire equipment, but without the sketches or operational details. See the complete export brochure in More Jeep Fire Equipment Literature.
The text on the second page of the domestic brochure mentions the 19 ft. 5 in. turning radius of the Jeep, and the simplicity of operation which allows one firefighter to drive and operate the pump without help if necessary. It points out that, "The first few minutes of a fire tell the story of whether it will be a minor or major one."
The text also claims "less than a third the cost of fire engines with similar equipment and performance."
Page 3 answers the question "Who are the users of the Jeep Fire Engine?" with a series of cartoons of "locations such as ranches, motion picture studios, shipping docks, airports, lumber camps, factories, or military installations. In addition, of course, are the municipalities who want to have an auxiliary item of firefighting equipment to support larger units."
The surprising example is the "Motion Picture Studio", which is a bit outside the usual industrial market at which Willys was aiming. It suggests that perhaps a sale had been made to a movie studio -- has anyone run across information or a photo of that?
This page also lists standard equipment including 500 GPM American Marsh pump, hoses, tools, and lights. Optional equipment includes backpack foam tank and 200-gallon tank trailer.
Page 4 has the usual description of the "go anywhere" tractive power of Willys 4-wheel drive, and also mentions that, "There's safety, too, in 4-wheel drive traction. In coming down a steep grade, the Jeep Fire Engine, with clutch engaged, uses the engine's compression and 4-wheel drive ground contact for more positive traction and increased braking effort."
Thanks to Gary Keating for scanning the brochure. -- Derek Redmond
See also CJ-3B Factory Fire Engines and CJ-3B Fire Engine Close Up.
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