Spring Willys Reunion 2015
More Photos

Bob Westerman, Harold West and everybody else spent a good deal of time examining this unique CJ-5. Mounted below the frame are jackstands and an electric motor which originally could turn the whole drivetrain.

The front winch, radiator, steering box and wheels are all cut away to reveal hidden components. On the left side rail is serial number 57648 10001 (150K JPEG) from the 1955 model year.

Even sections of the engine block are cut to reveal the valve system. Optional components such as a speed governor, winch and power take-off, are painted red.

The PTO chain drive, the gears of the transfer case, and the parking brake are visible. Tremaine found the demonstration Jeep in Massachusetts, where it had been stored at a technical college for many years.

Saturday evening was the ever-popular Willys Reunion Banquet, with guest speaker Bill Norris giving us the interesting life story of Charles Sorenson.

Sorenson had an influential career in automobile and tractor development and manufacturing, and as president of Willys-Overland, he used his farm in Michigan for the large public introduction of the Civilian Jeep in 1945.

Then Art Contoni took a photo as Bill presented a Toledo Brick Award to author and historian Lloyd White who recently completed the five-volume The Evolution of the Willys-Overland MB Jeep.

Bob Christy was master of ceremonies and Jeff Petrowich helped out, as a huge collection of raffle prizes and door prizes were awarded.

Roseanna Redmond helped Bob auction the coveted denim jacket embroidered with the Willys Reunion logo, which went to Harry and Jo Sheets of Midwest Willys.

The next morning, Bob was loading his 3B onto the trailer, and people began heading home. But there were still a couple of surprises to come.

Trevor Winters showed up from Cleveland with a beautiful M38A1, after skipping the show on Saturday because of the showers.

Trevor had just finished the project, after working on it for four years. He had to replace the front fenders, and also the hood, which had been run over by the previous owner's truck.

The paint had people wondering; it had a military feel but was a glossy metallic finish, definitely not OD. Turns out Trevor chose Jeep Green Metallic, a color used on new Jeeps from 2007-11.

Aside from the paint, the restoration is pretty stock and authentic, including good reproductions of all the dash plates. The tires are Specialty Super Traxion 7.50-16LT.

Keith Buckley and Mike Govang took down the big tent, while Fred Coldwell loaded CJ2-09 onto his trailer in the background.

The 2A with the Jeep-a-Trench trencher was sold, but now there was the problem of how to get it home. Apparently it took 8 hours to central PA on a too-small trailer.

The Canada Goose who had been sitting on her nest right beside the parking lot all weekend, finished hatching a half-dozen babies on Saturday night, and then moved them all to the other side of the lot.

After putting up with the Jeeps all weekend, the geese apparently decamped because somebody dropped off this box of orphan ducklings beside them during the night. But Ian Fraser and Monica Fritch looked after the ducks, and Bob Christy arranged a foster home.

Lonnie and Marilyn Deweese packed the truck for the drive back to Kentucky, but the load was a bit lighter because they sold a lot of T-shirts during the weekend.

And although Fred had a long trip ahead of him to Colorado in the camper, he was happy to talk Agrijeeps a little more before leaving.