I started The CJ3B Page in November 1996 because during the rebuilding of my CJ-3B I had found it very difficult to locate information about the model. I decided to focus my website on the CJ-3B, because it was a subject that seemed to be neglected, and I wanted to help rescue the B from the situation of being the "unknown Jeep".
It has always been hard to resist the temptation to expand into covering other models, and sometimes I haven't been able to resist. But I have continued to limit the topic primarily to the 1953-68 time period of the 3B (which luckily is a long and interesting period in Jeep history). I felt from the beginning that it was better to try to cover one topic in depth, than to have a sprinkling of interesting items related to all sorts of Jeeps. And I think that the strategy has worked, as the site has established an identity, attracted a lot of users and generated lots of conversations and correspondence.
I guess the biggest exception to that strategy has been the Pictorial History of the Universal Jeep, with its pages of information on virtually every significant variation of the Universal Jeep from the beginning to the present. That just seemed like such an important reference item to have available on the web. Other similar Jeep history pages have since appeared on other web sites, although I don't think there is one yet which is as complete as ours, which was thoroughly researched by Jim Allen and me, with lots of help from Todd Paisley and others, and is still being updated as new information is uncovered.
Another aspect of my strategy has been to have a balance between hard information such as specs and tech tips, and lighter material that people can browse casually. It's important to make the reference material available and as accurate as possible, but hey, most of us are doing this for fun, right? For the same reason, I try to have a balance between photos and text. I like to find new pictures, but I try never to slap up an interesting picture without putting it in context with whatever relevant background information I can find.
I have been astounded how many CJ-3B owners I have met through this web site, many of whom were in the same situation as me, wondering if maybe they had the only one of these high hood oddities in the world. And of course I have also discovered that the high hood design is truly the world-wide Jeep. That discovery produced another aspect of the site -- Jeeps Around the World. I also added Fire Jeeps and Toy Jeeps. See the Site Map to start browsing through some of the 1,000 pages on The CJ3B Page.
I appreciate very much the contributions that many other people have made to the site, which have now reached the point that I have quite a backlog of material that needs to be edited, developed and posted. But there is a limit to how much time I can spend on this hobby, and my real CJ-3B needs major work again.
Note: see also Cover Pages from the website over the years, and the April Fools story of The Mysterious White Jeep.
As far as ads are concerned, you won't find advertising banners on The CJ3B Page, because so far I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can keep the site online without them. Since The CJ3B Page serves hundreds of thousands of pages a month, I guess ads would generate a few dollars, but I will be quite happy if I don't find myself in the position where I have to consider including them.
So I guess the closest thing I have to advertising banners, are the logos at the bottom of the home page, for Apple which made building the website easy, and Britannica which recommended The CJ3B Page as one of the best automotive sites on the web. (Not that their selection of recommended sites was all that scientific, but the Britannica name does carry a certain amount of weight.) Or if you actually want to see advertising, check out the CJ-3B Literature page and you'll find lots of old Willys ads.
Thanks to Roberto Flores for the drawings above.
See also more photos of My High Hood, and my photos from The CJ3B Page Visits Spain. -- Derek Redmond
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