Jan Hogendoorn first drew my attention to this photo, which had been published in the August 1986 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine, accompanying an article called "Before Wrangler: CJs That Never Were." Author Jay Koblenz wrote, "Willys tried grafting a downsloped hood onto a CJ-3B in 1953, with the aim of improving forward visibility. The idea never made production, but a surviving photo from Willys Engineering suggests that it probably would have improved aerodynamics as well...."
I now have an original print of the photo from the John A. Conde collection, complete with caption confirming Koblenz' description (see the large copy, 120K JPEG). The date given is 5 May 1953 and the photo number is 14104-1.
A rear view photo 14104-3 (right) has a similar caption.
It does seem strange that Willys Engineering would have gone back to experimenting with the CJ-3A radiator guard, after all the prototypes and testing as early as 1949, leading up to the new CJ-3B. Is it possible this photo could actually show the results of Engineering Release 5607, a 1949-50 project described below? I think it's unlikely, given the apparently fully-developed CJ-3B cowl and ventilating windshield.
(Note: A similar hood was used on the Lycoming JB-1 Aircraft Starter. A Jeep seen for sale on the web (40K JPEG) in 2009 was also a similar conversion.)
This photo is labelled "CJ-3B Hood Mock-Up -- Left Front, Willys-Overland Engineering No.13195(1)" and is dated 6 June 1952. Both the date and the photo number place this earlier than the above photos, although this seems like a much more sophisticated hood design. A front view photo (70K JPEG) shows that two proposed stampings are grafted together in the center. As Todd Paisley suggests further down on this page, Willys may have given up on designs like this and moved to the simpler design above, because the Korean War effort made new tooling difficult to produce.
The CJ-3B was already in production when all of these photos were taken, so it appears likely that if one of them had been approved, it might have become a 1954 model. Would that have been the early end of the 3B as we know it? Would it have been given a new model number? It's all speculation now anyway; the go-ahead for the CJ-5 (see New Universal Jeep Designs, 1949-52) put an end to these experiments.
The existence of the long-lost CJ-4 prototype was revealed in 1997 by Jim Allen in The Missing Link, published in Jp magazine and on The CJ3B Page. Jim's research revealed a number of things about this 1950/51 prototype Jeep with the unique front-end body design, and he speculated it may have been the first Jeep with Willys' F-head Hurricane engine. It did seem to fill in the gap between the flatfender models and the new design of the CJ-5 and military M38A1. But there was no explanation of why Willys went back to the flatfender design for the 1953 CJ-3B, the first civilian production model with the F-head engine.
Research by Todd Paisley on Willys Engineering Release Forms preserved for thirty years by Charlie Weaver, has thrown more light on the CJ-4, and on other Jeep prototypes which eventually led to the release of the CJ-3B and the M38A1. There is a certain amount of speculation involved, but the timeline below shows a likely sequence of events, and some questions still remaining. A modified CJ-3A may have been the first Jeep with the taller Hurricane engine, in 1949. More than two years later, after experimenting with various civilian and military CJ-4 designs, Willys decided on the CJ-4A which was apparently much like the modified 3A, and was subsequently renamed the CJ-3B.
Willys Engineering Releases of the period reveal a few details about these prototypes. The question of why the CJ-4 and the military prototypes based on it never went into production has still not been answered, but Todd suggests the following, based on his research: "The Engineering Releases during this time frame had lots of changes to reduce the amount of critical materials because of the Korean War. Entries made it clear that chromium, aluminum and brass were considered critical materials, and efforts were made to replace them with other materials. What probably happened with the CJ-4 was that adequate tooling could not be procured to produce the model (since it didn't relate to the war effort), so the effort to modify a CJ-3A was looked at again. I think it was a matter of not having the resources to produce the model, rather than some inherent problem with the design."
29 June 1949: Engineering Release 5607, "Front End Redesign ('FB' Head Engine Necessitates New Design) (Model CJ-3A)." This was the original "hoodectomy." Project closed 3 August 1950.
21 March 1950: Engineering Release 5707, "New Model Release 473CJ". What is curious is that in the model column was "CJ-4." It was "x"-ed out and the model number 474CJ entered next to it. This project was closed and the Engineering Release 5607 project started back up from January 12 1952 - April 6, 1953.
5 October 1950: Engineering Release 6396 "4-Wheel Drive Ambulance -- Research Tests". The model is listed as the MC-A, but factory photos dated 3-23-51 and labelled "Project 6396, Model CJ-4MA-01 Ambulance" show the long-wheelbase military prototype also photographed at the Aberdeen proving grounds in 1951.
6 October 1950: Engineering Release 6400 "Jeep-Advanced (1/4-ton 4x4, AJ)", project cancelled 3-15-51. Nothing is known about this experiment.
28 December 1950: Engineering Release 6555, "Military Jeep with 4FB Engine (Test & Design one Military Jeep)(Model CJ-4M)." This appears to be the military version of the CJ-4. The project was closed on 6-21-51.
January 22 1951: Engineering Release 6600, "Advanced Military Jeep (New Model Rel.) (Model MD)." Project released 3-28-52 and became known as the M38A1 military Jeep. The subsequent CJ-5 and its close relatives were based on this design.
April 1951: Engineering Release 6825, "Front Line Personnel Carrier 100" W.B. 4 Cyl. F-head (1500# Payload Plus 2 Pass.) (model CJ-4MP)," project closed 6-21-51 and reopened 9-13-51. This may have been a variation of the CJ4-MA ambulance from Project 6396. No photos are known to exist.
November 30 1951: Engineering Release 7474, "4 FB Jeep" (model CJ-4A). Project was closed 1-3-52. It looks like the CJ-3B was originally going to be called the CJ-4A, but it may have been changed to avoid confusion with the CJ-4. Every entry after this says "CJ-3B." The photo on the timeline is a CJ-3B.
Thanks to Jan Hogendoorn for finding the photos, and Todd Paisley for uncovering the Engineering Releases. -- Derek Redmond
See also our more detailed history of New Universal Jeep Designs, 1949-52.
Also on The CJ3B Page, see some original Willys Engineering Dept. Calculations: CJ-3B and CJ-4
Return to The CJ-3B Story.
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