We 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-3B's 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 JPEG's) 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).
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 unique 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'm trying to research its history. 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 it's 1950's pink and chrome glory, but in the meantime I'm gathering up some of the missing parts (seats, etc.)
"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. There was a coat of darker red on it at one time, but the only paint chips left on that funky bed are pink."
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."
This isn't a CJ-3B; a close look identifies it as a surplus World War II jeep. But this photo is of such historical interest, it definitely needs to be published. It's a rare photo of Seldom Seem Slim, the legendary prospector (real name Charles Ferge) who died in 1968, one of the last true survivors of the "Old West."
The picture was snapped by Jim Wiseman's father in Westend, California. Jim estimates the date at 1954 according to the registration tag, but says "It may not be current -- the guy was kinda a low budget character."
Oddly, the jeep is not mentioned in material I have read about Slim. I have only seen a reference to him driving a 1957 Volkswagen. Thanks to Michael Perry for bringing this photo to my attention.
And thanks to all the contributors. Further information about any of these Jeeps is welcome. -- Derek Redmond
Return to the Index of Unusual Photos on The CJ3B Page.
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