So far I haven't had much success with my suggestions to Matchbox for new variations of their diecast Jeep toys. But Matchbox went to a lot of trouble to upgrade their old flatfender casting, for the 1960 Surrey Gala (left) included in their 2001 Elvis Presley Graceland Collection. The facelift made it look more like a real CJ-3B, so of course I wanted to make sure they realize there are lots of opportunities for re-issuing the new casting. An obvious possibility would be a "CJ3B Page Collection", made up of some of the classic high-hood Universal Jeeps found on this website.
As of 2009, I've added three more of my favorites to the "CJ3B Page Collection" which I originally proposed in 2001:
Conshohocken Truck "J" was in an Atlantic City mystery photo. |
The Operation Pineapple Jeep at the World Scout Jamboree in 1955. |
Police Jeep from The Hague in the Netherlands. |
Derek Redmond's Fountain Green '59, first 3B on the World Wide Web. |
Near-mint Treebark Brown '63, most original surviving CJ-3B. |
Joe Caprio's 1964 U.S. Navy Jeep was a prize-winning restoration. |
John Wayne's oil well fire Jeep from Hellfighters. Maybe for the "Star Cars" series? |
Also from the movies: the CJ-3B that played George C. Scott's WWII jeep in Patton. |
And the Jeep that pulled the floats in President Eisenhower's 1953 Inaugural Parade. |
The top row, added in 2009, includes three interesting historic Jeeps that have been featured on the website.
Some CJ-3B fans will recognize the significance of the next three examples -- Jeeps that have done a lot to raise awareness of the CJ-3B. Photos of my green Jeep have been kicking around the web for nearly seven years now, and appeared in books and magazines when it was hard to find information on high-hood Jeeps. Joe Caprio's Navy Jeep was the first museum-quality 3B restoration we discovered, when it took second-place at the 1998 MVPA convention. And more recently, Adam Charnok's like-new '63 became a valuable reference vehicle for reliable information on original details, and now belongs to Michael Langner in Nebraska.
The final three examples would have even wider appeal. The Hellfighters Jeep would have the connection with the Duke, and would also be popular because it looks like many of the off-road beaters that are out there on the trails. The Jeep from the Patton movie is a real curiosity, and the Eisenhower parade Jeep is a genuine lost historical artifact with patriotic significance.
If Matchbox goes for the idea, we might have to request some narrower tires. And about those blobs on the windshield.... -- Derek Redmond
Take a closer look at the Elvis Presley Graceland Surrey model.
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