1943 Willys Jeep “Army Surplus”

1974 – 1977

 As the four kids in our family all came of age to drive my parents did their best to provide decent transportation for us.  That was not to say we all got shiny new cars on our 16^th birthday, but we did get a “shared” vehicle that provided round-trip transportation to and from school.  If we wanted something nicer it was up to us to get it ourselves.  Over the years shared an old Chevy Pickup, a 1943 Willys Jeep, an International Harvester Scout complete with a snowplow and hydraulic controls to name a few.  Of them all my favorite was the Jeep.  It was not very fast but it could climb a tree.

In the winter the Jeep did not provide much protection from the elements and its heater did nothing to bring comfort to its occupants.  On the cold, snowy days when we showered before school we would arrive to school with frozen locks of hair pointing in all directions, the girls looked more like Medusa than school girls.  As for me, I always wore a ball cap and when I removed in as I was required to do my hair looked as if it was still on.  The first class of the day always included wet paper as our hair slowly thawed.

Another unintended consequence of owning a used vehicle was that no all of its gauges or accessories worked.  For the Jeep the gas gauge was the most obvious.  None of us were real good about keeping the Jeep full of fuel and my oldest sister, Cindy was the worst.  I think she believed it filled itself and as long as the engine started it must have gas.  On more than one occasion we fell victim to running out of gas at the most inopportune times.  One morning on the day it was Cindy’s turn to drive we headed off to school.  About
half way across the Castle Creek Bridge the Jeep rolled to a stop, it was out of gas.  Without hesitation Cindy jumped out of the Jeep and proceeded to hitch-hike.  In what seemed like seconds a friend of hers drove by and picked her up as the other three of us sat there in the Jeep wondering what had just transpired.  This would turn out in later years to be something she was prone to do.

On that day, with snow falling and sub-zero temperatures, we pushed the Jeep to the far end of the bridge and walked a few blocks to my father’s “shop” where he kept his construction equipment and retrieved a couple gallons of gas.

Over the years we used the Jeep for school transportation as well as recreational four-wheeling.  I am not sure at what point it was sold off but my very first car was certainly an upgrade.  In 1977 I purchased a 1952 Jeep “Civilian Jeep” CJ-3B.  It was not very fast but it too could climb a tree.