Seventy one percent of you thought yesterday's Quattroporte was a prezzo piacevole, and immediately queued up Nugent on your iPods. That car originated in a country with a Mediterranean climate, which is exemplified in the soft, warm hues of its peter, peter pumpkin-eater interior. In contrast, today we're going to look at something a brass monkey might drive.

Originally birthed from an government competition between American Bantam, Willys and the Ford Motor Company, the 1/4-ton truck developed at the outset of America's involvement in World War Two became the Jeep, as well as one of the most iconic motor vehicle designs in history.

Willys won the first round of production orders for the then standardized model, mostly due to the strength and durability of their 134.22-cid "Go Devil" 4-cylinder, which powered the Jeep through mud and muck, and made the vehicle almost as important to our general infantry soldiers as their M1 rifles.

Today we have a rare bird- a 1953 Military Jeep with an original, and Arctic-defying, hardtop. The M38A1 was described as the best Jeep ever made by MOMA in New York, when they added that model to their collection of historic vehicles in 2002. One of about 50,000 A1s built, this whiter than Vanilla Ice four by four comes without history or much of a description of condition other than that it "ran when parked" over two years ago. That lack of providence benefits the price, as the seller is asking a non-historic $5,700 for this tundra-jumper.

As is the case with many legends, there is an army of support groups for the M38A1, indicating a healthy demand for the beasts. That's good as these are not commonplace and specialty parts could be hard to come by. The downside is being mistaken for the mailman in it.

So what do you think of this not so fair-weather friend? Would it take an army to get you to shell out $5,700 for it? Or, does that price make you stand at attention and shout out YES SIR!?

You decide!

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So, in an attempt to get the 450 DOTS Celebration to show up on your computer, I'm breaking it up into sections. We've had the Germans and the Wagons, and today I've been so inspired by the beautiful DOTS '69 AMX that I've put together a collection of Alameda's street-parked vintage American cars and trucks that were not designed by Detroit's Big Three (I say "designed" because I think that the '45 Jeep counts as a Willys, in spite of being built by Ford). I believe that the trio of kit cars, the Shay Model A, the CMC Gazelle, and the Fieroborghini- based on Pinto, Chevette, and Fiero chassis, respectively- qualify here, because, well, why not? You Scout fans will find plenty of iron to admire, we've got some Ramblers and a couple of Studes, and there's even a Packard!

1943 IHC	1945 Ford	1948 IHC	1951 Willys	1953 Packard	1956 Willys
1958 Willys	1960 Studebaker	1960 Rambler	1961 Rambler	1964 Studebaker	1964 Jeep
1964 Checker	1965 IHC	1965 Rambler	1969 AMC	1969 AMC	1972 IHC
1972 IHC	1972 IHC	1976 AMC	1976 IHC	1977 IHC	1979 Shay
1980 IHC	1983 Jeep	1984 Jeep	1988 CMC	2000 Fieroborghini

Not sold in the United States since 1955, the Aero is still much beloved in Brazil to this day. When you buy the plaster prototype model created by Willys during their research into a wagon version and you tell the seller to have it professionally packaged and shipped, you figure everything is OK. Right? Not so in this case, in which a UPS store apparently taped several boxes together, added bubble-wrap and peanuts, and fed the whole mess into the maw of the UPS Box Torture Track. The buyer insured it only for the purchase price, a move that has a certain failure-ness to it (with enough money, artists could be commissioned to restore the thing), and now he's very, very sad.
[Consumerist, thanks to Novaload for the tip]

I say that's a good reason to admire another one! I found this very nice Willys Jeep Station Wagon parked near Alameda's City Hall. According to this Australian Jeep worship site, the five-bar grille means that this truck is from the 1949-1953 period, so I'm calling it a '51 model.

This somewhat newer example that lives across town appears to be the same color, but is much rougher than today's Jeep. Either this truck has been kept in an argon atmosphere in a lead-lined underground shelter for 50+ years or it's a really painstaking restoration. I'm guessing the latter.

And look what was driving by while I was taking my photos!

I'm a city boy, so damn if I can pin down the year of this truck with any accuracy; in fact, I'm not even sure whether this thing is properly referred to a Willys, a Willys Jeep, or just a Jeep. I think it's of late-50s vintage, but no matter; one of our huntin'/fishin' readers will be able to recite chapter and verse of Willys lore just from a single glance at these photos.
The great thing here is that this truck still goes to work after five or so decades; the sign on the door shows that it belongs to the Accessible Home Lift Company.

Many of us took a look at the DOTS '56 Willys Station Wagon and imagined ourselves tearing through the woods or desert in such a fine specimen of vintage off-road machinery. Thing is, parts are getting tricky to find for these proto-SUVs, trickier even than fitting a Super-Fructo Distendo-Abdomen™ five-gallon soft-drink bucket into an undersized European cup holder. What you need is a parts car! That's why you'll be overjoyed to find this pair of Willys Station Wagons, a '51 and a '58, for the survivalist-friendly price tag of one thousand dollars (or a bit more than an ounce of gold, for those of you who fear the Trilateral Commission/Federal Reserve cabal and their so-called "currency"). One of them has a complete-looking Tornado 6-banger (and is "Tornado" one of the best engine names ever or what?), and both have at least half their components; you might even find enough unrusted parts to assemble one good body! Oh yeah, and with a Willys Station Wagon, you don't use a goddamn cup holder for your drink of kiddie sugar-water- you use a canteen full of manly swamp water!

But let's say the SUV/cup holer stigma is so powerful that it manages to taint even such an excellent motor vehicle as the Willys Station Wagon (impossible, but just for the sake of argument). You want cars for your Two-For-One Hell Project, do you? Step right up for this Mercedes/Pontiac deal, folks! For a very optimistic- yet subject to relentless downward negotiating pressure- price tag of $4,000, you could have a 1958 Pontiac "Fire Chief" (we're assuming it's actually a Star Chief or Super Chief) and a 1962 Mercedes-Benz 220. The Benz "has not run in a few years," but we're talking about a car that's just getting broken in at 500,000 miles! How hard could it be to get this Heckflosse rolling again? It's in Reno, so maybe rust isn't a problem... in fact, think of all the things that might not be problems here! Then, once you've finished getting your Mercedes-Benz into perfect condition, you can look forward to many happy decades weeks working on your '58 Pontiac. It "needs engine and rearend," which doesn't make it clear whether you get any rebuildable components. That won't matter, however, because you'll be building up a monster Tri-Power 421 with the biggest, shiniest blower your food money can buy sticking through the hood, and the factory differential might as well be carved from Velveeta when it comes to dealing with all that power. OK, so this project might cost a few bucks, but your Mercedes will give you the requisite feeling of wealth to keep the stress down.

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Even though it's a fiberglass body, the execution is well played. The one off grille is flanked by custom headlights, and the custom "W" engraved hood stand are all pretty neat pieces. The interior is as red as an Arizona sunset and all of those wheels are deep enough to get lost in. Overall a very nice interpretation of the Willys form.

Mr. Martin, our main main on the street, posted a few photos of some vintage Willys, including a non-Jeep Aero. This prompted this comment from SKAZ:

I sometimes feel that the wrong 3 American automakers survived.

These are some unique vehicles that I took pictures of when I was signing up a new dealer in Hyannis Mass.
The Dark Red Car is a 1950 or 51 Willys Jeepster, 2 Wheel Drive, Hurricane 4 Cylinder Engine, and has been totally restored.
The Aqua Car is a 1953-54 Willys Aero Sedan, and was supposed to be a competitor to the Nash Rambler, Henry J, and Hudson Jet during this period. They were all well ahead of their time, and were smaller than the standard Ford, Chevy or Plymouth at that time.

"I am sure of one thing - the kind of trim one can get with a rusty '59 El Camino is not the type of trim I'm into."

No, to win the much coveted "Jalopnik Commenter of the Day" title, you must not only tickle the funny bone, but also tug at the heart strings. Unless you are really, really funny. But I digress... No, a really great comment makes us laugh but also reminds just why it is we love cars so damn much. Ladies and germs, I present to you the story of Goatboy's father:

"Well, this isn't really me, but its a good story. My dad and a bunch of his friends a long time ago got a hold of a military surplus Willys Overland Jeep. Of course, they didn't leave it at that. They somehow fit a 289 V8 into the sucker. Anxious to start hooning, they passed on affixing the throttle to the gas pedal, and merely tied a string to the carb and threaded it through to the drivers seat. Pull the string, light up all four tires. I'm not sure how the rest of the story goes, its been a while since I've heard it. But it ended with 4 Church ministers in a Cadillac chasing my dad and his friends up a dirt road. The Caddy crashed, and the boys got away unpunished.

Whatever the year, this is a seriously cool machine. I've been seeing this thing around town since I was a kid, so it's an Alameda institution by now. And, just in case you couldn't tell, Willys wants you to know that it's got four wheel drive.


From a distance, I though this thing might be a Land Cruiser/Rover, but up close it was clear this truck didn't come from Japan or England.


Seems like there should be winch in this picture, or at least a dead deer lashed onto a fender.


Wait, not deer- ducks!


While Alameda is pretty urban (population density higher than San Francisco's), you still see a fair number of head-to-the-hills type vehicles parked on the streets. You know, for when civilization collapses and all.

We once had a French roommate into hot rods and sportbikes. Given that he'd become an American citizen whose nation of birth had been liberated by men driving vehicles manufactured by a company founded and shepherded by one John North Willys, we always thought his prediliction toward referring to the company as "Willis" was oddly, well, French. But it turns out that he was actually correct all along, which is one of the myriad things we learned today from an interesting piece about the man whose most lasting legacies are the Gasser and the Jeep. – Davey G. Johnson

John North Willys (of Overland) biography [Allpar]

Related:
The Girl From Itamaraty: Willys Limo, Brazilian Style [Internal]

Related:
Keeping Brazil's Highways Safe, Simca Style! [internal]

Willys is mostly known for its iconic Willys MB (aka WW2 Jeep), but the company made a car from 1951 through 1955: the Aero-Willys. When Kaiser acquired Willys-Overland and decided to ditch cars in favor of hotter-selling Jeeps, the Aero's tooling ended up in Brazil, where production continued well into the 1970s. The Aero's design continued to evolve, and by the mid-60s there was a limousine version rolling off the assembly line: the mighty Willys Itamaraty (to muddle the car's ancestry even further, Ford had purchased Willys do Brasil by that point). So the AMC Javelin is second cousin to a Brazilian limo and related to Farrah Fawcett's '75 Cougar by marriage... ah, the American Motors family tree has many branches. – Murilee Martin

WILLYS EXECUTIVO [ruralwillys]

Related:
Classical Gassers [internal]

What if Jeep is just bad juju? The iconic American brand has soldiered on through ownership by Willys-Overland, Kaiser, AMC and now Chrysler. What do its three previous owners have in common? They're all dead! Jeep's the carrot on a stick in any deal to sell Chrysler Group. Jeep will love you and leave you for dead as it lures in its next victim. It could possibly be known as the black widow of American automotive brands. Shall we advise a stern caveat emptor to any potential Jeep suitors? We shall. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Before You Even Ask: Despite The Friendly Wave, Fiat Has "Zero" Interest In Chrysler [Internal]

A certain Mister Cooper indulged his Gasser fantasies lately in molded-plastic form, whipping up a '63 Pontiac Tempest, a '37 Chevy, and a Ford Cammer-powered Willys panel truck. Now and then, a sophisticated man of the arts and letters likes to take a break from dosing himself with cadmium, settle down at the desk and huff Duco for a few hours. You know, the simple pleasures. – Davey G. Johnson

Desktop Dragstrip [Positive Ape Index]

Related:
Coop on Jake's '34 Fordor [Internal]

The Forward Control Jeeps were built from 1956 until 1964, which actually puts them ahead of the El Camino in the truckcar sweepstakes. Although it's debatable whether the FC is actually a true Camino, based as it was on a light-truck chassis rather than on a car frame or unibody, reader Mark's tale of how he went to great lengths — and strained his relationship with his soon-to-be wife — to snap these photos for us while on holiday in Indy swayed us. Click through for his tale.

My fianc and I went home to Indianapolis this weekend for the Memorial Day holiday and to see our families. As we were driving from her parents' house to mine, we saw this little guy at a used car lot on the side of the road. (see attachments) Being a card-carrying and devoted follower of all things Jalopnik, I promptly demanded she turn the vehicle around posthaste for some up-close examination. Now, one thing you should understand is that she (unlike myself) hates ALL things 'Camino. "They are the most pointless and stupid things on the road" was the term I believe she used. After an "in depth and thorough" discussion which caused us to travel a mile further up the road, I finally persuaded her to turn around for a closer look. I have to admit, this thing is probably one of the coolest truck/cars I have ever seen around. She was pretty pissed to hear that I was sending you guys these pics...it was all worth it in my eyes. Apparently the love/lack of love for El Caminos might be the cause of the most major rift in our relationship!

FC Jeep Forum; History of the Forward Control

Related:
More El Caminos [Internal]