According to the old adage, an army travels on its stomach. As it's starting to get a little nippy outside, Nice Price or Crack Pipe thinks it might be a better idea to take this arctic Jeep instead.
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!
eBay or go here if the ad disappears.
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.