This quarter-ton hauler was built in Toledo, Ohio. The earliest it could have left the Jeep assembly line at the Kaiser Willys plant would have been 1946, when American manufacturers hustled to make vehicles for the civilian market. That year, Willys produced a Jeep that was a lot like the model that became famous in World War II. A dead giveaway that this was not a war Jeep: The war models featured grills with nine slats; in 1946, Willys reduced the number to seven. Jeep continues that tradition to this day.
The latest year this Jeep could have been built was early 1949. The windshield changed in production that year from a split piece of glass to one broad expanse.
So that means this Jeep is a CJ-2A. (In 1949, the CJ-3A came along.) It is a righteous little machine.
Oh, and that “Go, devil?” reference: that was the nickname Willys gave to its 60-hp, four-cylinder flathead. I have one resting on my garage floor.
Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, Oro, Grande, Calif., 2,100 miles west of Atlanta.
(Photos by Senior Junkyard Correspondent Harold “Tex” Colson)
It Was Running When I Parked It 