UPDATE: I bought the Spanish version of this brochure off of eBay, so I'm adding it to this post. The Spanish version is Forma H1-3-59.
I won this rare early (first) Gala Brochure off of eBay. It is Form H1-3-59. The marketing document appears aimed at resorts and other tourist businesses. Interestingly, it appears conceptual in scope and doesn't show any of the actual models available, other than what Las Brisas had done with DJ-3As. Note that on the back page it encourages interested parties to write to "Gala Plan, Willys Export Corp., Toledo 1, Ohio, U.S.A."
This September 1962 eight-page issue of Jeep News begins with Lloyd Bridges. He headlined a half-hour show called "Kaiser Presents The Lloyd Bridges Show"; not exactly a catchy name!
I was surprised to see on page two that it wasn't until mid 1962 that the Go-For-Digger trencher officially became a 'Jeep'-approved special equipment item (other official 'Jeep' trencher being the Jeep-A-Trench). Page five highlights the second annual Jeeporama, held in Denver.
Page six re-highlights the Hatari craze, encouraging dealers to continue promoting the movie.
Note the CJ-5 in the upper right of Page seven. The top looks someone like a Koenig hardtop, but the rear side glass appears to be a custom size. I don't recognize this top. Anyone else? Lower on Page seven is the 1962 World's Fair Jeep Surrey. Two days ago I found my mother's caricature drawing made for her at the '62 fair. I'll ask my aunt if she remembers this jeep.
Page eight shares a pic from the 10th annual Jeepers Jamboree, along with announcing the 4x4 Explorers, a 'jeep' club organized in Missouri.
As I mentioned yesterday, besides his grandkids mini-jeep, Colin has worked on several different Willys. Here's his Jeepster that was featured a couple times in JP Magazine, specifically the June 2007 issue and the January 2008 issue.
Colin writes, "Here are some photos of our 48 Jeepster. We have had this car for over 33 years and when we bought it, it had a non running Studebaker Champion 6 engine in it. Once we got it running and back in decent visual and mechanical condition, we drove it that way for many years. Around 1990, I stored it in our garage and worked on other vehicles and a house remodeling project (a happy wife makes for a happy home!). I did our Corvette restoration from 1994 until 1998. After I retired in 2003, I began putting ideas together about re-doing the Jeepster. I wanted a car that looked original on the outside, which it did already, but with an improved drivetrain and suspension under it to keep up with Phoenix area traffic. After a lot of research, I decided a Buick V6 was the way to go. I found a freshly rebuilt (still in the plastic) 1982 Buick 231 even fire V6 for a very reasonable price. I pulled the front sheet metal off the Jeepster and got to work. With an updated engine going into it, I chose to put a Mustang II front end kit with tubular A-arms, Ford disc brake rotors (I wanted to use stock Jeepster wheels, hubcaps and trim rings), and rack and pinion steering into the chassis. A buddy of mine and I did the majority of the front end work in a weekend. I used a set of engine mounts from Novak Engineering in Utah and bolted the engine to a 1967 Muncie close ratio 4 speed that was in my parts bin. For the rear end, I found a 1969 Ford Mustang 8 inch with 2.79 gears. That rear end is a bolt in for any of the 46-63 Willys 2 wheel drive wagons, panel deliveries and the 48-51 Jeepsters. I also used a front sway bar and on the rear, a Willys Jeepster/station wagon sway bar. I did upgrade the Buick with a set of finned aluminum valve covers from TA Performance, a 4 bbl Holley 390 cfm carb from a 65 AMC 327 engine and dual exhausts. The end result is a Jeepster that runs great( 1750 rpm at 65-70 mph), gets excellent gas mileage(about 26 at 65 mph) and handles like a sports car(better than our Corvette!). All of this work was relatively easy, even though it took me a while."
This issue of Jeep News is packed full of items. One curious article is about the Longview Trailbreakers on the last page. The article claims the Trailbreakers were launched in April 1960, but the Tacoma Webfooters page claims the club had originated prior to mid-1958. The only thing I can think of is that the Trailerbreakers incorporated the club in April of 1960?
Also, on page 6 the Del-Monte Contest for a Jeep Surrey was something I hadn't seen elsewhere (learn about the winning store here). Meanwhile, on page 2 the paper announced the Gotham City contest winner, one Mrs. Edwin C. Sly of Buffalo, New York.
UPDATE II: This *might* have evolved into a scam. The seller agreed to sell to one buyer and provided directions to get the vehicle, but now is avoiding the buyer's calls.
"This is a very strange "Jeep like" vehicle that is not a Jeep. I was told that it was possibly a specialty vehicle built in the 60s and that it originally had a 4 or 6 cylinder engine that the previous salvage yard owner removed and sold. 2 wheel drive. No seats or top frame. It has full length curved metal running board fenders that Jeeps never had. It also has a center console that housed the shifter. It was originally painted a coral pink color so the possibility exists that it was a resort shuttle vehicle. It is NOT, repeat NOT, a Jeep Surrey model! They look nothing like this "thing". No engine or transmission. I saved it from a salvage yard over 10 years ago. It has 14 inch "A.J. Foyt" mag wheels that probably are original. Rusty but restorable. Buy it for $900 firm, fix it up, and have the only one out there."
Not everyone was happy to see me. Henry claimed I made a comment that it was too bad someone painted his surrey brown. I couldn't find any evidence that I said that though. His modified surrey is beautiful!! The windshield is one of the nicest I've ever seen. The backside was filled in and the front has been scalloped perfectly.
On Friday morning we had a quick one-hour drive to the Bantam Festival at Coopers Lake, Pennsylvania.
Friday's drive from Canton, Ohio, to Coopers Lake, Pennsylvania.
Our first task was to set up camp. Much of that duty fell on Ann, as I needed to find out where I'd be giving Friday's presentation. It was her idea to add the sign marking out encampment. Thankfully, the rains that had fallen all week stopped in time for the festive and we were able to find a dry patch of grass to call home.
Soon, it was time for me to give my presentation. The crowd was light everywhere on Friday and only seven people attended my presentation.
After the presentation, I met folks and handed out some free posters.
Afterwards, Ann and I had plenty of time to take photos and meet folks. For example at our first stop, the history barn, we ran into Roy, who's a daily reader of eWillys. He found this 1952 M-38 on eWillys and spent the past year fixing various issues. He assures me it purrs. It sure does look great!
Well done Roy!
He explained it's a former Seabee jeep. The seller explained to Roy that this shade of green is the proper color it. If you get a chance to talk to Roy, he can explain the reasoning in depth.
Here are some additional photos from the history barn. Here's Roy and Clint and I talking.
There was a WWII re-enactment as well:
After walking in the sun for a while, we returned to camp for an earned nap. Later, a delicious dinner buffet was provided and we mingled with some folks.
On Saturday, I have another presentation and we'll be meeting more folks!
UPDATE: Price dropped to $350. I doubt this was ever a Gala, but it does seem to be a DJ-3A. **SOLD**
The price is right! This seems like a deal to me.
"We our selling a 1960 Willys DJ-3A Surrey Gala. We bought it mainly for the body to build a rock crawler out of it. The origional color was pink. It has a CJ-2A windshield on it with an old Aluminum Hardtop (rare). This is a normal left hand drive 2wd Willys Jeep. The front axle is a straight axle and rides on leaf springs just like the 4wd Jeeps. It has a motor, but is missing many of the parts like the oil pan, head, etc. It is the Go devil Flathead 4 backed by a 3spd manual column shift trans with OverDrive. Since this is a DJ3A the rear of the Jeep is solid with no tail gate, this is factory. It does have all of the steering pieces and as a whole is pretty darn complete. Feel free to come check it out and make us an offer. The frame is in very good shape and the tub would easily be restorable. The floors are even in pretty good shape. The hood is probably the worst part (dented). These are very rare and it has all of its factory serial data plates. Comes with only a bill of sale."
Colin bought a Hickey aluminum cylinder head to modify his 1960 Surrey, but ran into some problems with it. Below he describes the changes he made, the problems he encountered, and his current solution. Thanks for sharing Colin!
I started a hop-up project on our Surrey that involved the installation of a 1950s Nick Hickey aluminum cylinder head for the L-134. That morphed into the fabrication of a dual carb setup using two intake manifolds with a balance tube an F Head exhaust manifold that a very good friend, Steve Mason, and I fabricated out of an old manifold supplied by Jim Sullivan.
The first issue was the two new Weber carbs. They were supposed to be synchronized and jetted the sam, but weren't. That led to the rear carb dumping extra fuel into #s 3&4, resulting in a blown head gasket which dumped coolant into those cylinders.
Hickey head top and bottom.
Took it all apart, rejetted the carbs and had the head resurfaced. I finished buttoning everything up and fired it up. adjusted the carbs slightly, running smooth, then noticed coolant in the #2 spark plug recess. Shut it off, pulled all plugs, could see coolant in #2, and steam coming from what must be a crack in the threads.
When I had the engine running previously I did not have water pooling in the plug basins. Upon looking at the plugs, the electrodes indicated the possibility of them coming in contact with the valves. Took a very hi intensity flashlight and looked into the cylinders and at least two of the valves I saw the imprint of the electrode on the valves.
So my theory is this: I had the head resurfaced and in that process, the machine shop used an epoxy to smooth the surface indentations( corrosion?), and then did the resurface. The plugs I had used were nearly new from the original head. Those electrodes did not extend into the combustion chamber. The machine shop( guys who do a lot of work on Ford V8s with aluminum heads told me to get plugs with a slightly longer shank for better combustion. So I did. Only a small imperceptible difference in length.
What I think happened is the extra length of the plugs, coupled with the resurfacing of the head resulted in contact with the plugs and caused a small crack in #2 plug hole. Two head gaskets might have alleviated he problem, but maybe not. From what I have learned, huge advances in metallurgy with aluminum since the 50s and 60s resulted in much better aftermarket heads for the old flathead Fords. Since my Hickey head was made in the 50s, it is now over 60 years old.
So I removed the Hickey head and re-installed the original head. Fortunately I had an extra new head gasket. The new plugs don't appear to extend any deeper into the combustion chamber than the old plugs, leading me to think the difference might be in the aluminum casting itself.
I am going to use the dual carb setup unless another problem crops up and then I will revert back to the single carb. With the dual carbs, I can still use the F-head exhaust manifold, as it has better flow and no heat riser plumbing.
My buddy Steve Mason suggested a sodium silicate repair that might work, but you have to flush the entire cooling system of all antifreeze several times and even then it is a 50/50 proposition for success. So I went back to the original head.
Engine with the original head re attached.
After attaching the original head. a buddy with some knowledge of Weber carbs and an engine analyzer got everything in working order. He even did some modifications to fuel lines and linkage to get things right.
The buddy I mentioned earlier worked on it yesterday and got it running fine, the carbs are tuned by ear for the most part.
On the way home from his house I had a minor setback, the nut and lock tab that holds the linkage on the #1 carb came off and left me running on two cylinders! JOHNNY POPPER!!!
Got it home and went back looking for the linkage arm that fell off. Knew about where it started running rough, so walked that vicinity, both sides of the street for about half a mile and actually found the linkage arm, but not the nut or lock tab.
My buddy had a nut and tab so we are back in business. It does have a low speed miss just off idle probably due to #2 intake not seating properly. A valve job in the not too distant future
The Southeast Willys Get Together is only a month away.
1) Our special guest will be Carol Mowry’s 1960 Willys Surrey. Think of Elvis Presley in the movies driving a tropical coral-mist canvas-top Willys.
2) Our “Lunch ‘n Learn” speaker is David James of Ironman Restoration. His family members were among the first to tricked-out jeeps and their business is still going strong today.
3) We’ve got a new T-shirt design. Please order your T-shirt order by September 6 so we’ll have yours ready, at the sign-in table, on October 6.
4) We’ll have some new sponsors in your Goodie Bag, and a few big donations. I won't tell you what or who just yet. You will have to show up to be as surprised and excited as I am!
6) Visit http://www.southeastwillysjeepgettogether.com to pre-register for lunch, T-shirts (orders due by 9/6/18), tickets, exhibitor and swap-meet space.
7) Same location as in the past: Grace Arts Center; 496 Cardinal Road; Mills River, NC 28759 (3 miles SW of the Asheville, NC Airport)
"The Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum in Chicago announced that it is permanently closing its doors, also confirming that the entire collection of vintage and classic cars will go up for auction this September without reserve."
All of these vehicles appear to be in top cosmetic condition, but (as with any museum vehicle) they will likely require some (possibly significant) work prior to being road worthy.
Or you could simply buy them all, and start your own Jeep Museum!
Here's a link to the entire auction catalog if you'd like to browse the other cars and memorabilia being auctioned:
