Glenn has a friend working on a restoration of a Scheneker Backhoe. Due to the lack of information about these, he wondered if anyone out there in Willysland had any additional information about them. You can either comment or contact me if you want to email me (d@ewillys.com).
He writes, "A local friend is working on a '55 Willys Pickup with a Schnecker Iron Works BackHoe mounted on back. It looks just like the one in the Willys Special Equipment Catalog. We have been playing with this unit for several years and have never seen another.
We would like to communicate with anyone knowledgeable about these. Probably not many were built as it was not strong enough to take the beating.
As this is being dismantled, it is obvious that much rewelding was required after each use. Complete replacement of the frame is the only answer and a California pickup is here. Frame reinforcements were everywhere and we are trying to find any information as to what was done at the Buffalo Factory.
Somewhere there must be another of these in order for owners to compare notes. This is totally different from the Ottawa on the FC170 later in the 50's, and also different from the half cab FC170 shown in the current AACA Club Magazine "Antique Automobile" There are many special parts on this vehicle including heavy duty split rim 15" wheels and a banjo type rear end housing."
This looks like a nice combo. I think I've seen this jeep previously.
"For sale is a combo, restored 1956 Willys CJ-5 jeep and 1966 Bantam civilian 1/4 ton jeep trailer. They were both restored and painted to match just a few years ago, then stored in a building. The jeep has a metal half cab, heater, new upholstry, Ramsey 8,000 lb winch that has never had the cable spooled out, Warn over-drive, original 4 cylinder overhead that runs great, new front hubs, roll bar, small driving lights inside the grill, rack on the back for extra spare tire and handy-man jack and 5 gallon gas can (included). The trailer is a 1966 Bantam 1/4 ton civilain trailer (more rare than the military version), wood racks, spare tire, detachable tool box, and wired to match the jeep. PLUS, this also comes with a full set of mud and snow tires for BOTH the jeep and trailer, already mounted on a full set of spare wheels. I will not split the set up, this is a package deal. Compare the price of this set to a new "Rhino" at close to $11,000, and it makes this jeep and trailer look well worth the price. I have more money invested than the asking price of this jeep and trailer, with the restoration, extra tires and wheels... Clear Oregon titles. These pictures were taken about a week ago. I am also selling a 1960 CJ-5 in another listing. Thanks!"
This hit something, creating some issues that need repair. This is a project. Most interesting is the rare half cab by Kelly. It also includes a trailer.
"Im listing my fathers 1949 Willys Cj 3A Jeep. It has front end damage. The impact caused the front bumper to be pushed in which caused the grill to be pushed in towards the engine. This caused the radar to make contact with the fan and it punctured the radiator. The impact also caused the body to shift forward approximately 2 inches bending the front fenders, dashboard and it caused the rear drive shaft pop out of the transfer case . The transfer case and drive shaft are not cracked.
-The engine was rebuilt locally approximately 7 years ago. - All tires to include the spare are mounted on 16" rims with military style tires that were all purchased new a 1.5 years ago. - Metal hard top with metal doors - All new leaf springs & shock purchased new in 2017 - The body has been patched in several areas
Also included is a 1/4 ton Vietnam error trailer The jeep runs and now needs someone who can lift the body and line back up. Its all there it just now needs some time and muscle. Clear PA title in hand and located in Trappe PA 19426 Local pick up only & email/text with any questions. Sold as is and will not part out"
This 1961 photo of a lengthened CJ-2A pest control jeep with a sprayer unit can be found in the Wyoming Digital Archives. Given CJ-2L's, those extended CJ-2As that appear to have been modified in Spokane and sometimes re-stamped as CJ-2L, were sold out of both Spokane and Montana (see ad examples at the bottom), it is highly probable this could have found its way from either location.
This particular jeep likely has a Porter-Reed aluminum half-cab.
This January 1953 ad seems the clearest in terms of a long-wheel-base CJ-2A. Other dealers in the Spokane and Missoula areas carried "lengthened", "extended" or "long-wheel-base" CJ-2As as well. I believe the 'extended' jeeps were likely ones with extended rears, though whether that meant a permanent extension or a bolt on extension is not clear to me.
Fields Motor Company was in Dishman, Washington, which has since been absorbed by suburban Spokane.
January 19, 1951, Spokesman Review
Here's an example from 1949. Sandifur Motors was profiled earlier this year:
December 11, 1949, Spokesman Review
Here's an example of one ad from 1951. Burhart was a dealer out of Spokane, Washington.
No pics. This appears to be a very early CJ-6 (#35).
"First production year CJ6, one of 2224 from 56. Bought this as a trail rig project, but don't have the heart to tear it apart. Stock F head/T-90/model 18(twin stick). Motor runs but needs flooding carb repaired/replaced ( have replacement carb should be on this week). This was a eastern Oregon/Washington rig, and that is reflected in the lack of rust. Bench seat needs recovered, but is in it. Front floor pans are clean (both follr pan supports have about 3-5" of rust through, and rear pan is clean, but saggy in places (this was a farm truck), tool box seems to be clean. Rear gate is dented, and gate frame is cracked, both front fenders are dented. PO had welded reinforcement stock on front horns. Has a Ramsey front PTO, and shaft, but no winch. Also has a Koenig half cab steel hard top, with doors. Top has had about 5 inches of weld repair performed ( to driver side windshield mount, and both driver and pass side rain channels) and has some surface rust, but no cancer. Doors are sliding window models, and are both missing bottom hinges, and are in need of latch repair. Neat old rig, vin # ends in 10035, I believe this to mean it was #35 off the line, when production of the 6 started in late 55'. Will not have a title in my hand for a week or two, but thought I would put some feelers out, and see if there was any interest from someone who would restore it. Pics avail upon request."
"Posting my 1972 Jeep CJ-6 project. New frame (New, never used, OEM frame from the factory) currently sitting on brand new Old Man Emu suspension. Frame has been rust proofed and POR 15 coated. Dana 44 axle in rear with new pinion seals and brake lines. Tub in rough shape, but very salvageable. Full Meyers hardtop in very good condition. Meyers Half cab in fair good condition. Dana 20 transfer case in good working order, T-15 3 speed transmission in good working order. Also includes 2 sets of wheels/tires: original steel rims with old school steel belted offroad tires and a set of American racing wagon wheels with BGF all terrains.
Also included at asking price are the power train that I planned to put in this jeep: 1998 4.0 liter inline six motor with 70k miles on it, AX-15 5 Speed transmission with 70k miles on it, new clutch, Dana 300 transfer case already bolted to AX15.
You will need a trailer. Tub is off of the frame, both transmissions and both transfer cases are off of the frame, the motor is currently on the frame (but could easily be taken off). Frame is a roller at present: suspension and axles are in place. I have a trailer and can transport within New England for extra fee.
Photos below show current state as well as the last time the Jeep was together. everything has been stored in doors on stands since being taken apart.
reason i'm selling: family and I are moving and don't know where we will end up just yet.
"Posting my 1972 Jeep CJ-6 project. New frame (New, never used, OEM frame from the factory) currently sitting on brand new Old Man Emu suspension. Frame has been rust proofed and POR 15 coated. Dana 44 axle in rear with new pinion seals and brake lines. Tub in rough shape, but very salvageable. Full Meyers hardtop in very good condition. Meyers Half cab in fair good condition. Dana 20 transfer case in good working order, T-15 3 speed transmission in good working order. Also includes 2 sets of wheels/tires: original steel rims with old school steel belted offroad tires and a set of American racing wagon wheels with BGF all terrains.
AX-15 5 Speed transmission with 70k miles on it, new clutch, Dana 300 transfer case already bolted to AX15 will also be included at asking price. No motor with this project at present, but AX15 gives you a lot of options (jeep 4.0, LSX swap, Mercedes Diesel, etc.).
You will need a trailer. Tub is off of the frame, both transmissions and both transfer cases are off of the frame. Frame is a roller at present: suspension and axles are in place. I have a trailer and can transport within New England for extra fee.
Photos below show current state as well as the last time the Jeep was together. everything has been stored in doors on stands since being taken apart.
reason i'm selling: family and I are moving and don't know where we will end up just yet."
Now this is cool if it's legit and I hope that it is. CJ-6, good price looks solid in most areas, has that 0-9 transition period speedo which I like, its beyond rough looking but still a cool piece.
Anyone else catch that post about this style speedo that was stolen from a USPS shipment and it was found on eBay, they are just too unique to have a near perfect one out there they really stand out amongst the crowd IMO. As far as some super rare unobtanium deal, NO, and my opinion is one of rare does not equal valuable. If anything rare stuff is a liability at times.
OK back to this rig, I could use this for a project…. But you are always better to buy the best example you can afford. It’s cool mostly due to the price point and you can do some basic clean up and probably have a nice safe, running, and driving project for under $10k. Line-X or anything can be tricky if put over rust, I doubt its physically Line-X because that stuff is the real deal. Hopefully its just the FLAPS rubber in a can that peels right off.
The half cab is also a cool feature.
Information from seller:
1958 Willys jeep CJ6. This is a CJ6, which is about 2 foot longer wheel base than a CJ5. It has a painless wiring harness and converted to 12 volt system. I have a new steel gas tank as well for it. I was going to use it for hunting but lost interest. Also has Line X throughout interior. It currently doesn’t run but ran when parked. Needs new brake cylinders and fuel line
UPDATE: This article appeared in the 2016 Winter edition of Dispatcher Magazine. The original of this was posted in October of 2106 as a series of notes, but is now updated with text from that article along with some additional photos.
Willys-Overland equipment manufacturers experienced a range of successes and failures. One of those who entered the market at the dawn of the CJ-2A to achieve the former was Laurel C. Worman, a businessman who created the first set of jeep hardtops for different applications, most sold under the brand Jee-Cab.
Early Willys-Overland branded Laurel C. Worman built hardtop.
EARLY YEARS OF LAUREL C. WORMAN: Laurel C. Worman was born in 1898 in Toledo, Ohio, to Ernest and Clara Worman. He was the younger of two children. The boy’s father Ernest was a self-made man, who developed a large hardwood lumber business, something Laurel must have watched with fascination. When he was old enough, Laurel married Muriel Florence Jackson. The pair had two sons, Ernest "Ernie" William and Lester Lee Worman. The couple later divorced. By 1940, Laurel had remarried a woman named Ruth.
Perhaps Laurel’s father’s entrepreneurial influence led him to become a self-made man himself. While his early employment history has yet to be unearthed, by 1941, Laurel was president of Packard Toledo, Inc. Well known in Toledo automotive circles, Laurel later that year became a northwestern Ohio distributor for the new Willys Americar. It may have been the car that interested him most, but more likely it was the potential of the jeep, which had garnered automotive interest for more than a year.
About this time in 1941, Laurel C. Worman incorporated a company by the same name, under which he placed the Willys dealership. It was only one of several companies he would co-found. In December 1941, he went to Washington, D. C., as a dealer representative and gathered with other auto industry to reps to establish a ceiling on car prices, perhaps in anticipation of war. Four days after returning from his D. C. meeting, the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor.
The war doesn’t appear to have slowed Worman down. By 1942, he was placing ads in the Toledo Blade, arguing how “Willys Truck Owners Are Lucky!” Laurel noted that Willys-Overland had produced the most economical line of trucks. He told potential customers they would be well-served by the truck’s low use of gasoline and their rugged nature, two characteristics important for enduring war time challenges. Worman also made sure to note that Willys was the producer of the jeep, already famous by September of 1942.
As an automotive dealer seemingly in the thick of things in Toledo during WWII, there’s no evidence he formed plans for any jeep equipment. But, as a Willys dealer in Toledo, he certainly would have stayed abreast of the CJ’s progress and must have saw potential in the jeep following the war.
THE CJ-2A ARRIVES: When the CJ-2A was introduced to the public in July of 1945, options included a front soft top ($55) and rear soft top ($39). The first civilian hardtop half-cab, according to Fred Coldwell in his Preproduction Civilian Jeep book, didn’t go into production until the fall of 1945. Somewhere around that time, the Army asked Willys-Overland to design a full steel cab for the late 1945 MBs. The result was a stretched version of the half cab, but it never went into production. One probable reason was that steel was in short supply. Another reason was that they were heavy.
In August 1945, Worman invited prospective buyers to visit his dealership and see the new “Universal ‘Jeep’” for themselves. The amazing “4-in-1” vehicle was advertised as a light truck, a light tractor, a runabout, and a mobile power unit. But, it still lacked the comfort of a full cab, a fact that must have been apparent to Worman as he engaged customers and sold jeeps through ’45 and into ’46.
Perhaps after hearing from dealers and customers that they’d prefer a hard top over the canvas front and rear tops, the Willys-Overland decided to contract with Laurel C. Worman to produce a line of hardtops. The hardtops would be made of aluminum, which, unlike steel, was amply available and light.
In anticipation of handling and displaying Willys-Overland products, Worman, through Hoppe & Worman, Inc., announced in April of 1947 that it had leased space in the Hillcrest Hotel at the corner of Madison Avenue and Seventeenth Street in Toledo. It gave Worman 30,000 square feet to display and service Willys-Overland products (next door was the Packard sales and service space of 36,000 sq. ft.). He promised to double his employment, giving hiring preference in the service department to veterans.
A couple months later, Worman chartered Worman Investments, Inc., with Otto L. Hankison, an attorney and trucking firm operator, and other investors. The company’s purpose was the manufacture of aluminum half and full cabs for jeeps. Lacking engineering expertise, the firm turned to the Lifetime Stoker Company, run by Otto A. Peters, for the cab’s design and manufacture. During the summer of 1947, Willys-Overland filed orders for 5,000 full cab (75lbs) and 2,500 half cabs (60lbs), meant to replace the canvas top and side curtains. Unlike the later Jee-CABS, these units had plexiglass in the doors rather than safety glass.
A 1947 Willys-Overland sales book shows early photos of the half and full cabs. Note that there’s no branding of the cabs at the time. It’s possible these orders were designed to help launch the startup cab company, because not long afterward, Worman branded his cab the “Jee-CAB” and began selling them directly to consumers. He also produced a series of newspapers ads, industrial brochures, and consumer brochures. One can only assume that he dropped the “p” from Jeep to avoid landing in the middle of the court fight between Ford and Willys-Overland over the Jeep trademark.
Worman quickly expanded the full cab line into four markets. He developed The “Standard” or “Regular” (half $99 or full $144), the “Mail Carrier” (half $128 or full $169), the “Military” (half $109 or full $149 – made to fit the military jeep only), and the “Super DeLuxe” insulated full cab ($199 full cab – no half cab made).
REGULAR CAB: The aluminum tops were equipped with safety glass in the doors and plexiglass in the rear.
MAIL CARRIER CAB: These included fingertip controls to raise and lower the door’s safety-glass windows. This also allowed the driver to rest an arm on the window ledge and extend it for signaling traffic.
MILITARY CAB: Designed to fit military jeeps only, it was built out of heavier gauge aluminum than the other Jee-CABS. The cab had moisture-proof insulation and ½” sponge rubber along the door edges to insulate against both heat and cold. It had safety glass all around. The windows slide horizontally rather than vertically. It weighed more, too, probably similar to the 108lbs of the Super Deluxe Cab:
SUPER DELUXE CAB: Advertised as the “Tops in Tops”, the super cab had insulation similar to the military cab. It borrowed the fingertip controlled Mail Carrier type safety glass windows from the Mail Carrier Cab that insured ventilation and maximum visibility. The top weighed more than other cabs because it used safety glass throughout. It was made of 175 individual components with 1,845 spot welds. The doors came with chrome plated handles and locks.
Here are some brochures and notes from the late 1940s related to Worman:
A color version of the Jee-Cab brochure:
And a different version as published in the Willys Industrial Equipment book:
Worman's brochure for their top-of-the-line Super Deluxe Jee-Cab:
Press photo of woman testing a Jee Cab window from 1948 in a photo that was on eBay.
In January of 1949, the Toledo Blade reported that Worman would be donating jeeps and equipment to a Future Farmers of America to cultivate and harvest on land near Toledo's municipal airport.
By 1949, others had entered the market, including Porter & Reed, Rueben Beck, the V7 (from V7 Body Works) half and full wooden bodies, and others. It was the heyday for cab options. With his financial backing, his marketing capabilities, and his connections with Willys-Overland, Worman’s cabs should have remained a large seller compared to the competition. Unfortunately, I could find no statistics on the number of cabs sold to validate this theory.
OTHER PRODUCTS: Despite or because of the competition, Worman expanded Laurel C. Worman, Inc., two directions. By 1950, he was selling all-aluminum pickup enclosures for trucks. Given that few of these have survived, it is probable he didn’t sell many.
Another product, one that has survived, is the Worman Parkway Conversion wagon. The need for the design was rooted in the late 1940s and early 1950s motor vehicle laws. Many residential communities did not allow delivery wagons in their areas. To solve the problem, Worman retrofitted Willys-Overland delivery wagons with side windows, making them licensable in many suburban areas. What’s not clear is whether Worman alone did these conversions or if Worman was just one customizer, as there are two general styles of Parkways. The main differentiating aspects are two screws that appear in between the two rear windows. Some Parkways have them and some don’t.
NEW WORMAN HARD TOP:
By the early 1950s, Worman has broadened their lineup, making cabs for 2As, 3As, and 3Bs:
Also by this time, Laurel's son Ernest Worman, one of two sons (the other being Lester Lee Worman) had joined his father in business and was appearing in ads like this one. It suggests Ernest had been in the business with his father for a while:
Then in 1953, with some competitors gone, but others, like Sears, entering the field, Worman introduced a new, stylish hardtop for the CJ-3B. It had a sleek look with larger rear windows to improve visibility. The driver and passenger windows appear to slide sideways, similar to the Military Top. Again, the production numbers of the CJ-3B top remain a mystery, but it wouldn’t take a big leap to say they may not have sold well. Few seem to remain.
WILLYS & WORMAN PART WAYS: In June of 1955, Worman and Willys Motors parted ways. Newspapers of the day simply reported the fact, without highlight why the split happened.
However, events two months later, on August 16, 1955, shed some light. At that time the Toledo Blade reported that Worman had ended his relationship with Packard also, then purchased a Pontiac dealership, leaving Toledo without a Packard dealership for the first time in years. Perhaps Worman disagreed with the directions of Packard and Willys, but more likely he saw great potential with Pontiac, a company that was outselling Willys, Kaiser and Packard combined (Pontiac sold 3.7m cars during the 1950s, while Packard/Willys/Kaiser sold a combined 1.6m).
LAUREL C. WORMAN: Despite the new dealership arrangement, Laurel continued to dabble in other ventures, including the construction of shipping boxes for Willys engines for the military. At some later juncture, Laurel and Ruth Worman moved to Glendale, California. There, Laurel passed away on November 17, 1964, at the age of 66.
While Kelly and Meyer hardtops became well known in the 1950s and 1960s, the Jee-CAB tops and brand faded into history. Much of thanks regarding their current awareness is due to Bart McNeil’s piece written for the CJ-3B page’s hardtop section.
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August 2017 note:
This hardtop was for sale for $250 out of Boston. I may have been a Jee-Cab or even an earlier Worman built Willys-Overland top:
