My father was vice president for the local fire brigade in the
sixties and seventies, and he was also responsible for the
vehicles and equipment in the fire station. Since we lived next
to the fire station, it was easy for him to now and then check
that everything was in order and well tuned. Every Friday he took
one of the two vehicles (International tanker and a Willys CJ2)
out for a test ride, and some times I was home from school and
joined him. You can guess that my friends was a bit envious of
me.
For a six year old boy this was fantastic! At that age I even got
a change to drive the Willys sitting in my fathers lap. So the
Willys was the first car I drove in my life. I couldn't have a
better childhood! :-)
But a childhood like that marks it's track in your soul. I have been dreaming of my own Willys for the past 24 years. You can get a good Willys CJ2 or CJ3 for 30000-60000 SEK ($4000-8000) in Sweden today, but I made an expensive decision in my life 1992. I built myself a house, so a Willys was out of the question for a couple of years.
Time changes, economics changes and life in general is getting more positive so I am now ready for the next big event in my life: My very own Willys Jeep. I would really like to find a CJ3A/B from 1953-1954 for 20000-40000 SEK and then renovate it, paint it blue and add a V8 engine and a Warn winch to it. This makes some Willys friends see red because they want to preserve as much of the original as possible. I understand them, I could think of owning an original military green Willys later. But right now I want a modified one.
I found an ad with a beautiful Willys CJ3B 1954 for sale in a 4WD magazine on July 12.
It was the perfect Willys, exactly what I had been dreaming of, it even had the right blue color! And the funny thing was that it belonged to my mothers cousin. I didn't know he had a Willys!
It was far more expensive than my budget allowed, but since it was so perfect I couldn't resist. :-)
On July 25 I went to pick it up and since then I've been the happiest man in my neighborhood.
Here is a picture of it:
Click on the image to view larger
representations (640x480).
Look at some pictures that shows what an incredible job the previous owner (and builder) Mr. Kent Åberg did on the Jeep.
Bengt Karlsson, Vårgårda-Herrljunga Jeepklubb.
When you own a Willys Jeep, the weather is a major concern.
This page was last updated on June 08, 1998 11:52 PM
This page is powered by Axem Textures.