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1953 Willys Cj3b Hardtop Jeep 4wd on 2040-cars

Year:1953 Mileage:41000
Location:

Littleton, Colorado, United States

Littleton, Colorado, United States
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1953 Willys CJ3B Hardtop Jeep 4WD

 

There is nothing more rugged and endearing than a Willys Jeep…especially one from the early 1950s with some patina. This 1953 Willys CJ3B is almost completely original and has acquired some battle scars over the years.  Nothing serious…just enough to add some character.  If you’re into off-roading or just want a beast to drive around, this Willys with a factory Hardtop, just may be the ticket for you.  I know I have had a blast with it over the past 18 years cruising around my property high in the Colorado Rockies.  This CJ3B is listed with a starting bid of $1,000 and a reserve well below what it is worth.  
The CJ series was the civilian version of the famous Willys Military Jeep used by Allied forces during WWII. The Civilian Jeeps were built to be just as tough as the Military version, making them very tough vehicles and capable off-roaders.  The CJ interiors are very simple, just like their Military counterparts.

The CJ3B was the first CJ Jeep to use the Willys Hurricane F4-134 4-cylinder engine. The 2.2 liter straight-4 produced 75 hp and 114 pounds of torque, which is plenty to pull this bare bones vehicle around, especially with the dual range gearbox which has low enough gear ratios to pull you up any incline you are brave enough to tackle. The introduction of the F4-134 engine required the CJ3B to have a taller grill and hood, which only increased the rugged and tough appearance of the vehicle.  As testament to its ruggedness and reliability, the CJ3B model stayed in production until 1968.

At the time I bought it in 1996, the seller explained to me that it was originally purchased new from the manufacturer in 1953 by his retired parents who used it extensively for their hunting and fishing ventures in Colorado during the ‘50’s and 60’s.  (Their son had stored it and used it rarely after he inherited it in the early 70’s).  When the elderly couple ordered it from the factory, they added some amenities to suit their needs.  They originally equipped it with an exhaust snorkel for fording streams, and they added a winch onto the front end.  The front had to be lengthened to accommodate the winch.   The winch operates off the power take off (p.t.o.) which is engaged and operated from inside the cab.  They also added a game rack and had the back end lengthened behind the cab for the addition of a small trunk (Taken off of a 1930’s Packard as I was told).  The lengthened back end was also made to hold a couple of spare gas cans.   They later added a windshield defrost vent from a military jeep.  I removed the game rack and had to remove the snorkel because it had broken away from the tailpipe, but the rest of the truck is pretty much original and in the same condition as it was when they used it back in the 50’s and 60’s. (I can include the snorkel and/or the game rack if the new owner would like to re-attach them).

The Willys still runs and drives just as it should, with a go anywhere attitude.  The oil has been changed, new battery installed, and the brakes re-built so that it is ready for a new owner.  It has less than 41,000 actual miles on it.  There is no rust, and the body is straight, but the harsh Colorado sun at 10,000 feet altitude has sun-faded the paint over the past 15 years, especially on the hood and fenders.  Please note that the 1st 4 pictures included, show the Jeep as it was when I first acquired it, and before I removed the snorkel, the game rack, and before the paint was sun faded.  I included these 4 pictures only as a reference. 

This tough old Jeep can be restored or left just as it is.  Either way, the next owner is sure to love it as much as I did.
This Jeep may not be as High-Tech as its descendants, and it is obviously not going to compare in performance to today’s 4WD vehicles, but there is something delightfully nostalgic to this rugged old survivor from 1953, and it is still a blast to drive around in.
If you would like to see and test drive, it is available for viewing in Littleton, Colorado by contacting me.

 

 

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Auto blog

2018 Jeep Wrangler: The iconic off-roader, with new innovations

Wed, Nov 29 2017

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Jeep Wrangler has a spirit, and Mark Allen is one of its keepers. That's why the 2018 edition still has a fold-down windshield, despite the reality that even the most die-hard Wrangler owners seldom use it anymore. The folding screen dates to the origins of the Wrangler, when Willys were sent to Europe during World War II. The reasons: "The windshields folded down for shipping — and the guy in the back with the howitzer," says Allen, the longtime Jeep design boss. Delivered in 2017 in the FCA Design Dome, the line comes across as a quip, but it's historically dead on. It's through this lens that Allen and the rest of the Jeep designers and engineers devised the modern successor to a primitive military vehicle. The windshield folds down in minutes with the turn of four bolts on this new generation, the JL. It takes about 90 minutes and 28 bolts to do the same on the outgoing JK. Needed or not, the windshield is better and more functional for 2018, even if it looks about the same. This aptly sums up the new model. Get closer and get inside. Look under the hood. There's much more going on than is evident at first glance. Allen says the broad strokes of the current design didn't change because he wanted to remain true to the Wrangler's identity, which lights the path for the entire brand. Crazier ideas were considered, but ultimately, this evolutionary approach was deemed the best. "The Wrangler is instantly recognizable around the world," says Jeep boss Mike Manley. "It has been and remains the absolute icon of the brand." But it is different, and by using any objective metrics, better. The JL is lighter than the JK. It offers a new engine with a mild hybrid function – more on that later. Fuel economy is improved. The interior is nicer, yet still rugged. The on-road ride quality is upgraded, but you can still scale mountains and conquer the jungle. Still, it looks about the same. Let's start there. The round headlights are all-LED, with a horizontal projector sandwiched between the high beams. The taillights are square and have available LEDs. The grille has been massaged to a "keystone" design that recalls the CJ, Allen says. The front wheels are pulled slightly forward, and the beltline is lowered. The vehicle also is longer (how much depends on the version), which creates a better stance. Half doors will be offered on the Rubicon model in 2019 and then will be available across the Wrangler lineup.

Jeep gives a trio of customs an encore showing at SEMA

Wed, 05 Nov 2014

While Jeep certainly had some new customs on display at this year's SEMA show, it wasn't afraid to recycle a few that people might have missed from earlier this year. The maker of many beloved off-roaders already displayed the Jeep Cherokee Dakar, Maximum Performance Wrangler and Wrangler Mojo at the 2014 Easter Safari, but they all made it to SEMA for an encore.
Based around the Trailhawk, the Cherokee Dakar (pictured above) imagines an even more off-road-capable version of the crossover. The concept wears a mix of Silver Steel Stain paint with Flame Red graphics and rides on 17-inch wheels wrapped in 33-inch BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires. To back up the rugged look, the Dakar is fitted with rock rails and skid plates protecting the oil pan, front suspension, fuel tank and other underbody parts. It also sports prototype parts from Jeep Performance Parts, including a lift kit and fender flares.
The Wrangler is one of the paragons of off-roading, and as the name suggests, the Maximum Performance Wrangler concept is meant to be the ultimate example of what it can do. The custom features locking Dana 60 axles front and rear, a 4:1 Rock-Trac transfer case, prototype 4-inch lift kit and 37-inch Mud Terrain tires over beadlock wheels. To stay on the trails well into the night, a bar of LEDs is mounted above the windshield. And finally, the Mopar Blue exterior kind of makes the vehicle look like the world's toughest blueberry.

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

Sat, 23 Mar 2013

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.