Date sent: Fri, 05 Jul 2002 15:15:14 +0200 From: Willem-Jan Markerink To: w.j.markerink@a1.nl Subject: Jeep out of a box Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 16:41:03 -0800 From: Henry Cubillan Subject: Jeep in a Crate!! To: offroad@off-road.com We've all heard those wild rumors about WWII-era jeeps being sold as surplus in crates for less than a $1,000, but in a recent copy of a French 4x4 magazine I found an article that describes just that!! Apparently a guy went to a military surplus auction which included the entire contents of a huge warehouse that had been untouched since the late 50's. The guy thought he might be able to get a few francs out of whatever was in the warehouse, and he didn't have anyone bid against him anyway. Well, lo and behold, one of the crates, a rather large wooden one, was marked as coming from the US. It was extremely heavy and seemed to be in pretty decent shape, as it had sat on a pallet that kept it away from the floor. When the lid was removed, there stood a partially dissassembled 1943 Willy MB, complete with all the accessories that they were shipped with: camouflage net, pioneer tools, brass fire extinguisher, gas can, wooden tool box, jack, even the plates that indicated what capacity bridge it could go across!!! After cleaning it up a bit, the guy finished the assembly and the truck fired right up!! According to the article ( in "Passion 4x4: La pratique du tout terrain"), the gur tracked it down with the help of the French military. Apparently, it was a leftover in a warehouse in the US, where it had been misplaced during the hectic days of the war. After the end of the war, it remained in this warehouse till the late 40's, from where it was shipped to *France* as part of a shipment of spare parts for the thousands of surplus MB's and GPW's that the French armed forces used. For reasons unknown, it was not in the manifest, and red tape indicated that it should be put in this warehouse till it was cleared. Again, for reasons that will probably never be known, there it remained till 1997, when the gentleman in question purchased what he thought would be a warehouse full of moldy uniforms and perhaps some hardware in good shape!! Just thought I'd share this story with the rest of you! I can scan pictures so they can be placed somewhere for all to view. They are amazing, the little Jeep is in the best shape I've ever seen! - -- Henry J. Cubillan 1990 FJ62 Land Cruiser "The Princess" 1967 M416 ex-military trailer "Junior" Member, TLCA; CLCC Baltimore, MD (formerly Caracas, Venezuela) cccef.hcubilla@capital.ge.com