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History Rodded WW2 Jeeps or staff cars??

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by seesko, Aug 9, 2009.

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  1. Do any of you guys have any stories about WW 2 vehicles that might have been souped up by hot rodder GI's? Maybe a flathead slipped in a jeep or other such tale? :D
     
  2. I think I remember hearing Wally Parks tell of GIs (maybe himself) hot rodding Jeeps.
     
  3. tbraginton
    Joined: Dec 5, 2007
    Posts: 288

    tbraginton
    Member
    from Nevada

    Yeah I think I read a story about a V-8 60 winding up in a jeep while it was still in service...
     
  4. Sorry, couldn't help it:

    [​IMG]

    The reissue is coming out soon!
     

  5. GlenC
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 757

    GlenC
    Member

    I remember reading somewhere about one of the very first 'hotrod' magazines in the early 40's running a series of stories written during WW2 by rodder GI's who were on active duty overseas who had stuffed a sidevalve V8 into their jeep.

    Cheers, Glen.
     
  6. jimbob
    Joined: Jun 29, 2004
    Posts: 1,221

    jimbob
    Member

    I have a photo of a hot rodded, if you could call it that, WWI Pfalz fighter plane. I'm on leave ATM, post it up in a week.
     
  7. I gotta get a couple of those when they hit the shelves.
    Missed em on their first time around.
    Cool model.
     
  8. BillBallingerSr
    Joined: Dec 20, 2007
    Posts: 651

    BillBallingerSr
    Member
    from In Hell

    I remember reading a short story back when I was younger of a motor pool guy putting a rodded flathead V8 in a Jeep. He got the job of driving the General somewhere, and the General commented that the Jeep sounded different somehow. Suddenly they ran into enemy fire and that V8 Jeep skedaddeled them out of danger in short order.

    Does anyone remeber that story from school? It was one of my favorites, besides Henry Gregor Felson's books.
     
  9. snap too
    Joined: Dec 13, 2005
    Posts: 259

    snap too
    Member
    from lost wages

    Bill , I do remember that tale of the General's jeep, and also the re-upholstery job for his arse ! -- Studebaker Champion flatty sixes were a good choice for an almost drop in swap.
     
  10. hotrd32
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 3,560

    hotrd32
    Member
    from WA

    My sister's father-in-law served with Patton (mechanic branch) and I recall him talking about Jeeps passing them "very fast" with dual exhausts and the other people in his Jeep saying "Those guys must be from California"...........
     
  11. LMAO!! :D Now that's what I'm talking about.
    I've heard stories too of guys in Viet Nam taking the goveners off the tanks and occasionally running over a goat cart or two on the roads. :eek:
     
  12. Kinky6
    Joined: May 11, 2003
    Posts: 1,765

    Kinky6
    Member


    IIRC, that story was written by the famous G.I. cartoonist, Bill Mauldin. I recall reading that in the 11th grade.

    Later, Kinky6 :cool:
     
  13. Got my copy of Up Front right here with me- Willie and Joe were two good shmo's!
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2009
  14. DocWatson
    Joined: Mar 24, 2006
    Posts: 10,273

    DocWatson
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I remember that from his book 'The Brass Ring' great read if you can find it. I loved his cartoons,the one of the guy 'putting down' his jeep is a classic!


    http://drawn.ca/2006/06/14/collection-of-bill-mauldin-cartoons/


    Doc.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2009
  15. Da Tinman
    Joined: Dec 29, 2005
    Posts: 4,222

    Da Tinman
    Member

    Pops has a 41 GPW, complete with blackouts and nomenclature plates, we also have a 41 flathead Ford with no place to roost,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:D
     
  16. bluebolt
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 309

    bluebolt
    Member
    from Benton LA

    Yep Bill Mauldin story, "The Affair of the Wayward Jeep". First published in 1953 in the Saturday Evening Post. I am reading the story right now, it was reprinted in a 1955 paperback "High Gear", "great stories about fast cars and their drivers"
     
  17. bluebolt
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 309

    bluebolt
    Member
    from Benton LA

    Saturday Evening Post Edition was Jun 27 1953 if you want to search for it.
     
  18. SlamIam
    Joined: Oct 8, 2007
    Posts: 468

    SlamIam
    Member

    Thank you, I also read that as a boy and have been trying to find that story again for years with no success until now.
     
  19. chevy2inreno
    Joined: Mar 22, 2009
    Posts: 45

    chevy2inreno
    Member
    from Reno, Nv.

    A little off-topic, but I saw this flat fendered Willys at Hot August Nights last week.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. Shaggy
    Joined: Mar 6, 2003
    Posts: 5,207

    Shaggy
    Member
    from Sultan, WA

    My dad talks about when he was in vietnam, how they built a truck out of pieces in the army wrecking yard, and drove it around until some officers found out and the army decided to take it back.
     
  21. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    Interesting,a few months ago a guy here posted about a hot rod Jeep and got back a bunch of crap about Jeeps aren't traditional ,don't belong on this site.
     
  22. For the most part they don't. But, the thread starter was asking in a historical context. What are boys did in WW2 is directly relevent to the post war hotrod.
     
  23. Not just jeeps either. Any kind of WW2 vehicle. Trucks, tanks, planes. It's still pre 1964 hot rodding. The pre war rodders honing their skills. So many of those GI's were rodders before and after the war.
    I had read how one of the top P-51 aces, chief mechanics, kept his plane right on the edge for performance.
     
  24. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    Back near the end of WW1,US fliers and mechanics were using a plane with a French rotary radial engine.A lot of the US mechanics were auto race guys who applied some early hot rod stuff to the aircraft engines such as "Swiss Cheesing" the cast iron pistons for less weight.
     
  25. Jax2A
    Joined: Apr 14, 2009
    Posts: 419

    Jax2A
    Member

    My 46 CJ2A has a Buick 231 V6 in it, I consider it a hot rod of sorts but that's not why I'm posting. Here's a cool article from the January 1953 Hot Rod magazine on hot rodding a Jeep... Dual carbs, aluminum head, reground cam and valve train mods, there's your traditional tie in. Wish I could find one of those aluminum heads and dual intakes for my Kaiser Supersonic sitting in my garage.

    Crap, pages 2 & 4 exceed file limits. I'll add them later if I can figure out how to resize them.
     

    Attached Files:

  26. BlueOvalCertified
    Joined: Aug 6, 2009
    Posts: 99

    BlueOvalCertified
    Member
    from Minnesota

    This topic always interested me, but not a lot of information out there. Most of the guys that were there gone. Sad! I loved listening to my Grandpa talk about it. Never could get him to tell the stories of what really happened at the front.
     
  27. pasadenahotrod
    Joined: Feb 13, 2007
    Posts: 11,775

    pasadenahotrod
    Member
    from Texas

    I believe the Mauldin story takes place in Korea rather than WWII.
     
  28. steel rebel
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 3,604

    steel rebel
    Member Emeritus

    How about this. Okay 48 but it could be Korea "the forgotten war" vintage.
     

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  29. Ramblur
    Joined: Jun 15, 2005
    Posts: 2,101

    Ramblur
    Member

    Can't help you with the "hot rod" part but at least part of my misspent youth
    was wrenching on these machines. They don't get older ,they just get better.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  30. Great pictures Ramblur.
    The amphibius Jeeps are cool.
    I always like the White M3 field cars too.
    There's a guy I see at the car shows and cruise nights here in Minn than has one of the WC Dodge 4x4 trucks. Looks like a restored WW2 veteran until you open then hood. Full tilt 426 Hemi under the hood.
     
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