I knew that in the 50s, before the recreational and sporting use of Jeeps became dominant, Willys positioned the Jeeps as genuine utility vehicles. But the full range of applications is a bit mind boggling; I had no idea there were so many attachments and applications. It’s all quite different from the way Jeeps are mainly used now.
I had no idea! I live in the city and have a 10,000 sq ft lot but I feel like I really need a Jeep and pretty much every attachment now.
The Jeeps in this film remind me of a Shopsmith woodworking multi tool. It seems like a great idea until you use one. Not to say that it isn’t clever, but it is usually hard to beat equipment designed for a specific task. Some of the Jeep attachments would never make it past the legal department for production today.
I imagine a lot of these jobs are done by ATV or side by side utility vehicles now, though the street legal versatility of the Jeep seems handy. But it’s a great reminder that one doesn’t really need a 7.4 liter SuperDuty to get a lot done. I loved the scene around 1:30 with the tiny Jeep and the huge radio; that has certainly changed. Also the scene near the end where the cargo/personnel carrier knocks down the small tree; that tree was pretty obviously pre-notched to snap off so cleanly. Thanks for finding this and posting.
Great video Paul , thanks ! When i was in high school in the mid 70’s the school used a Jeep with a giant snowblower to clear the parking lots . It had a small gas engine mounted in the back and a driveshaft that ran exposed down the passenger side to power the snowblower . Probably would be frowned upon by OSHA today , but it could sure move snow !
From when a Jeep was a useful vehicle Landrovers did all that here Jeeps became scarce after WW2 but the British equivalent was very common.
Thanks for this. Brings back memories of JEEP marketing when I was a child.
The Willys Jeep was the MPV (Multiple-Purpose Vehicle) of its time, as clearly demonstrated in the 20-minute video.