Harry Payne Motors, Inc., Austin, TX.
Willys-Overland, Boerne, TX.
Sandifur Motors, Willys, Spokane, WA.
Winter Motor Co. Kaiser Willys, Sacramento, CA.
Adams Sales & Service, Kaiser Willys, Baton Rouge, LA.
Arkansas Valley Equipment Co., Willys Jeep, Lamar, CO.
Mossy Motors, New Orleans, LA.
Hinkle Jeep, Pickens, SC.
I still regret not taking a photo in the ’70’s of brick building near Papago Buttes in Phoenix. It was once a Willys dealer, and it had a wonderful huge sign painted on the side in Willeys script. It was pretty much by itself out there in open land. Of course, the area is fully developed now, and the building was demolished long ago.
Some really cool photos. That one in WA (Sandifer Motors) looks almost like you would need a Jeep to get there.
Sweet, I love the Willy
Thanks for these great pictures. There used to be a tiny one in my area, Pioneer Garage in Peabody MA
Bet that’s a “big inventory” for “Hinkle”. Any “year, guesstimates” for the big “woody model” in “Lamar, CO”?
Hinkle’s only got bigger. For a while in the 1970s & ’80s they billed themselves as the world’s largest Jeep dealership. Like it says in the ad below, they sold Jeeps for $150 over invoice – I think they did a huge business in Jeep accessories and customizing, which is where they made most of their revenue.
Interesting bit a “trivia”! Notice the phone #’s don;t include the area code.
“Ad” must be from a long while back.
Got to look up “Pickens”; see where it is.
Pickens is near Greenville, SC.
I used to be on a race team that competed at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
Winston Cup teams also used that track to test since it was very similar to Martinsville Speedway in VA that had two races per year.
The “woody wagon” is an early all steel station wagon. It is pre 1951, as they received a revised grill and front fenders in mid 1950. Two wheel drive wagons were introduced in 1947.
Thanks.
The Sandifur/Spokane photo raises a question to me. There appears to be a later (post 1950) style Jeepster in the showroom, so I would date it 1950 or 51. The wagon at the street corner is a loaded example of the two wheel drive station wagons – it has fog lights, bumper guards and a faux Packard hood ornament. What I question are the wheel covers. They appear to be a Cadillac knock off copy (maybe J C Whitney). I own a 50 Jeepster that my fil bought in 1962. It came with those same wheel covers. Coincidence or did Willy’s offer them?
Winter had two of those zigzag trimmed 55 Aeros. Those were a significant proportion of the 4700 55s sold in this country!
The Sandifur location looked familiar. I thought it was probably on the old Auto Row around West First.
https://www.spokesman.com/then-and-now/2022/jun/20/then-and-now-sandifur-motors/
This article verifies the area and adds some surprising later history. The Sandifur brothers left the auto biz and went into mortgage, becoming the huge Metropolitan Mortgage. The company finally ran wild in the 2000 boom and went bankrupt. At one time I worked in an unrelated office in the Metro Mortgage building.
The actual location at 2nd and Bernard is now something called Tuxedo Gallery. The building looks like the same shape.
Wow ;
I remember folks using thier CJ2’s as tractors in New England, there were quite a few Farm & work implements one could attach .
So, then : if one bought an ‘Aero’ it could be said one had a “little Willy” ? .
-Nate
No, because it is pronounced “Will-iss”, not Will-ees.
I’m told that the weak link in using a Jeep as a tractor was the clutch, which was sure to fail early and often, and was not easily replaceable, since two driveshafts, the transmission, bell housing, and transfer case, and a cross-member or two had to come out (much more difficult than replacing the clutch in a 4wd pickup of that era.) A 4 speed, “granny-low” transmission might have fixed the problem, but I don’t think it was an option. Alternatively, if you were in Lamar, Colorado, you could just pick up a Minneapolis-Moline farm tractor at your local Jeep dealer!
My Snapper rear engine riding mower has attachment points for a factory snow plow. It would make a terrible snow plow. It’s a good mower. It’s not a snow plow.
Many times it’s easier to pull the engine to swap a clutch.
The Jeep parked on the road has some sort of agricultural implement(?) attached.
The stairstep face in the first picture is a classic in itself. I grew up next to a Chevy dealership with the same look in the early fifties. It’s still standing.
The Mossy Motors of New Orleans is still in at its original location of 1331 S Broad St which has some resemblance to the photo when I visited in the mid-80s. Wasn’t aware of the Jeep franchise, but was a big time Oldsmobile dealer until that brand folded. Moved to GMC/Buick and survives in a rather rough neighborhood.
Our family vehicle in the 50’s and 60’s was a four door 1953 Willys sedan. My Dad purchased it from a dealer in Greensboro, NC in the year I was born, 1954. He drove it back to Kinston, NC Wish I had it now!
My dad had a Willy’s dealership in Vancouver,BC,Canada in the 40/50’s.I remember having a aluminum jeep with pedals at the time,maybe a dealer thing?
I used to buy my jeep parts at Pioneer Jeep in Peaobdy Mass from a guy named Phill ! A real Jeep guy !!! He had some really nice ones and was very helpful .
I live near where Hinkle’s Jeep used to be in Pickens, SC. I remember back in the 1980’s they’d host Jeep Jamborees and even back then, as a teenager, I knew they were the world’s largest Jeep dealer. Pretty impressive for a small town of only a couple of thousand people or so at the time. Interestingly enough, I don’t remember them selling AMC cars, only Jeeps.
I was born in 1964 and as long as I remember, my uncle had a Jeep dealership with his partner. Wagner-Hetman American Motors on the Old Bridge Turnpike, East Brunswick NJ. They also had a racing team that went around the East Coast.
I see a Jeep fire engine at the Boerne, Texas dealership, some sort of hydraulic boom and pulley system on a Jeep in Baton Rouge, another Willys Aero inside the Sacramento showroom, but just a single Jeep FC in any photo.