Today’s Fan Car Friday is brought to us by James with his 1948 Willys Jeepster. Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, the build or the owners. This post was made with written consent from the owner.
This Willys was purchased with the intent to be more than a cruise. While it could be something James could cruise around on the east coast and enjoy life, now that he was retired. He always had dreams of hiking the Appalachian mountains. Visiting every major hotdog stop on the east coast. Even going to every major park on our side of the Mississippi. His intent with a classic vehicle was to have something fun to drive, and something that was part of his life experience.
While James knows his way around a car, having been a part of a Mopar family for most of his life, he felt that the Willys would truly fit his lifestyle. The only problem is, he couldn’t find one to restore. After a few years of searching he had to settle on buying a finished one that was in near perfect shape. So the story today isn’t how the car got to the point that we see it in the photos. The story is about how its been used for the last 10 years.
James proudly proclaims that if you know what you’re doing, that a carbureted engine can be reliable as anything that is made today. He says that if you know what to listen for and feel for, you can avoid major breakdowns. He also states that if you know how the car is built, what components are on it and how they interact with one another you can push a car as much as you want because you know its limits. And for the most part, we tend to agree with him.
That’s why James has been able to put over 100,000 miles on the odometer since he first purchased the vehicle. The car has been on many of the major US highways for those miles. But those also include climbing up mountains, going off road, going through dense forests and even on the beach. This car has arguably seen more of what this great blue marble has to offer than many of our cars today have seen – and it was built 70 years ago.
This doesn’t mean the car is in perfect shape by any means. While there are no major scratches in the paint (Due to his meticulous care of how he drives and the off road paths he chooses) it isn’t show perfect by any means. The chrome is still sharp, but it isn’t the same perfect mirror finish it was after it being originally rechromed. But the car itself is better than it has ever been. There still isn’t an ounce of rust yet to be seen on the car, and the engine is still as strong as an ox (Though that may be due to the fact the he plans his trips around filling up at ethanol-free gas stations, as painful as those prices can be).
James says he has definitely lowered the value of his car by using it the way he does. But that is his favorite thing about the car, is that unlike many others, he is truly using it and giving it the life she deserves.