{"id":3443,"date":"2022-02-20T05:01:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T13:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=3443"},"modified":"2022-02-21T02:13:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T10:13:55","slug":"once-planned-to-tackle-rubicon-trail-now-its-mostly-a-show-truck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2022\/02\/20\/once-planned-to-tackle-rubicon-trail-now-its-mostly-a-show-truck\/","title":{"rendered":"Once planned to tackle Rubicon Trail, now it\u2019s mostly a show truck"},"content":{"rendered":"
[David Krumboltz Me & My Car]<\/pre>\n
What is more American than Jeep? According to Google, Jeep has been recognized as America\u2019s \u201cMost Patriotic Brand\u201d for 19 consecutive years. The beginning of Jeep dates back to before the United States entered World War II.<\/p>\n
The Army asked 135 companies to create a prototype four-wheel drive vehicle with particular specifications in 49 days. Only two companies responded, American Bantam Car Co. and Willys-Overland. The Army liked American Bantam\u2019s design but felt the company was too small, so they gave that design to Willys and Ford to modify. Ultimately, Willys won the contract but couldn\u2019t supply enough vehicles for the Army so Ford also built the identical vehicle. Starting in 1941, Willys produced 363,000 Jeeps at $648.74 (about $12,825 in today\u2019s dollars) each while Ford produced 280,000 at $782.59 (about $15,472 in today\u2019s dollars) each for World War II.
\nThere are different theories as to how the name \u201cJeep\u201d came about. The most logical to me is that the vehicle was designated as a \u201cGeneral-Purpose\u201d vehicle, and as those of us who have served in the military know, it has a lot of acronyms, and \u201cGeneral Purpose\u201d probably became known as a \u201cGP,\u201d which was then shortened to \u201cjeep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeep\u2019s headquarters has always been Toledo, Ohio, but the company has had a number of owners, starting with Willys-Overland, then Kaiser Jeep (yes, that Kaiser), American Motors and Chrysler. Now all of those brands and a several others are owned by a humongous multinational company called Stellantis, the fourth largest automotive company in the world.<\/p>\n
Empty trains, deserted stations cost taxpayers billions. Will BART, VTA and Caltrain riders ever return?
\nAfter the war, Willys didn\u2019t return to building cars. Instead, they made civilian Jeeps and promoted them to farmers and ranchers to use as tractors and small trucks. Later, using the general styling of the military Jeep, the company introduced the Jeep Station Wagon in 1946 (first SUV?), the Jeep Truck in 1947 and the Jeepster (convertible) in 1948.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s featured car is owned by Danville resident Don Kent. Kent got interested in Jeeps as a result of an uncle who was one of the first participants of the Jeeper\u2019s Jamboree on the Rubicon Trail (near Placerville) that was started in 1953. The Rubicon Trail gives Jeeps and other four-wheel drive vehicles and their drivers a challenging test of skill and endurance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought it in 2013,\u201d Kent said, \u201cand it was pretty much junk. It was rough but not rusty.\u201d He paid $1,000 for this 1957 Willys Overland Jeep pickup, but it didn\u2019t look anything like it looks today. \u201cIt had no running gear, no engine, no transmission, which was fine because I knew what I wanted to do with it. I wanted to pattern it after the Jeep I had already built and I wanted to take it through the Rubicon Trail, which was my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the work began. \u201cWithin two weeks of having it, it was down to literally half a frame. I cut the frame in half and shortened the truck by 21 inches and made a short bed pickup out of a long bed, which Willys never did.\u201d Kent installed a 2007, Chevy Tahoe 5.3-liter V8 engine rated at about 300 horsepower. He then teamed that engine with a Chevy one-ton truck four-speed manual transmission. \u201cIt was built to do the Rubicon,\u201d Kent says.<\/p>\n
Kent, a now retired building contractor, shared a work shop with a master body man. \u201cI started doing body work on it because it was so rough, and I thought I would make it decent and then I\u2019d paint it. The body man taught me a little, then he taught me a little more, then he taught me a little more. There is not much of that truck that is non-touched. I did every inch of that truck myself except paint the final coat of paint.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are some very unique customized features on this Jeep, like the built-in roll cage in the cab, the huge 35-by-12-inch tires and the gas tank in the bed of it. But Kent has tried to save some of the original Willys features, including the speedometer, steering column and steering wheel.<\/p>\n
So how did the original plan work out? \u201cIt is fully capable, but as I built it, it became a little nicer, and a little nicer and a little nicer. I never intended for it to be like this, but when it turned out the way it did, my wife said \u2018you\u2019re not taking that to the Rubicon Trail.\u2019\u2009\u201d And so far, she has been correct.<\/p>\n
Now it is pretty much a show truck. Kent drives this classic about 200 miles a month. \u201cI go to the Car and Coffee shows and drive it downtown when we go out to dinner, but it\u2019s never going to see battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues\u2019 vehicles or to read more of Dave\u2019s columns, visit mercurynews.com\/author\/david-krumboltz.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2022 MediaNews Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
East Bay man\u2019s Jeep \u2018never going to see battle.
\nDanville resident Don Kent appears recently with his 1957 Willys Overland Jeep pickup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys.webp",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-600x400.webp",600,400,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-768x512.webp",640,427,true],"large":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys.webp",640,427,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys.webp",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys.webp",1200,800,false],"darknews-slider-full":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-1200x720.webp",1200,720,true],"darknews-featured":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-1024x683.webp",1024,683,true],"darknews-medium":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-720x530.webp",720,530,true],"darknews-medium-square":["http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Don-Kent-1957-Willys-350x350.webp",350,350,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"News MoLo","author_link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/author\/admin\/"},"category_info":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3443"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3445,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3443\/revisions\/3445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}