By Robert Emslie
I’ve seen Willys Jeeps before. In fact, as an aficionado of WWII history, I’ve seen a slew of them. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen one – or any WWII Jeep for that matter – with a strap serving as a door before. This shot, which is claimed to be from 1941, shows that, as well as the fact that the Good Year logo is one that has truly stood the test of time.
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Jeff Glucker
Most likely a service rifle sling.
Cute mirror, this guy's a regular hot rodder.
<img src="http://www.rollanet.org/~stacyw/us_1907_web_sling_1.jpg">
I think you can blame the photographer for the position of the mirror. Looks like if it were positioned properly it would hide the driver's face, spoiling the shot.
I'm currently reading a very interesting travel book about the "-stan"-countries. It is mentioned that almost all cars in Usbekistan are locally made, which made me go: "Uh?".
Who knew GM had a 94% market share of new sold cars, through a cooperation inherited from Daewoo? The Nexia II – which still looks like an 80s Opel Kadett – is one of the most popular cars. Even though Putin's economic union with Belarus and Kazakhstan effectively shut out these cars, the factory in the Fergana valley can't produce enough of them for the local market. The Nexia II is 16900$, but a well-kept 2012 model will be announced for 18000$ on the used car market.
Now that's interesting.
Fun fact: our so-called daily driver ran only 3kmls in 2014, with a total cost of 2600USD in that year. (I'm in Norway, so that is not too bad (but not rreally good at all) considering general pricing levels: 12USD/gal and 100+USD/hr for a workshop).
I'm an active commenter on hooniverse, I own two cars, but I get similar mileage on busses and another 1kmls on bicycles. I feel bad now.
That looks like the Willys prototype, since it has the built-up welded grille, instead of the stamped one used in production.
The Citroen Mehari may have had smaller door openings – and came from the factory with either doors or a chain across the opening in lieu of doors:
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/NkbhlJX.jpg" width="500/">
The thing about using a strap for a door was VERY common on these little multi-purpose military vehicles. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was SOP in the military for decades. In 1979 I went through basic training and advanced training including basic how-to-drive, and it was mandatory to fasten the strap or you had points deducted on the driving test. That's a really cool picture of that early jeep. Or Willys MB U.S. Army Jeep (formally the Truck, 1/4 ton, 4×4) if you prefer. And I think DukeisDuke is right about the welded grill too. Soldiers only smile like that if they are testing new gadgets.
That is a Willys MA, pre-production run of about 1500 for testing and standardization. The strap was very common to have, but in practice rarely used.