In 1979, a scrap dealer from Madeira, with a business in sand extraction, acquired this car at an auction, along with other military vehicles, parts and generators that were in service at the American base of Lajes.
The result of this acquisition came to the Region in one of its sandpits and was put up for sale in a space owned by the businessman, next to the Jaime Moniz High School.
When passing by this place, this jeep, all complete, caught the attention of Miguel Nunes and that's how his father acquired it. The engine was damaged and the car did not run, which certainly led to its dismissal from the American base.
Initially, in the early 1980s, the family did a little bodywork repair and fitted a diesel engine, which ran until 1992.
At that point, Miguel Nunes decided to do a thorough restoration, which took about 10 years. During that time he bought a lot of new material in the United States of America, India, Germany and France.
Through a friend who lived in Chicago, he bought another Willys in the USA, which was unrestorable but had complete mechanics. This was all stripped down and sent to Madeira, which allowed him to recover the original engine.
The restoration was completed in 2002 and since then he has only done routine maintenance.
It is one of the first units of this series and was built in March 1946, after the end of the Second World War.
With a surplus of new parts in stock from the previous model - the Willys MB (1941-45), the Willys Overland factory chose to utilise this surplus in the first CJs. These units are thus a mixture of MB material and other parts designed for the new model.
These rarer CJ2A are referred to by Jeep aficionados as VEC (very early civilian).
One batch of these early units was sold to the US Army for administrative duties.
This CJ2A, from the American base of Lajes in the Azores, probably comes from that batch.
The 1945 Willys Jeep was the world's first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive jeep.
In 1944, Willys-Overland, one of the two main military Jeep manufacturers of the Second World War, built the first prototypes for a commercial version - the CJ, short for "civilian Jeep". From then on, all CJ Jeeps consistently had a separate body and frame, rigid axles with front and rear springs, a tapered nose with flared wings and a folding windscreen. They could be driven without doors. In addition, with few exceptions, they had part-time four-wheel drive systems, with the option of high and low gear, and open bodies with removable hard or soft tops.
In 1944, Willys-Overland, one of the two main military Jeep manufacturers of the Second World War, built the first prototypes for a commercial version - the CJ, short for "civilian Jeep". From then on, all CJ Jeeps consistently had a separate body and frame, rigid axles with front and rear springs, a tapered nose with flared wings and a folding windscreen. They could be driven without doors. In addition, with few exceptions, they had part-time four-wheel drive systems, with the option of high and low gear, and open bodies with removable hard or soft tops.
After remaining in production through a variety of model numbers and several parent companies, the Jeep CJ line officially ended in 1986.
Over 1.5 million Jeep CJs were built, retaining the same basic body style for 45 years since Jeep first appeared. The CJs have been described as probably the most successful utility vehicle ever made.
The Jeep CJ-7 was replaced in 1987 by the similar-looking Jeep Wrangler.The similar model, the DJ "Dispatcher", was introduced in 1956 as a two-wheel drive version with open, fabric or closed steel bodywork on both left and right sides for hotels, resorts, police and later the US Post Office.
After the CJ-1 and CJ-2, lessons learnt from the latter led to the development of the first full production CJ, the 1945-1949 Willys-Overland CJ-2A, or Universal Jeep.
The CJ-2A looked very much like a civilised MB with a tailgate and side-mounted spare wheel.One distinct difference between the MB and the CJ-2A is in the grilles of the two vehicles.Where the MB had recessed headlights and nine-slot grilles, the CJ-2A had larger, slightly protruding headlights recessed into a seven-slot grille.
Production of the CJ-2A began on 17 July 1945, sharing production time with the MB.
Until serial number 13453, the MB-style fully floating rear axle was fitted. Once sold out, the CJ got a stronger Dana/Spicer model 41.Sometimes the use of MB parts was due to supplier strikes, such as Autolite.
Since Willys produced few parts domestically and relied heavily on suppliers, it was vulnerable to strikes, which were common after the war.
Because the CJ-2A was designed primarily for farming, ranching and industrial applications, the original CJ-2As came only with a driver's seat and driver's side mirror. But a wide variety of options were available such as front passenger seat, rear seat, centre rear view mirror, canvas top, front power take-off (PTO), rear power take-off, pulley drive, winch capstan, governor, rear hydraulic lift, snow plough, welder, generator, mower, reinforced springs, dual vacuum wipers (original CJ-2A's were equipped with a manual wiper on the passenger side and a vacuum wiper on the driver's side), dual taillights (originals had a taillight on the driver's side and a reflector on the passenger side), warm weather radiator, driveshaft guards, heater, side steps and radiator brush guard.
CJ-2As were produced in bright colour combinations that, in a way, symbolised the hope and promise of post-war America.
True to their intended purpose, the combinations also resembled those used by the most popular farm equipment manufacturers of the time.
From 1945 to mid-1946, the CJ-2A was available in only two colour combinations: Pasture Green with Autumn Yellow wheels and Harvest Tan with Sunset Red wheels. More were introduced later.
A total of 214,760 CJ-2As were produced. Due to the use of military production parts in the early CJ-2As and the many changes made during their initial production, restorers and collectors refer to CJ-2As down to serial no. 34.530 as "Very Early Civilian" and from mid-1946 to mid-1947 as "Early Civilian". Only minor changes were made after the mid-1947 models.
Data sheet
Year: 1946
Brand:Willys
Model: CJ2A
Country: Estados Unidos da América
License plate: MD-85-99
Engine: ...
Gearbox:...