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Truck Treasures: Jeeps pulled balers, pushed dirt and much more.

August 18, 2022

1 Min Read
1948 Willys Jeep with front-end scoop on display at the 2022 Indiana State Fair
MADE TO WORK: This 1948 Willys Jeep is equipped with a front-end scoop powered by hydraulics. The Sloan family, Tipton, Ind., displayed it at the 2022 Indiana State Fair.Tom J. Bechman

The 1948 Willys Jeep owned by the Sloan family, Tipton, Ind., was displayed at the 2022 Indiana State Fair equipped with a hydraulic front-end scoop. Willys Jeeps became popular in the late 1940s as workhorses for farmers. Many did jobs that horses likely would have done otherwise.

According to hotcars.com, the 1948 Willys Jeep CJ 2-A was perhaps the most iconic of all the CJ models. It wasn’t a comfortable-riding vehicle, but it could handle rough terrain and tough jobs.

Willys-Overland first produced the vehicle for the U.S. Army, making over 300,000 MB models at the factory in Toledo, Ohio. Ironically, the “Jeep” name wasn’t officially part of the vehicle until around 1950. Historians believe it was picked up from soldier jargon.

The 1948 model produced about 60 hp, but it wouldn’t smoke anybody off the line. It topped out at about 68 mph and went from zero to 60 mph in 21 seconds. If you have one today in good condition, hotcars.com puts the average price at around $12,000.

My mother, Virginia Bechman, would have liked more top-end speed, but she appreciated the Willys Jeep’s power. She drove one during the summer all over south-central Indiana in the late 1940s, with my uncle Roy Bechman sitting on a New Holland baler equipped with a gas engine. Together, they did custom baling. Her nephew Ken Housefield, Indianapolis, then a teenager, drove the Jeep for baling as well.

No, I don’t have that Jeep. It was long gone before I was born in 1953. However, I have a photograph that proves it existed, and that my uncle rode on the back of the baler.

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