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| DJ3A DISPATCHER CONVERTIBLE; RESEARCH THREAD | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 6 2013, 05:39 PM (10,284 Views) | |
| PapaC | Jan 6 2014, 08:30 PM Post #136 |
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Papac
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I have independent confirmation of another exact pair of top bows that existed on a convertible I have another confirmation of a red one seen back on the early 60's that may or may not be the one found in the warehouse in tn I now know for sure the ventilation windshield existed due to confirmation from Bill who spotted the one on the 3b and other eyewitness accounts. (They are super super rare) Your honor I rest my case (but I reserve the right to call new witnesses and add new information) |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| F Bill | Jan 6 2014, 10:00 PM Post #137 |
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Jeep discovery and aquisition specialist
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Actually in the flatfender world the DJ3A 2Wd jeeps are known as a light weight hot rod.. I haven't driven mine on the public highways, officially but I bet it'll do 55 comfortably or maybe even more. It is so high geared I have tried to use as small a diameter tire as I can find to fit my 15 inch rims. (this is the DJ with doors, which might get its own convertible top thanlks to this thread....it will of course, have to be totally custom. as my windshield is completely custom using a hardtop windshield as its frame. Maybe I will use a front bow to mess everyone up..) Driving in the field, I have used high gear bot only for a few seconds before we reach the end of the field. My neighbors kids who learned how to drive stick barely ever even used second and we were tooling right along. But that is interesting what you dug up about the Darrin, and the boss's disdain for sports cars. I have seen a Darrin, and they are wild cars with their sliding doors and swoopy bodies. Not quite as swoopy as a CONVERTIBLE, but close.
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59 convertible 15933 needs drivetrain 60 convertible 17052 has a V6 and 4WD 60 Surrey 17509 went thru Katrina and looks it. 60 Surrey 17918 started it all...Toyota axle, BW Wrecked Surrey Tub with fenders and grille 56 tub, from 11826 And a couple parts DJ's with no ID left. All my jeeps are projects....only runner is my DJ with doors.. | |
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| PapaC | Jan 6 2014, 11:26 PM Post #138 |
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Papac
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I have to add another correction. The red convertible is absolutely the one that Lindsey used to own. Since Mr. ***** talked about ***** of jeeps he owned or had owned and since this was (I think) a spur of the moment deal at a car show perhaps that's why he didn't remember the name. |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 12:02 AM Post #139 |
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Papac
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I'm so glad you pointed that out. Heck , I mighta missed it since I'd never really looked at them that close before other than the statistics. And with only 62 KD's built in 53 and 435 built in 54 , they have an estimated price tag today ranging from 120 thousand up to oh, about. 200,000 dollars give or take. EACH! Way overpriced especially with all that fiberglass that's liable to shake loose going down the road if you really drove it. Heck, we've got real steel and like you said Bill, them kaiser-darens aren't nearly as cool or sporty looking as our dispatcher convertibles. How many was it they built of ours??? I forget. Three, four, five , or a dozen or so?!! Hehehe
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 03:10 PM Post #140 |
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Papac
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Obviously with this COLD weather outside I have too much time on my hands. What I've learned is Mr. kaiser was truly, truly, an interesting man. First we had to prove that the Dispatcher convertible WAS built. The next few posts may give some more insight into WHY they were built. This is quite interesting and there's a couple of Pink Surreys included there! http://kaiserpermanentehistory.org/latest/...r-and-the-jeep/ More on Mr Kaisers wife and her influence http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z1723/Kaiser-Darrin.aspx "A woman's 'intuition' can be a powerful thing. It can sense danger, but it can also determine what would sell cars. It is also important to have a woman in one's corner for support. In the case of 'Dutch' Darrin, the woman in his corner ended up being the wife of Henry Kaiser. Darrin and Kaiser, though they worked together at times, had also been at odds and didn't particularly see eye-to-eye most of the time. When Darrin designed his roadster in 1954, Kaiser wasn't all that interested. Henry's wife, however, thought it was one of the most beautiful designs she had ever seen. The weight of his wife's impression led Kaiser to decide in favor of Darrin's roadster " And from here including a quote from his wife http://www.coachbuilt.com/des/d/darrin/darrin.htm Kaiser was not impressed, and accused Darrin of squandering the firm’s money stating: “We are not in the business of building sports cars”. Darrin produced evidence that the car was produced using his own (Darrin’s) resources and stated that he would produce the car on his own if Kaiser wasn’t interested. It was fortunate for everyone involved that Kaiser had been accompanied by his wife Alyce. She loved the car stating: “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I don't see why you aren't in the business of building sports cars, Henry." |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 03:23 PM Post #141 |
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Papac
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Here's more info on just how safety conscious Mr Kaiser was http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/kaiser.html Kaiser claimed that the 1953 Deluxe was America’s first “safety-first car,” based on the pop-out windshield and heavily padded dash and seat back. The 1952 Kaiser Manhattan, however, had been billed as having the “World’s Safest Front Seat,” and had those attributes. However, as Jack Mueller wrote, safety didn’t sell, as Nash found out with its 1949-51 seat-belt-optional Airflytes, Ford with Lifeguard Design, and for that matter Chrysler when it had done a padded dashboard in 1949. The fact that some of the Liberty Ships he built during the war broke in two to improper welding techniques and design as seen here during his early life may have helped influence his decisions concerning safety in later life http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_J._Kaiser |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 03:50 PM Post #142 |
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Papac
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A couple of images This may help support the theories of his safety consciousness...a family picture along with one of his designs (Note the tennis racquets) ![]() Heres a couple of guys who was probably cranking out the designs of his mysterious prototypes ![]() And here's the man himself. Mr Henry J. Kaiser
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 03:54 PM Post #143 |
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Papac
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From Ebay. 1951 press photo Henry J and Alyce Chester Kaiser ![]() My favorite quote!! “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I don't see why you aren't in the business of building sports cars, Henry." |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 04:08 PM Post #144 |
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Papac
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From this site http://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/...story/view-all/ We should pause for a moment to mention a few particulars about Alyce Chester Kaiser. A nurse from Oakland, California, she had joined the staff of the Permanente clinic in Oakland during the war, later serving concurrently as executive assistant to Permanente Foundation medical director Sidney Garfield. When Henry Kaiser’s first wife, Bess Fosburgh Kaiser, had taken ill in 1949, Ale Chester became the Kaisers’ live-in nurse, which she remained until Bess died in March 1951. Bereft at the loss of his wife of 45 years, Kaiser had married Ale less than a month later. They made a curious pair — the handsome 34-year-old divorcee and the portly, balding 68-year-old industrialist — and the wedding drew widespread press attention and caused a stir among Kaiser’s family and friends. Henry and Ale soon embarked upon another controversial project: the construction of the first Kaiser hospital in Walnut Creek, California. |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 7 2014, 09:25 PM Post #145 |
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Papac
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A but more off topic, but I think it's part of the bigger picture. I've stated that I believe Mrs. Alyce was a influence for the Willys Dispatcher FastBack Convertible Sports Car. I now believe she ALSO had some influence over the GALA . Especially the PINK one as seen here. https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z1...5x5sayjzyy4ms0k Henry J Kaiser In 1954, a bold, rotund tourist arrived on Hawaiʻi’s shores. Vacationing with his second wife, he rented a Diamond House, rather than the scarce hotel accommodations. He made Hawaiʻi his home. While, today, we look back at Henry J Kaiser for his developments such as Hawaiʻi Kai and the Hilton Hawaiian Village, these things are part of his later legacy. Kaiser had a long successful career prior to coming to Hawaiʻi. Before getting here, he had several successful enterprises as wartime shipbuilder, automaker, steelman and millionaire chief of a vast industrial empire. Kaiser was born on May 9, 1882 in Sprout Brook, New York; at 13, he left school to work to help support his parents and three sisters, by working in a dry goods store. He moved to the West in 1906, and his sales jobs led him into the construction business and the first company he formed in 1914. Let’s fast-forward a bit through several of his endeavors. Through the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond, California during World War II, Kaiser built “Liberty Ships” and “Victory Ships” (cargo ships.) His operations built more ships than any other during the war (now part of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Park.) (He formed Kaiser Steel to supply steel plate for the shipbuilding. He also made automobiles (including jeeps,) and later formed Kaiser Aluminum (where the operations included mining, refining, aluminum production and fabricated aluminum parts.) In addition to building medical hospitals, centers and school, he formed a foundation focusing on health care needs in the country and also founded Kaiser Permanente. (In 1958, he opened Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Honolulu.) A consortium, called Six Companies, Inc., with Henry J. Kaiser as chairman of the executive committee, was formed to build Hoover (Boulder) Dam on the Colorado River. This group, with Kaiser at the helm, also collaborated on the building of Bonneville, Grand Coulee and Shasta Dams, natural gas pipelines in the Southwest, Mississippi River levees, and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge underwater foundations. The two most notable Kaiser products in Hawaiʻi are the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel (today known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village) and Hawaiʻi Kai. Back in 1891, at Kālia, the ‘Old Waikiki’ opened as a bathhouse, one of the first places in Waikīkī to offer rooms for overnight guests. It was later redeveloped (1928) as the Niumalu Hotel. Kaiser bought it and adjoining property and started the Kaiser Hawaiian Village. He sold to Hilton Hotels in 1961 and the property (now totaling 22-acres) continues to be known as the Hilton Hawaiian Village. That year, Bishop Estate leased a 6,000-acre area, which included Kuapā Pond, to Kaiser Aetna for subdivision development. The development is now known as "Hawaiʻi Kai." Kaiser Aetna dredged and filled parts of Kuapā Pond, erected retaining walls and built bridges within the development to create the Hawaiʻi Kai Marina. Henry J Kaiser died on August 24, 1967 at the age of 85 in Honolulu. By the time of his death, Henry J. Kaiser had founded more than 100 companies, which operated 180 major plants in 32 states and 40 foreign countries, employing 90,000 people and making 300 products and services, with assets of $2.5 billion. Kaiser pink … it was reportedly the favorite color of his wife Alyce Chester Kaiser (his second wife.) Since Kaiser often wore pink, it was likely also a favorite of his. © 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC ![]() ![]() ps notice the hubcaps on the above two Galas are entirely different from the fancy ones that are usually seen |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 8 2014, 12:17 AM Post #146 |
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Papac
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Look here Bill Here's proof that the DJ100 Sportif Convertible (supposed to be a spin off of the dispatcher) complete with snaps, doesn't fold back, and the weird windshield top bow attachments, along with some other concept 'dj100's never made it onto the willys production floor! This DJ-100 concept models, based on the DJ-3A, were limited to the design studio and have never ended up in the factory of the Willys Motors Company. ![]() ![]() http://www.thekick.nl/JEEP.civilian/3.disp...=info.model.htm I think that ought to about wrap up the theories of why the few fastback production convertibles they DID produce are so much different from the concept factory images.....convertible top and all!!! |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 8 2014, 12:36 AM Post #147 |
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Papac
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 8 2014, 01:37 PM Post #148 |
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Papac
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Famous Quotes. (Or at least they SHOULD be) .... “We are not in the business of building sports cars”.,Henry J Kaiser “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I don't see why you aren't in the business of building sports cars, Henry."Alyce Chester Kaiser |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 8 2014, 04:37 PM Post #149 |
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Papac
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Maybe.....maybe not.....but lookey here![]() ![]() ![]() Hmmmm...... Same lady.......different Kaiser convertibles....different years.... |
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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| PapaC | Jan 8 2014, 07:05 PM Post #150 |
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Papac
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Couple of afterthoughts while they're in my head. I mentioned earlier the breaking in half and sinking of some of the liberty ships may or may not have affected Mr Henry's dislike of danger and fast motors in his cars. I found an article from July 4, 1961 that a few days before Mr. Kaisers had commandeered a speedboat and grabbed some nearby doctors and raced out to save Mrs. Alyce whose 40 foot catamaran hand been overturned by a strong wind while vacationing at Lake Taho I also mentioned that I don't think the prototype convertibles with front top bow and snaps folded back with the top intact and still hooked over the bows. I watched a video of a similar model vw convertible. They had to completely unhook the cover from the front and then unfasten the snaps along the sides and back and fold it up for storage before folding the framework back for the bows . Oh, before I forget. Mr Kaiser had lots of boats. He liked to name this type with different variations or abbreviations of his wife's name. Here's a pic and guess what? ITS A SURREY BOAT!!! Check it our
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Charles Tate....North Mississippi 1956 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible Doing ground up nuts and bolt restoration by almost entirely reconditioning original used or a few NOS DJ3A parts. 1962 WILLYS DJ3A Convertible. (For research and parts only) | |
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