~ Sent to us by Kaarlo Elonen
When I was in High School in 1970 a friend had a flat fender Jeep that we would pile 5-7 guys into and ride from the high school to the football stadium for football practice. The only thing I remembered about it was that it was red and 2 wheel drive. I think this is what got me started on flat fender Jeeps. That and watching every episode of “Rat Patrol” my parents would let me watch. I resolved to one day have one.
In the summer of 2000 I was looking through Ebay Motors and noticed an advertisement for a 1961 DJ-3A flat fender red 2 wheel drive Willys. I bid on it and got it but had to drive to Parkersburg, WV to pick it up. It ran but the body was in rough shape. I listed my DJ on the DJ register and was told it was only the 54th remaining known numbers matching DJ. At the time I didn’t know how rare DJ Jeeps were. I ran the Willys as is occasionally to work but was determined that I was going to fix the body. The lack of welding skills and not having a place to work on it only complicated things.
Then I moved to Virginia and bought a house with a garage. Stripping the body off with the intention of just replacing the body showed numerous little things like brakes, brake cylinders, master brake cylinder, oil pan gasket, gas tank, gauges, brake lines, fuel line and other parts needed replacing too. Kaiser Willys company ended up on speed dial for parts and information. Not trusting myself with welding new panels I ended up purchasing a replacement CJ-3A body for it which meant more calls to Kaiser Willys for parts.
My 1961 DJ-3A is once again back on the road in a mildly modified form and cruising the streets. It only has 49,440 original miles but with a 4.56 rear end it only gets places slowly. But, I’m sure that as long as Kaiser Willys stays in business my DJ will be out cruising.
- Kaarlo Elonen Kaiser Willys Jeep Blog Story – If you would like to share your Willys Jeep Story please send us a line. We’d love to meet your Jeep.
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