M38A1 Willys Military Jeep Restoration Project Site:

    I purchased this 1953 Willys M38A1 Military Jeep for my son Jeff Rogers back in 2001 from a classic car salvage yard in Tuscon Arizona.  It had been painted yellow, but I quickly had the entire jeep sand blasted, then painted with a flat OD Military Green primer. I removed a lot of small parts and stored them in our garage for safe keeping. I paid $1,750.00 for the jeep and the cost of shipping it from Tuscon Arizona to Deer Creek Illinois.

    The scrap dealer, known as Chevy Bob, or Bob Geraci had purchased this jeep in Nevada and transported it to his Tuscon Arizona business. He then removed an old military welder that had been mounted in it. After talking with me about the ladder racks that were on the jeep at that time, I told him I wasn't interested in them. I wish now that I had been interested in the ladder racks and the welder because of the rarity of military history that these represented. He had emailed me photos of the ladder racks and welder, but I lost such when I lost my computer during the divorce in 2003.

    I then worked on the brakes, completed a basic engine tune up, replaced the water pump, hoses, filters, ect., before starting the jeep. It ran wonderfully. Because I had a lot of parts to find and wanted to do some research on this paticular variant of M38A1 which was different than anything I was finding, I winterized the jeep for long term storage, parked it out back of our yard and covered it for long term storage. Counting the sandblasting, parts, paint and materials, I had invested about $800.00 in the jeeps restoration process by this point.

   In 2003, I suffered a horrible betrayal by my wife of 22 years, my mom died in August of 2003 and I was divorced in 2004. As of October of 2008 my son Jeff Rogers is still terribly angry with me and I have still not been able to talk with him since 2003.  Because Jeff Rogers is still very angry with me, the parts that were removed from this jeep are either still stored in the garage or, they were sold or placed into the trash at some point. These parts are readily available on the market, but it would have been much nicer to know the originals were still with the jeep. I love my son deeply, but find it hard to respect him at this point.  I thought I had raised an honest man.

   In September of 2008, I was driving home when I passed a truck pulling a trailer with a military jeep on it. I immediately recognized the jeep as the one I bought for my son so I turned around and followed it to the drivers destination. In talking with the buyer, I learned my son had sold the jeep for scrap metal, for under $100.00.  In explaining what happened in my life and how my son didn't even fully understand what I had bought him, or anything about these jeeps, I was able to purchase the jeep for $500.00.  I would have gladly paid Jeff the money, if only he would have contacted me about his desire to sell the jeep. But after I am gone from this world, my son will then get the jeep back fully restored.

   But, Before I continue restoration, I am trying to determine exactly what the military jeep was used for due to the variant of body style that was due to a field alteration as the photos reflect. If you have any idea about the use or set up of this paticular variant, I would be very interested in hearing from you.

   Now, in October of 2008, I finally learned that this 1953 M38A1 USMC Jeep, having it's orginal hood number of USMC 93-2243 on it, was in fact a USMC Field Modification into a Ambulance, and at some point, before or after, was a USMC Welding Jeep. The so called ladder racks that had been on this jeep were in fact a pipe structure to carry medical litters to transport injured servicemen.  In WWII the Army and USMC modified Jeeps known as the Holden Ambulance Variant which had a metal storage box manufactured to fit on the passenger side of the jeep. THe actual body of the jeep was altered to hold this metal storage box.  Mounting brackets were placed in various spots on the sides of the jeep to hold a pipe structure above which additional medical carry litters could fit on. If you research WWII Holden Jeeps you will see this variant. THere is a really good video on utube right now of these if you watch all of it. But in 1953, after WWII and in final part of Korean War, there wouldn't be a real need for a 1953 Jeep Ambulance because the M170 Jeep Ambbulance was manufactured being a bit longer jeep. What was done to this 1953 M38A1 USMC Jeep was a WWII version of the Holden Jeep Variant as if a prototype. Since none of these jeeps have been found it is many researchers belief that this M38A1 Ambulance Variant is a very rare jeep and important to history.

   As I have found so far, this is a 1953 M38A1 USMC Field Modified Jeep, Hood number 94-2243 of which was used both as a ambulance and at some point as a military welding jeep. The modification work is nearly identical of those of the Holden Ambulance Jeeps of WWII with the exception of a hood mounted vertical pipe support which then connected back to the pipe litter structer mounted on the jeep. The additional support on the hood is seen as a way to hold more injured while having less movement of the support structure which caused pain to those injured. But was this jeep used in any kind of military action? Only historical research and possible photographs would prove this at this point in time.

Thomas W. Rogers, travelback4u@hotmail.com