Minneapolis Street Sighting: Willys Jeep Pickup

When scouting the city for interesting and oddball vehicles, there are those makes one never expects to counter in droves. AMC, Citroen, Packard,Peugeot, Rambler, Renault, Willys and other orphaned brands with storied histories but remain mostly forgotten. Lately, though, a surprising number of orphan cars and trucks have been turning up--when I don't have a camera handy.
I've always been somewhat interested in Jeeps, and I find the pre-Chrysler-days products worlds more interesting than anything that came after the introduction of the Wrangler. I will admit I do kind of like the Jeep Comanche, but the real Jeep trucks that interest me aren't badged as Jeeps at all--they're badged as Willys Jeep Pickups.
Introduced in 1947 and produced up until 1965, the Willys pickup saw changes so few it's hard to distinguish them on a year-by-year basis. The only thing I do know for certain, is that having 5 bars in the grille, and being labeled a '4 Wheel Drive' as per the tailgate, this example is a post-1950 and pre-1962 model. Beyond that, I can't narrow it down, because I didn't get a chance to look under the hood.











I loved finding this truck; this has been on my "must-find" since I first got a little glimpse of it a few years ago on Lyndale. Since then, I have been on the hunt for it. Sure enough, just last week, I spotted this thing parked outside a repair shop. Sure enough, I did a double take to make sure that this was the vehicle on my grail list. Either way, a Willys of any kind (except a cookie-cutter hotrod Willys coupe) is a welcome find around these parts.
Now, obviously this example isn't restored--and it needn't be done. As it is, it has great patina;its got just enough character to fly under the radar, and it's not a rusty hulk either. I would wager that because of the "4-Wheel-Drive" painted on the tailgate that this is an original, semi-preserved truck. The shine is long gone, but that's in this guy's best interest. Old trucks often look their best sharing a bit of their patina.
Inside, too, this beast looked to be in all-original, daily driver condition, definitely no bad thing. The chrome bits are still nicely preserved, and not quite worn to the nubs, and same with the probably-impossible-to-replace steering wheel; it looks great, and probably still feels good to the driver.
I wasn't around when these old trucks were new, but it sure is great finding them now. I love spotting the offbeat workhorses that used to roam the country's streets in search of a long day's work. I only wish modern trucks had the same level of character.. or do I?