Willys on military/naval base?

John C Matthews

Knuckle Buster
Feb 13, 2014
1
West Columbia, SC
First Name
John
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1948
Hi fellows,

New to the forum but have been reading your chats. However I was wondering if anyone knows if Willys Pickup trucks were ever on any Naval bases?

Mine (1948) was told to have been on the Naval Base in Charleston, SC. Probably 1948-54. All pickups were civilian made and military purchased them to be used possibly on bases for general maintenance. Makes sense. Willys was a name brand, reliable, and why would they buy a Chevy or Ford? Just saying.

Thanks for listening,


John
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Should have a brass tag on the dash if it was, I never saw a pick up that was usn or army...Phil
 
If you have a data plate you might be able to search the navy.mil historical area or the overall national archive, you can stumble on some stuff.

When I quickly searched "us navy willys pickup Charleston SC" in the national archives I actually got a pretty close hit.

There is a log book from the USS Vega and an entry on Dec, 30 1955 it picked up a Willys Jeep and a Chevy Pickup from Charleston SC, while it's a miss for your truck I was pretty impressed on the over ability to search these documents.

Screenshot_20201111-065020_Adobe Acrobat.jpg

Screenshot_20201111-064856_Adobe Acrobat.jpg

Screenshot_20201111-062612_Adobe Acrobat.jpg

Good luck.

www.archives.gov

National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration
www.archives.gov www.archives.gov
 
My 1963 Wagon has the GSA plate on the glove box door. It was originally Grey, and I've wondered if it hadn't been on one of the Navy bases in the SF Bay aera.
 
rocket said:
Mine doesn't actually say GSA on the Brass tag. It Says "Supply Arm, Or Service Maintaining Vehicle" and that line is not inscribed.
Click to expand...

My truck has the same brass tag and the “Supply arm” is also blank. Not sure what circumstances led up to the Willys factory (or dealer?) attaching that plate. My truck was always privately owned.
E50C1A59-20F4-4B7B-999D-A702C1564ED1.jpeg
 
I was on some Navy bases in the sixties, including Charleston, but that would have been late for the Willys pickups. We did occasionally see some of the Kaiser 715 pickups and 725 ambulances. Truth be known, I don't think Kaiser could compete with Dodge on the bigger ton and a quarter vehicles. Most of the pickups (Shore patrol vans and such) were Chevy.
 
In the early 70"s the 715's and M151's were widely used in the Army, all around the world.
 
rocket said:
In the early 70"s the 715's and M151's were widely used in the Army, all around the world.
Click to expand...
Seabees too. I have always had the bug to build a 715. All it would take to make it highway ready would be to swap out the axles. They were incredibly low geared and have those odd hubs/brake drums.
 
I had a few m715/725s, Thay were not that neat, just a big heavy under powered army truck, slow and would not pass a gas station...the batterybox would ruin your left elbow.. and 45 mph...slow...24 volt hard to find parts..open cab..no heater..whats to like?...Phil
 
I always liked the 715 also. But that was 50 years ago in the Army when I drove them and worked on them. The closest I came to owning one was my 75 Gladiator with Dana 60"s front and rear, Navistar 6.9 IDI Diesel and ZF 5 Speed overdrive transmission. 18MPG with a load of oak.12-9-2016_001.JPG
 
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