Handing things down from generation to generation seems to be a dying practice, and that’s something to be sad about, because that means history is being willfully forgotten for the sake of the latest and greatest. When an older item is lost or thrown away, a connection to the past is lost forever, and there is no price that can be put on that…it isn’t tangible, it isn’t replaceable, and a re-creation only goes so far in capturing the essence of the original. This 1953 Willys CJ-3B and it’s trailer, a 1947 Ken-Skill Kustom Kamper Model 10, have been in owner Larry Shank’s life since childhood, when the Jeep was his father’s and Larry was a young kid. The Willys was an ongoing project for the senior Shank, who would take the family exploring on vacation when he was able to get away from his job at Lockheed-Martin. Larry learned at a young age how to work on the CJ, and at 18 had his name put on the title. The Jeep isn’t a stocker: his father loved to add on to the CJ, so the V8 that was installed in 1955 shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows, but it is one of many modifications. Others include a swamp cooler, a spotlight that turns with the front wheels, an overdrive with twelve gears, and a body extension for more room in the rear. Both the Willys and the Ken-Skill have been restored to varying degrees, but they aren’t picture-perfect. They are, however, perfect for pictures in a location of your choosing that is off of the path and in the middle of peace and quiet.
Great video. Brings back memories of helping my neighbor restore a 2A in the 70’s. The only sad part was his moving away shortly after we finished. BMT…you’d have a place to store the donuts in the teardrop!!! 🙂
The old home videos made this story so much better, very cool.
Wow. I remember days in the family truckster (1972 Chevy Impala wagon) with the pop-up on the trailer hitch in the back and an old aluminum john boat ot the roof of the trailer, heading to Colorado to the mountains for two weeks of chaos in the Rockies.
I miss those days.