military or not?

[JAYC1945]

Hey all! Being new here, I have a question no one seems to be able to answer so maybe somebody in here can. I bought a 52 cj3a from a fellow who claimed he and his uncle bought it in the sixties at an auction on an army base in ohio and said they used it on the base, does this seem feaseable? and if so, does that make it a military jeep? it doesn't have the data plates like a m38 it just has all the civilian markings on it.It's been repainted a few times in its life and the orig. color is the "sabre rouge"? red, plus a few other ungodly colors as well! it's in good shape and runs really well so i'm gonna clean it up and run it but i have a feeling i was taken in by a good story since i'm not familiar with the willys vehicles yet. any help would be great! THANKS!

[wesk]

Yes the Military used just about all of the vehicle models that Willys produced at one time or another from 1945 thru 1970. They usually had a US Government or service specific property plate on the dash. If your 3A has no evidence of a rectangular property plate anywhere on the dash then the odds are against it's military history. Please keep in mind that the DRMO's (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Offices) is responsible for disposing of all DOD property which includes equipment and property seized by the military or found deserted by the military. So your 3A could also be an abandoned or confiscated jeep.

The good side of this is that it runs well.

[JAYC1945]

Thanks wesk! i appreciate your info! it eases my mind a little about the story, being a ww2 collector, i should've known more but since the vehicles were new to me , i guess i got a little excited about it . i'm painting it o.d. & putting a new clutch,press. plate, bushing in it, so since it runs good and is in good shape i think i'll be happy with it for awhile till i find a ww2 mod. that fits my pocketbook! with the help of this website i'm sure i'll be much more informed before i make another vehicle purchase. THANKS AGAIN!

[TomM]

Look for a data plate or evidence of holes on the dash that will authenticate the branch of service.
Some of the plates used are in this library:
http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showgal ... p?cat=1084

I recently viewed a 60's ford econoline pickup that had a USAF data plate still affixed to the dash. It had been Fully hotrodded but the owner had the sense to preserve the history.

Tom

[JAYC1945]

thanks tom, i'll check it out, but the only small screw holes in the dash were for the standard w/o plate.