I've heard you can get them new in the crate, covered with cosmoline, from the Army for $50.

Of course, I haven't heard that one spoken seriously for about 40 years now.

 

And Jim... when you find that source of the "jeep in a box" I'll send ya a $100 and you can pick me up TWO of 'em. Wow, wouldn't it be nice to find a couple of them mythical creatures... But I'd never get one. By the time I got there the line'd be too long.

 

I know a guy who has a friend, that was talking to his dentist who said he had a brother that used to work for a lady, that was divorced from the man, who was a General in the Army that had a supply Sargeant who said "when the moon is in the 7th house and Jupiter aligns with Mars...."and there was a whole warehouse full of 'em and you could get them for $50.00.

By the way, what the heck is cosmoline?

On a serious note I have a friend who has a '49 3A that has been in a garage not running for at least 15 years. It's not complete as an original, it's had a V8 installed and maybe other driveline pieces changed. It's rough but not completely rusted/trashed. It has custom mods like having the tailgate welded shut and the battery is mounted on the front bumper because there is no room for it and the V8 under the hood. Knowing that I'm into Jeeps he mentions that it's for sale and would probably only need a "few things" to get it running. As my '77 CJ is my daily driver, the '64 Land Rover project is still not done, and I have more money than brains, and I don't have much money, I take the bait and ask "how much?" "$5000.00" he says. $5K?!?!?! I graciously declined his kind offer. Hey just because I think old 4x4s can be reliable transportation doesn't mean I'm an idiot. Wait a minute...

Jeff

 

Cosmoline \Cos"mo*line\ (k?z"m?-l?n), n. [Prob. fr. cosmetic + L. oleum oil.] (Chem.) A substance obtained from the residues of the distillation of petroleum, essentially the same as vaseline, but of somewhat stiffer consistency, and consisting of a mixture of the higher paraffines; a kind of petroleum jelly.

The Military used this as a preservative. During and after WWII it seemed like everything came packed in cosmoline, or wrapped in cloth or paper soaked in cosmoline. The stuff has a very destinctive odor.

Smell is one of the most memory jogging senses. If you've ever smelled cosmoline you'll never forget it's aroma. I used to live on the docks of Valdeze, AK shortly after WWII, as a kid, and most fo the stuff was packed in that stuff. I swear when you'd open a pack of SPAM the stuff was packed in cosmoline.

Go down to your local Army Surplus store that has WWII and Korean War items and walk in the door... and you'll then know what gives the store the odor it has.

Removal of cosmoline is not easy. You can scrub, wash and rinse till you're blue in the face and it's faint odorific memory will still be on the item...

But.. hey, it works!