From: none@none.com99   
      
   On 11/11/2024 8:51 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:   
   > "Clare Snyder"  wrote in message   
   > news:d5j5jjh9l75v95jofkrde2b2r8o7lr2bfr@4ax.com...   
   >   
   > toobad that willys is so far away!!   
   >>   
   >> --   
   >> Bob La Londe   
   >> CNC Molds N Stuff   
   > --------------------------------------   
   > The M151 Jeeps we had in Germany were not good on the roads there. They   
   > couldn't keep up on the Autobahn and the winding back roads that BMWs   
   > were built for tempted drivers to exceed their cornering limits. My VW   
   > could easily handle the unpaved forest fire trails where we set up field   
   > exercise sites.   
   >   
      
   When my dad first got that old Willys ready to go for a first off road   
   adventure we headed off across the sand dunes.  I thought it was going   
   just fine, but he said he didn't feel like it was performing properly.   
   When we got back to the store and pulled around to the back to the shop   
   he hopped out to take a look.  Then he realized he hadn't engaged the   
   hubs.  LOL.   
      
   Probably, its biggest real world use for us was tracking people lost in   
   the desert.  Now I can track (to a limited extent) looking at the window   
   of my truck, but I've always been better able to track on the ground.   
   Back then I hadn't really learned to track.  Not well anyway.  We'd put   
   that old GPV in first gear and hop out.  As long as the terrain wasn't   
   extremely off camber or a crazy grade it would easily keep going in the   
   direction it was last pointed.  We could spread out, cut sign, walk back   
   to the Jeep for lunch or a drink of water, or to change course as   
   needed.  Seems like a little thing but it made a several hour to all day   
   rescue tolerable.   
      
   The short wheel base and front and rear end clearance was fantastic for   
   crossing all but the worst washouts, and it would climb some pretty   
   incredible grades just idling along with somebody at the wheel.  Sand   
   was not even an issue.   
      
   High speed cornering?  Um-no.  Lots of high clearance vehicles struggle   
   with that.  Even some you might not think.  Flat out on the Autobahn?   
   You are kidding right?  How much do you expect out of a flat head four?   
   Were you guys raiding the clinic and feeding it nitrous?  Even then...   
   Um-no.  LOL   
      
   FYI:  That old '42 had a top speed in the high 50s.  Maybe low 60s (but   
   I doubt it), but its got a torque ratio at idle that's insane.  Its a   
   utility vehicle.  By today's standards just a basic 4x4 side by side   
   with a bed to haul some stuff.   
      
   P.S.  I should say I can track in the desert.  Not so much in the woods.   
     It depends.   
      
      
      
   --   
   Bob La Londe   
   CNC Molds N Stuff   
      
   --   
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