IT ALL BEGAN when I was a kid in Barcelona, Spain.  Right after WWII my father use to take me to the movies.  The movies were mostly about the war, and they show the jeeps in action.  I began dreaming of having a jeep some day.  Then one day in 1948 when I was 10 years old, my mother sent me to get wine for dinner.  In front of the winery, sat a CJ2A parked by the sidewalk.  I when across the street to see it close.  It had no top and the windshield was folded over the hood.  It was green, a beautiful sight to my eyes and I fell in love with it.  I never saw another jeep in Barcelona.  It must have been the only one.  Back then new American cars were very rare in Spain.
 
In 1951 my father got an offer for a very good job working in Colombia, South America.  We left Spain and traveled to Medellin, Colombia.  A few days after arriving there, I could see many jeeps in the streets.  They were being used for the land owners to go to their coffee plantations.  I kept dreaming of owning one when I grew up.  My first car was a 1935 Ford jalopy and I learned auto mechanics on it because I had no money to pay for a real mechanic.  When I graduated from High School in 1957, my father asked me what I wanted as a present for having graduated and I immediately answered, "I want a Willys Jeep!"  By then, the flat fenders had been replaced by the CJ5s so my father and I began searching for a good used flat fender.  I didn't wan a CJ3B.  My best friend at school had already gotten a CJ2A, but we couldn't find one in like new condition until my father saw one, a CJ3A in metallic green, that belonged to a lady who was willing to sell it.  He bought it for me, and I fulfilled the dream of my life: owning a real jeep.  The black and white photos on this page are of me and my Jeep in 1958.
 
During all those years, my other passion was airplanes and aviation.  I went to the university to study mechanical engineering, but what I really wanted was to have a career in aviation; so my father decided to send me to college to Los Angeles.  I began attending Glendale College in 1960 and graduated in 1962.  At the same time I earned the FAA Airframe and Powerplant License.  When I left Colombia, the jeep went to my sister who used it and loved it.  During the summer vacation of 1961, I went to Colombia and drove the jeep again.  (That photo was taken by the publicity department of the jeep dealer and used as advertisement on their magazine).
 
After graduating and taking some more courses in aviation maintenance, I got married with the girl that I met in Glendale and moved to Miami, Florida, where we stayed until 1969.  During that time my sister kept the jeep, and later on she sold it to a relative of her husband in 1968.  I always kept thinking about my jeep. Miami was a medium size city back then, and I could never see any jeep in the streets. I kept looking for one but nobody had any interest in jeeps down here.
 
My wife is from Nicaragua and her widowed mother used to own two coffee plantations in that country.  We visited her once or twice a year and I was very happy to go there.  She owned a Willys 1953 Utility Wagon which later on, in 1964, she replaced with a brand new red Willys Pickup truck.  The wagon had an L-134 engine and the  pickup came with the F-134 engine.  She also had a red CJ3B.  Every time we were there she gave us the pickup truck to use, andI also used to drive the CJ3B to go to the plantations and help her with some of the work; especially during the coffee collection season around the end of every year.
 
While living in Miami and working at the International Airport, I was offered a job in El Salvador, Central America.  We decided to take it, which would keep us closer to my mother-in-law and I could work in a very good job there.  We moved to El Salvador in July 1969.  While working at the airport I participated in helping the Salvadorian Air Force during the short war with Honduras.  Later on I became the technical advisor for the Salvadorian Air Force.  In performing my duties at the air force, in 1970, I found a CJ3A.  This jeep had been taken apart completely and all the parts and the frame and body were sitting in the back of a shed.  I learned that they were going to sell it by the pound, as scrap iron, to be melted to make iron rods for construction.  I negotiated and got it for US$40.00.  I rented a truck, and with some help threw all the parts and the frame and body into the truck and hauled them home.  My wife was very upset, because I put everything inside the car port, next to the living room.  After a while she accepted the situation and I began the restoration.  It took me two years in my spare time and a lot of trips to the local junk yards, until I had the jeep completely restored.  I made a duplicate of the one that I had in Colombia; same metallic green color.  Later on I started my own business in El Salvador selling parts for Honda cars and motorcycles, I also had a repair shop.  I used the jeep daily and hauled merchandise and all kinds of things with a trailer that I built from bed of a Willys truck.  It was my pride and joy.  I had many offers to buy it from persons that saw it and wanted it, but I never wanted to sell it.  One of the persons interested was the U.S. Embassy military attaché.  He wanted it because he had driven an M38 during the Korean War.
 
Eleven years after finding this jeep, in 1981, the political situation was very bad and there were terrorist attacks from the communist guerrillas every day.  My family and I were threatened by these terrorist events.  We decided to come back to Miami, good old U.S.A., and sold whatever we could.  We left behind the business and the house, both of which were lost.  We sold all the vehicles except for the jeep, a 1954 Studebaker, a 1955 Chevy and the 1965 Mustang that I still own since new (I bought it in Miami on Christmas 1964).  I decided to make the trip back by land in our 1965 Mustang and left the the jeep and the other two cars behind, until such time when I could ship them by boat to Miami.
 
The '55 Chevy was stolen in mysterious circumstances and I never saw it again.  The jeep and the Studebaker remained in the care of my ex-chauffeur.  He kept them outside his little humble home in one of the hills outside San Salvador.   Years went by and I never was able to get these vehicles back, until last year when I finally decided to spend the money and bring the jeep to Miami.  Between me and my ex-chauffeur, we managed to fulfill all the requirements to get the jeep out of the country of El Salvador.  It took a lot of red tape and pay-offs, until finally all the documents were all in order.  The jeep was loaded on a truck and driven across the border with Guatemala to the port of Sto. Tomas de Castilla, in the Guatemalan coast.  There it was put on a boat and shipped to the Port of Miami, its final destination.  Once in the Port of Miami, there was no problem and we got the jeep released from Customs very quickly.  Customs inspectors' only question was "Why are you bring in this old piece of junk here?"  I had to tell them my story and sentimental reasons, they laughed and told to get it out.  All the cars in the Port of Miami are new cars and SUV's that are being exported to other countries, they considered my jeep and "eyesore" between all the new cars.
 
At the port I got help from one of the employees, and after "jumping" the battery I got the jeep started.  I began to drive it back to my warehouse, where I have a little shop to work and do restorations.  I drove up to the expressway and to keep up with the traffic I was going 55 to 60 MPH, the engine was going at its max RPM.  About two-thirds of the way, one rod broke off and I had to stop and call the tow truck.  The jeep was crippled now, but finally I got it inside my warehouse.
 
About a week later, I went to look at it closely.  It was in very bad condition, rust all over the floor panels, inside the tool box, and the wiring deteriorated, engine shot.  I decided to do a complete frame off restoration and I started disassembling it.  The transmission and transfer case had oil mixed with water inside, all gears were pitted.  The frame needed good cleaning and every little nut and bolt needed to be replaced.
 
It has been now about a year since I started the restoration.  I cleaned the frame myself with wire brushes and rotary tools until it was clean.  The frame had no rust, as it was always painted with good black anti-corrosion enamel.  The body is rusted, but could be repaired by welding replacement panels.  But I decided to get a new body kit.  So far I have completed the overhaul of the engine, both axles, steering and suspension.  I got a used engine from a guy in Orlando and overhauled it completely.  I decided to do a little improvement by replacing the generator with a 12V Ford alternator.  I fabricated the support bracket.  The oil filter has been changed to a modern oil filter system, I also designed and fabricated the support bracket and the new metal oil lines.
 
Back in 1975, I modified this jeep by installing an overdrive from a 1954 Studebaker using an adapter and kit from Rancho Jeep Supply, no longer available.  The overdrive unit was also shot and I got one from a guy that sells used Studebaker parts in South Bend, Indiana.  I overhauled the overdrive and it is now installed.
 
This week I will be finished with the restoration of the components of the drive train and frame.  Next I will get the new body kit to install it and fit it to the frame.  I will paint it metallic green and will get a new top, a copy of the original one, made up here in Miami.  I have all the original top bows, rods and doors, and I found a guy from Nicaragua who works in a local upholstery shop.  He used to work for the Willys dealer in Nicaragua, making replacement canvas tops back in the late '50s and '60s.  He will make the top exactly like it was originally.
 
Throughout this restoration I have got most of the parts from Krage Motorsports.  They have provided me with all the necessary parts and advice when I needed it, and the prices are the best that I could find.  I have also got some NOS parts from Border Parts and Carl Walck.  Lately I have been getting some parts also from Ebay and I am also selling parts on Ebay.
 
For a complete photo gallery of this restoration up to this moment go to http://willyscj3a1950.mypicgallery.com