Driving a 1945 WW2 Jeep Through 2024 LA Traffic! 

Awesome vid, Tommy and Kase! Fun and informative. Can’t wait to see the old boy at the ranch.

"I don't know what the safety rating is" Well, the only way it got four stars was if Ike or Patton was in the passenger seat.

Love this! My grandfather is in the History Channel’s documentary on the Jeep, driving one in the Pacific island’s shirtless. When we asked him what was wrong with the passengers, he said they were hungover officers returning from the nurses’ tent. On a more serious note, he earned several bronze stars, and represented the state of Ohio at the dedication of the WWII memorial in Washington, DC.

so i was active duty Marines just before we switched to the humvee .... i was stationed at camp pendletion (north county san diego) my gunny told me to get my "war gear" and check out a weapon and a jeep at the motor pool and go to miramar ( where top gun used to be at )...just as i was walking out my gunny's office, he said "oh yeah, you might want to take you cold weather gear too"... that suggestion was kinda odd cause it was spring time in san diego ... well, got to top gun and reported in as ordered and sat down in the ready room as ordered... next thing i know, they loaded my jeep on a c130 plane and ordered me to get on the plane as well.... well, i was on that plane for the next 3 days ( i think ) and flew to north carolina, then to washington state, then to alaska, then to japan, and finally was ordered off the plane in korea ... anyway, that jeep took me half way across the world but the 30 mile drive down interstate 5 wasn't that bad...

I'll see 30 and 40 year old Jeeps driving around every day but 80 years old is really something to behold

That small leather "chin strap" actually goes over the front bill of the helmet. It's a strap to keep the inner liner attached to the outer shell of the helmet The old History Channel beat you in the "odd vehicles through drive thrus" category. They took a Sherman tank through a McD's in the 90s

Grandpa said those Jeeps would advance at like 35-40 and retreat at 50. Not having seat belts makes me wonder how men stayed in the lil machine but by adrenaline alone. Grandpa passed when I was a little kid in the early 90s. He joined army at age 20 when Japan hit Pearl Harbor 7 December '41. I was born in mid 80s and miss hearing old ppl talk when i was a lil kid in early 90s. Power coming to rural America, roads becoming paved, depression ending, men coming home from war, the jobs. Thanks for reminding me of my grandparents

My 48 CJ-2A Willys is my everyday driver unless I'm going on a highway. No radio, no distractions. so nice to unwind, especially after a long day at work.

The fact that the Philippine's most iconic public transportation vehicle was inspired by the Willy's MB is amazing!!

them wondering if an In-N-Out on Orange County has a drive thru was a hell of a "you aint from around here are ya?" moment.

If Jeep wants to sell a cheap 4x4, they should look to this. A 4 cylinder Wrangler with locking differential as small as the Jimny. Call it the Jeep Wrangler Bantam edition and reveal it in PA.

There's a factory in the Philippines that still makes these by hand. They're amazing machines.

I was stationed in South Korea in the late 80s as an MP. We still used the WwII early Korean War M38 style jeeps. We had humvees but there were a lot of streets and roads to narrow for humvees. I broke my foot and was temporarily assigned as company clerk and mail clerk so I had my assigned jeep. It was a relic with og bullet holes. It was sent to Soul and rehabbed. In 4 weeks it came back with a new paint job, transmission was as tight as a new on, roll cage with soft top.and side nets. It was really sharp. Unfortunately my ex wife got all my pictures .

Thing about this vehicle is that slow honda, or slow mazda, will get pissed off people.. but slow ford model T, a Ford Model A, or these old Jeeps are loved, and people will go around, or will slow down to protect it.. It's kinda amazing.

I grew up going to my grandpas house. He had a Willys WW2 jeep just like this and would let me drive it around and work on his property. Such fond memories. I sure wish I had one today.

Drove a 1943 GPW to school and work in 1966. My brother did the same a couple years later. Drove it everywhere in LA and Orange counties. We traversed four wheel drive trails in the Sierras with on our fishing vacations and my dad used it in hunting season. We drove to Fresno and into the Sierras, my mom drove the whole way while my dad pulled a travel trailer behind our Mercury Montclair. Great adventures in that machine for all of us.

I have been a crazy fan of Jeeps my whole life and never have owned one before, but okay, the headlights turn around to help you work on the engine..... GENIUS! 😮

Fun fact, the older mail trucks were designed around the chassis from the cj of that time… it was also built for long life and many of em have 1m+ miles and still trucking with no engine swaps

In 1958 the U.S. military began taking delivery of the M151, the “jeep” that supposedly addressed some issues the military had with the original Willys, like fully independent suspension. It served through Vietnam and up until the mid 1980’s when the Humvee took over. It looks similar but is quite different. They actually made more M151’s than Willy’s’ or any other 1/4 ton, but they are rarely seen today. It would be great if you could find an M151 to compare with the Willys.

Watching this brought back memories of my dad, James Henry Ross Sr. He was a WWII veteran who served in the 605 AAA. He used to tell some interesting stories of when he was assigned to the motor pool. He was certified to drive anything which had wheels for steering.. He wasn't certified to drive a fully tracked vehicle like a tank, but he could drive a half track. A lot of his stories were about the Jeep. He was stationed in Boston before being sent overseas, and they had one particular jeep that he despised. He loved the Jeep in general, but one had a hole in the midle of the drivvers seat. It was winter, and if it rained during the day the water would soak into the seat and that night it would freeze into a solid block of ice! He would drive anything in the motor pool that was available but that one jeep. He only drove that one when there was absolutely nothing else available! Another incident involved a General or some hign ranking officer who asked to be driven to a place downt5own. There was a circle around a large fountain in the middle of the square. As he started around the fountain he hit a patch of ice and the jeep skidded sideways,, then hiit a patch of clear pavement. This caused it to shoot straight across the sidewalk and toward the fountain.. He got stopped just before landing in the water and sending him and the officer swimming! This was in the jeep with the ice cube seat! Haha!

The jeeps that the Americans left in the Philippines after the war were modified into a longer civilian vehicle. Which eventually became the famous “Jeepney” that’s still in use today as public transport.

This Jeep is gotta be nice to drive on some offroad long trails

Yay!..Cool. I'm old, but never served in the military. I'm 70 presently. When I was attending college in 1971, in rural Southern Ohio,....my college buddy, bought some land down there. People were building Geodesic Dome homes, learning how to build log cabins,....there was a whole "back to nature" movement. Fellow classmates were creating Communes,....co-operative living situations. There were opportunities to buy used WW2 Jeeps, from the local communities who were using them as their municipal services vehicles. They'd run vehicle auctions, and Jeeps and other Army surplus vehicles, were sold for under $50.00 each. My friend could fix any vehicle, and he was fascinated by these old Jeeps. He bought 4 different vehicles for use on his land, all for less than $500.00, in total, at an auction. He had two that were the "split" front window versions, one that was newer and was like a short bed pickup, and a military troop carrier,....a "Lorry" of sorts, that had it's chassis shortened. One or more of Jeeps, had a PTO, ( a power take-off) connector to the transmission. This device allowed him to tap into the transmission, to power auxiliary equipment. He utilized the PTO to run a semi-portable sawmill, built in the 1940s. He ran other equipment, by backing his Jeep's rear tires, into the machines, that could be both run off leather belts, and by direct friction with the rear tires. He'd drive me around in his old Jeeps, up hilly inclines, so steep, I felt the whole Jeep could tumble over backwards. They were rugged machines and could take loads of abuse.

Keep the classics channel alive. Great video

Growing up as a kid I remember my mum would sit on this particular old looking cushion. In my teens I asked her what was so special about this cushion. (At this point she had “wrapped” it up and put away safely.) She was 18 years old and a front line nurse during WW2 and was posted not far from Naples Italy. While travelling to another location they came upon this jeep with a soldier slumped over the steering wheel. They went to assist,but the poor chap was dead. He had been shot by a sniper.( his part of the wind screen had been shattered ) She took the cushion that was lying in the back of the jeep while others took what ever they thought they could use. She felt sadness for the young GI as he would have been around the same age as she was. I asked why she took it and she simply said to “remember him.” No more questions were answered. As time rolled on the cushion simply deteriorated. It must have been used for officers as it was stuffed with cotton.

Great video! My grandpa drove and wore out many jeeps while he was in France during WW2. He had to drive with the windshield folded down and covered to cut down on glare from the glass. The Germans knew this and would set up piano wire across the roads to decapitate the jeep drivers. My grandpa's jeep and some others had a hooked, blade welded to the front bumper to cut the wire. He said he actually heard a couple pings from the blade cutting the wire, which saved his life. Between the Ford and Willys jeeps he drove, he said the Willys jeeps were better.

My mom met my dad in 1944 in San Diego California. He was a Navy MP and was assigned one. In 1959 she bought a new red Jerp CJ 5. First gear was consrant mesh like this one. Second & 3rd had synchos. It had the junk F head 4 banger. It puked at 29.000 miles lol. Cool video boys ❤❤❤

Really enjoy these videos of Tommy and Kase driving old vehicles. The future of TFL is in good hands 🙌🏼

My dad drives one of these in traffic regularly, and I'm not sure if I'm more scared of the vehicle itself or how comfortable he is behind the wheel doing 30 in a 55

One great thing about old jeeps is that you are exceedingly unlikely to ever get a speeding ticket.

Hats off to these brave young men, risking it all without crumple zones to show us vehicles of yesteryear

The sound of those squeaky pedals bring back some real memories.

My Grandfather had quite a few WW2 surplus vehicles on his Ranch, a Jeep with doors and a hard top, a "meat wagon" (ambulance), 2 1/2 ton truck and a Cat. Didn't realize at the time as a kid I was in a living auto museum lol

I'm just amazed that no cops pulled you over to question you if that vehicle was approved for city driving!

I think that may be THE greatest purchase that TFL has ever made. I'm really looking forward to future episodes with this jeep.

I came off the 'production' line in '45 in Australia, the US left quite a few of these after the war, but unfortunately dumping some vehicles in the sea, I remembering driving one, a US Studebaker 4WD truck when I was drafted in '65, we had a compound full of them at our base, memories.... love these road type movies of yours!!

That Jeep is so cool. What a gem.

I had a '70 Postal jeep that turned into my daily driver for about a year after my '80 Malibu gave up on life. Right hand drive on the highway for 30 miles up and back.Just barely making a gut rattling 50mph. Seeing the guardrail right outside the sliding door at that speed was some kinda frightening. In a good way Lol. Awesome video. Great to see Hawkeye and B.J. having so much fun.

I lived near Little Siagon and some of the old South Vietnam vets have restored these older jeeps and take them out in the neighborhood on weekends. Some people get upset because they drive a bit slow but they always get a thumbs up from your truly. Love seeing them take such good care of such a historically significant vehicle.

The new car show with younger J Leno and Tom Cruise look-alike! These videos are amazing!

As someone who has helped rebuild these MBs and GPWs for years, i found this video enjoyable, and your commentary was excellent and well researched! Isnt it a total blast to drive?! The most fun you can have with your pants on!! Subscribed and i sincerely hope we see more videos with this wonderful vehicle!!

The Willys pronunciation reminded me of the M1 Garand. John Garand placed the stress on the first syllable (GAH-rand), but the rest of the world and history will always stressed the second syllable (gah-RAND).

Great video guys. One thing you need to show is what Dylan touched on. what made the jeep such an integral art of the war effort was it's interchangeability out in the field. You can literally strip it down to it's main components, replace whatever you need to replace and put it all back together with the most basic of tools. You can go on to youtube and see people do this with "prepared" jeeps, but it would be fun to see you guys do it with a "normal" jeep. I've seen some of the seeps (amphibious jeeps) mentioned and there was a famous one called Half-Safe which was modified and sailed around the world.

Love the fact that this 80 year old car is still considering not that old for these 2 considering what else theyve driven

Going down the 5 in an army jeep, hilarious! That was the funniest clip you have ever made.

For the helmet, WWII practice/style says you should wear the liner strap (the leather one) up around the brim of the helmet. The shell chin strap (the outer one) is technically a later style, but traditionally would be left loose or, if you had the correct straps, would be wrapped around the back of the helmet. It was believed by a lot of troops that the helmet could catch explosions/shockwaves, and wearing the strap would injure your neck or just rip your head off.

I love how you show both the driving of the jeep, and include the iconic history of the vehicle. I learned several new things about this jeep, and I really appreciate that. Thank you!

Best Tommy and Kase video yet.

I want to see this Jeep vs a Mahindra Roxor on the off-road course.

In 1972, my first vehicle was a 1946 CJ-2a. I can still remember driving it like yesterday. Watching your gear shifting, searching, brought back some nostalgic memories. My current vehicle is a 2021 Rubicon 2 door. Thanks for sharing this video!

Awesome and outstanding as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along.

Half the looks you got were probably "wait, that guy's too young to be Jay Leno".

So awesome that you drove around Santa Ana in OC in the Jeep! I would have loved to have zipped up the freeway to see it live

I miss my family's Willy's. Came off the line in May, 1945. We called it "Teapot" because of the sound it made. It only drove maybe 35mph-40mph, but it could probably have gone up a telephone pole if we'd have let it. Fun little vehicle.

That horn fills me with happy feelings and smiles

I have a 65 CJ5, somewhat similar to what you drove in the video. I tried a freeway drive from Albuqueruqe to Santa Fe and back. Once. Scary as hell and my CJ has an overdrive in it. So, it can go 50 on level ground or downhill, but the little 4 cyl is screaming revs at that speed even with the OD! I won't be trying that again. It's *great* off road. Great video.

Pretty neat. About to install my freshly rebuilt l134 into my 1944MB. 😬

What makes you guys get so much more admiration is the helmet !!!

The explanation of "Jeep" that I've heard is G - Government contract P - 80" wheel base (Ford factory code) W - Willy's design

Y'all did a fantastic job! Thank you for the collab, keeping her in the RU-vid family and saving history! This is a fantastic video!

I had a smile on my face throughout the whole video👍🏼

Thanks, guys! One of the very few delightful experiences I had during my year in Vietnam (1969‐1970) was driving our Company "Jeep." It was actually built by Ford Motor Company in ~1967 for the U.S. Military. Each trip had a special purpose: Mascot to Veterinarian, PAY DAY picking up MPC, etc.

Hi tommy about the helmet. That is a US army M1 helmet Used during World War Two made in the early 1940's also used many years after the war. The second chinstrap (the brown one) is a parade strap its the chinstrap used during training to not carry around the heavy shell, During wars/at base most soldiers took the parade strap and put it over the front of the M1. the M1 helmet is made in 2 layers, The enterior liner (the helmet part with the parade chin strap) and the shell the one with the real chin strap, Great video as always tho.

Frankly you're making me want to buy really old used cars. These look like so much fun

This is gonna be fun during a hailstorm

*I was 7 year old riding in this Jeep in Viet Nam and now I’m 73. Thank you for the memory.*

Something I love about California, you're just working at the In-N-Out Drive Thru one day, and a 1945 Jeep with an army dude time traveled out of WWII and has showed up to order a burger. It's just a delightfully strange place.

Kase, "I wish there was more traffic" says no one ever lol

Would love to see you guys do a test drive comparison between the Jeep and the 1915 Model T.

When I first came to the US as an exchange student I was thrilled to find a Willy's Jeep from 1942 in my host family's barn. They rarely used it but I remember we took it out to collect a deer a friend of the family had shot somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We just strapped it across the hood and drove through the woods and hills like they were roads. Such a great vehicle. And my "dad" drove it to school (he was a teacher) when there was too much snow on the road to go in the everyday cars. It looks so cuddly, so cute. The closest feeling I get is when I look at an old VW bug.

Like the way that JL stayed behind you trying to protect you from being rear ended. Until you went in the fast lane. Then even he said your on your own lol. This Willys is awesome. Cant wait to see trail videos. Remember back in the days this was made there was not many off road vehicles made so this was a beast off road for it’s day. I pronounce Willys by mixing the 2 versions.

It’s good to see that Jeep kept the tradition of being under powered.

Thank you for this video!. Both of my parents severed in WW2 I had a 1963 cj5 and alot they talked about reminded me of my old jeep.

I’m not a jeep guy, but I am a Pittsburgh history nerd and I feel the need to inform all history and Jeep lovers, that to this day there’s a thing called “Jeep Fest” that goes on every summer in Butler PA.

Another reason for the folding windshield is that the flat glass reflects sunlight like a mirror and could give away your position. Anyone who has driven even a modern Jeep has probably noticed their windshield reflecting on stop signs.

"we have our jerry can in the back. so if were rear ended we'll explode" too clever. and right onto a busy highway in a vehicle that tops at 40.

Awesome video!!!! Tommy and Kase are a great duo when testing the vehicles. Especially love how enthusiastic Tommy gets. Really hope you guys get a brand new two door and compare them to each other.

If you drove at peak rush hour there'd be nothing to be afraid of. The 101 Freeway virtually becomes parking lot. You can get in leg day buy dragging the jeep 10 feet every 30 minutes. And answer questions from other commuters in between.

Drive it back to Boulder. You can name the series; "Meanwhile, 3 weeks later. "

One of my favorite episodes. Thanks Tommy 🙂👍

You two are the future of TFL! Keep content like this coming!

Can not agree more... TFL... this was a great episode. And as a classic Jeep lover and owner myself. I can't see a day where I'd ever sell my classic Jeep. They are iconic for a reason.

I learned some new things! Wonderful episode! Thank you!

The gear shift is correct. The normal 3 speed H pattern is reverse is upper left, first is lower left, second is upper right, and third is lower right. Every 3-speed floor shift I have driven in my 50 years behind the wheel has been this way. If you want a real treat, try your hand at driving a Model T. Thanks for the drive, it's been fun.

Best WW2 jeep RU-vid vid for a long, long time. So many of your remarks were bang on. I now live on Normandy, France. Yesterday I drove my 1944 Willys MB (Will - iss not Will - eze) for over an hour for a film shoot near Pont l'Evèque and it's difficult to avoid the fast ring-road around Caen if you don't want to stay all day in the countryside. Fine on a lazy Sunday morning doing 40/45 mph when others are doing 60/70 or so but the return trip - in the rain with hand operated wipers in full traffic, trucks and all - was not a nice experience. I'm comfortable at around 42 max. These are such great cars to drive around 30 ish around town or country roads. I decided last night to never get on a fast road again. A couple of thumbs up from other users doesn't make up for idiots who still tail gate you expecting you to accelerate up a hill on the motorway. You were brave guys on that highway !

In 1974 after high school graduation my brother drove his battered 1943 Willys Overland Jeep from Ohio to Denver. As he climbed a tall incline in Colorado a green VW Beetle drove beside him. It was his high school English teacher and her husband. They stopped and had dinner together. When my brother pulled into the driveway after his trip he had one silver dollar to his name left over. He still has it. He sold the jeep and bought a 1953 oval window Beetle for $100.

My mother learned to drive with a jeep-in downtown Saigon in 1950. Dodging grenades and snipers was a bigger challenge than anything in LA!

The two of you make great videos together! Some the best TFL offers!

So good to see TFL preserving this wonderful piece of history and taking us along for the ride! Thank you! BTW the closest thing to this is probably a first-generation Mahindra Roxor..

Looking forward to watching this series. I had one of these back in '76

Excellent Episode - Love the Co-Narration - You guys make a great team.

Very cool guys! Thanks for sharing!

Rode in the back of one of these (a Willys in Australia) in the 90's in traffic on xmas day , we did 50mph!

All the reenactors drawn in by this video are cringing on the helmet. But it's in the spirit of a great machine. Also as an arguably old man of 41. It warms my heart to hear you guys appreciate our history. You guys prove most young people aren't part of the stereotype.

This video was a riot to watch. My Grandparents have a 1948 Willys CJ2A. That was the vehicle I used to learn how to drive when I was 13, first gear was unsynchronized. The poor thing could do 52 mph, around 80 kmh for us Canadians meaning it could never touch a major highway like the 400 series. And if we tried to do more than 52 it would scream for dear life. We still have it but it hasn’t moved in a few years, I’m tryna convince my grandparents to let me fix it so we can drive it again. Due to the state of disrepair it’s in the last cruise we took with it was scary from all the crunching and leaking fluids.

Beautiful Jeep Tommy, gives me goose bumps!

My experience driving the jeep overseas in winter left me hating jeeps for many of the reasons you demonstrated. However after seeing how well the newer ones did off road many years later I’ve owned several and the one I have now I’ll never sell (JK with mods of course). Thanks for the video and resurrecting some (painful) memories 😎

Outstanding video! Well done.

It's my dream to own one of these. Ever since I saw one in a game, I fell in love with it and have been slowly learning stuff about it and recently I actually got to see one up close in a museum.

Great video! Reminds me of the 1943 GPW I had for many years, but long since sold.