Ed Wilson is the current owner of a 1949 Willys Jeep Station Wagon named Bruce to honor its last owner.
Ed was aware of the Jeep wagon because Bruce was a friend of the family and wanted his Jeep to go to a good home before he was gone.
Jim Sutherland
However, Bruce’s idea of a good home included a knowledge test to show the next owner was a worthy future owner of Bruce’s Jeep station wagon, so he set up a table with a few items and had Ed identify them before he purchased the vehicle.
Ed passed the test and became the owner of an unusual Jeep model from an era when Willys was in the early stages of building civilian Jeeps, including their station wagon versions.
Ed wanted to pass the test because he is a huge fan of vintage Jeeps and built enough skills to tackle any Jeep project that came his way, so he was clearly the right guy for Bruce’s 1949 Jeep station wagon.
Ed has owned the unusual station wagon for the past 10 years and took it to another level when he became its owner.
He retained the Jeep’s Go-Devil flathead four-cylinder and noted the engine was the same as the ones found in conventional Jeep models at the time. Ed also kept the Jeep’s original 3-on-the-floor manual transmission and compensated for the low gears by putting 16-inch wheels on it so he could drop the RPMs at higher speeds. The result was successful because the modestly powered Jeep wagon can hit a steady 50 mph (80 km/h) on faster roads.
As mentioned, the previous owner (Bruce) took the Jeep station wagon a lot closer to the project finish line, but Ed took it over the finish line when he became its owner. A good example was the Jeep’s wiring because every wire was white, so it would have been very confusing to trace an electrical issue with one color.
Ed changed out the wires to their correct color and put in the correct fuse block for the Jeep. The station wagon already had an add-on turn signal system that works well and required no upgrades, according to him.
Another upgrade was electric wipers instead of vacuum wipers to give the ’49 Jeep wagon better efficiency in rainy road conditions.
The ’49 Jeep station wagon had interesting front and rear folding seats that allowed different configurations for hauling stuff instead of people when the situation warranted it.
A unique feature was the Jeep station wagon’s rear tailgate because its taillights and licence plate holder folded down when the tailgate was opened for larger loads.
It was clear Ed wanted to honor the Jeep’s legacy with its former owner and maintain its originality-with a few improvements. He achieved his goal, in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar, and now owns one of the finest examples of a 1949 Willys Jeep Station Wagon we have ever seen at a show.
We believe Bruce sold the Jeep to exactly the right car guy.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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