Callander resident Kevin Martin stands proudly beside his restored Jeep Sunday. Photos by Jeff Turl. See a picture gallery at the end of this story.
A 1952 Willys M38 Jeep drew plenty of praise at the Summer in the Park car show this weekend.
A restoration project by Kevin and Sharon Martin, it took four years and lots of patience over a four year period.
"I wanted to do something that means something," Martin told BayToday about his choice of project. "There's a lot of history here."
It paid off!
Reaction to his Jeep has been "unbelievable" he says.
"People say they've only seen one on the MASH TV show."
He credits his wife Sharon for doing a lot of the bodywork and painting. He stuck to the mechanical side.
"Four years of work and lots of looking for parts. We wanted to do it right."
Many of the parts had to be sourced from the Philippines.
Martin says the Jeep was riddled with bullet holes from the Korean war when he bought it, and he fixed them all---all except one.
He left one hole near the front headlight for authenticity.
The Martins bought the Jeep in London Ontario where it had been used as a tractor on a farm, before being converted for use as a hunting vehicle.
It features a removable canvas top and the windshield folds flat on the hood to allow forward firing of guns.
The electrical system is 24 volt which requires two 12 volt batteries connected in series, and is waterproof.
Approximately 2,300 were manufactured by Ford of Canada for the armed forces in 1952.
Martin may be finished with the Jeep, but not restoration.
" My son Steven just bought a 1953 Dodge Power-Wagon I'll be helping with." he smiled.
