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The rugged Willys Jeep has been given a new lease on life by a small
factory in Metro Manila reproducing the iconic World War II vehicle
for a growing international market nostalgic for the past.
The company, MD Juan, exports about 95 percent
of its output to collectors mainly in the United States and Europe
who still treasure the veteran vehicle said to have been the
backbone of the US Army during World War II.
Plant Manager Roberto Cruz said American
collectors want their jeeps as authentic as possible—complete with
imperfections and outdated materials, such as wood and rubber
instead of more durable plastic.
“The purists, they want it correct to the
smallest detail,” he told Agence France-Presse.
“If you make the body too nice, they don’t
like it. They ask, ‘where is the spot weld part here?’” he
said.
MD Juan moves around 1,500 units a year, most of
them on order but the engines are usually left to the buyer.
European and American collectors also prefer to
have carefully restored original jeep engines installed in their
vehicles, said Cruz, adding however that his company cannot motor
restoration.
The few Filipino collectors are content just to
install a modern Toyota or Isuzu engine in their vehicles to produce
a jeep that only looks authentic from the outside, he added.
“They would laugh at such jeeps in the US,”
he said. “We don’t sell running units. If we did, whatever
profit we make would be eaten up by warranty claims.”
He declined to say how much he sells them for
but said a fully restored jeep sold recently on the eBay Internet
auction site for $30,000.
Romance with the jeep
“Most of the buyers are veterans who have a
romance with the jeep,” he said.
But there are also younger collectors who are
entranced with the wartime history of the vehicle. “Everywhere
America fought” there are people who remember the jeep, Cruz said.
“It was the original 4X4 vehicle, the original
all-terrain vehicle.”
The US produced more than 600,000 jeeps during
World War II and it played a crucial role in both the Pacific and
European theatres ranging from simple people mover to weapons
carrier.
The squat, box-like vehicle garnered a huge
following for its rugged durability, low cost and widespread
availability.
Allied commander and later US President Dwight
Eisenhower said the jeep was crucial to the Allied victory in World
War II.
Nor is it surprising that a Philippine company
should specialize in replicas of these jeeps as they played a
crucial role in land transport in this country.
After World War II, as a newly independent
Philippines was recovering from wartime devastation, US surplus
jeeps were often the only form of automotive transport available to
many Filipinos.
Enterprising Filipinos extended the bodies of
the jeeps, added seats, a fixed roof and gaudy decorations to
produce the jeepney, a mini-bus that is still a cornerstone of
commuter transport here, as well as a symbol of the Philippines
itself.
Business evolves
Maximiano D. Juan, the founder of MD Juan,
started his company in 1966 importing jeep parts for the jeepneys.
As the supply of surplus parts dried up and more jeepneys switched
to using imported Japanese auto engines, he had to find a new niche.
Company Vice President Raphael Juan, grandson of
the founder, said the same people who once supplied his grandfather
with surplus jeep parts asked if he could provide reproduction parts
for their vintage jeeps.
This led the company to set up a stamping
factory that eventually grew to making various parts for those
wanting to restore their old jeeps.
Raphael Juan said about 80 percent of its jeeps
are exported to the United States with 20 percent going to other
countries. France and the Netherlands are two other big buyers where
local enthusiasts want vehicles that look just like World War II
originals.
Although nostalgic World War II veterans may be
passing away, the market for the jeeps does not seem to be getting
any smaller.
“Recently, when we went to a jeep convention
in Lodi, California, we noticed there were new enthusiasts in the
market who are younger,” Juan said.
The company has also gone into jeep-oriented
ventures, making small jeep bodies in which the hobbyist can install
a lawnmower or golf cart engine to produce a jeep a child can drive.
MD Juan has also been contracted by Greenpeace
to build the bodies for a fleet of electric-powered jeepneys that
local governments are promoting as an environmental alternative to
the smoke-belching originals.
Another project is the “tourist jeep”—a
bus-sized vehicle with all the amenities of a luxury tourist bus but
with the colorful exterior of a jeepney.
Cruz said the company is hoping tour agencies,
resorts and hotels will buy these tourist jeeps to add some local
color to their services.
Some people have even asked if MD Juan could
expand into making reproduction bodies for vintage roadsters, though
Cruz said this would be too difficult.
But after some hesitation, Raphael Juan says
with a smile: “We’re studying the market for that.”
-- AFP
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