Toledo needs Jeep museum
Why doesn’t Toledo have a Jeep museum? We have a glass museum because we’re known as the Glass City, but don’t just as many people remember Toledo, Ohio, as Home of the Jeep?
It could contain any or all models of the Jeep ever made. It could include all of the Willys Motors and Overland vehicles. We could even include Chrysler in the mix. It could make Toledo a destination and not just a place to pass through. Toledo’s largest employer might even want to chip in.
It might even include my very first automobile: a blue-gray 1937 Willys Coupe with a 1941 engine. She was a beauty. I bought her in 1950 from my high school buddy, “Popeye” Shanks. The hood was so small it looked like it must house a sewing machine motor and the trunk large enough for camping. The electric starter switch didn’t work so you engaged the starter by pushing a large screwdriver though the floor boards to press on the solenoid. Worked every time (almost). The car was so light you didn’t really have to park it at the curb. You just pulled the nose in, then picked up the rear and bounced it to the curb.
Yes, we need a Jeep museum. Wonder who might be interested in starting the movement? Could it be you?
— Jim Hartman, Toledo
