A Lifelong Love Affair with Jeeps

Text & Images: Chirag Mehta

My fascination with Jeeps began when I was about ten or twelve years old. Our family then had a paper-processing unit at Bareja, near Ahmedabad, producing packaging materials for textile mills. Inside the huge factory shed, between two rows of machinery, stood our smoke-grey Willys CJ-3B, probably dating from around 1962, when the factory was established.

Our manager, Desai Kaka, introduced me to the basics of automobiles, and I soon became determined to drive the Jeep. During school vacations in 1985-86, I would often accompany my father to the factory simply to sit in and play with it. One day, my father and Desai Kaka put the Jeep into low range and asked me to drive it to the end of the factory shed without hitting anything. I passed my first driving test – and from that moment, I was hooked.

I gradually began driving it on short runs, but around 1985-86 the factory was forced to close as the business became unviable following the permanent closure of many textile mills in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Everything was sold, including the Jeep. While the family was going through difficult times, losing that Jeep remained my greatest personal disappointment. Yet I quietly resolved that one day I would own another.

Decades passed, but the memory never faded. By the early 2000s, genuine left-hand-drive petrol Jeeps had become extremely rare in Ahmedabad, so I began a serious search. I even placed a newspaper advertisement, which produced a stream of amusing offers for almost anything described as a “Jeep”.

Then came what felt like destiny.

A retired State Transport employee told me about a short-chassis Jeep for sale in a village near our old factory. I went to see it, only to discover that it was a diesel CJ-500D and not what I wanted. Disappointed, I left and passed by the site of our old factory before stopping at a roadside restaurant.

Nearby was a garage repairing Commanders, Armadas and JCB excavators. I wandered in and noticed a Jeep covered by a tarpaulin. When I mentioned that I was looking for a Willys CJ-3B, the garage owner casually said, “Saheb, aa cover kholo to” (“Sir, just lift this cover”).

Underneath was a 1960 left-hand-drive petrol CJ-3B.

Even more astonishingly, it was in the very same village where I had lost my childhood Jeep.

I immediately negotiated a deal, paid a token amount and returned home to arrange the money. Three restless days later, I returned with cash, a battery and a can of petrol and brought the Jeep home.

At first, I knew little about the finer details of Jeep restoration. I began improving it gradually, helped by my mechanic, Yusuf Chacha. Then an article about the Jeep appeared in The Times of India, and this led to another turning point: my introduction to the legendary UBS Sir.

With long-distance telephone calls still expensive and the internet barely accessible, I communicated with him largely through handwritten letters and occasional telephone conversations. Remarkably, he has preserved those letters to this day.

Under his guidance, the CJ-3B was progressively restored. UBS Sir supplied a complete set of bow pipes and a hand-made template for fitting them. I made the hood, replaced the incorrect seats with the original 60:40 bench, corrected the steering geometry and worked systematically through the mechanical restoration. Eventually, the Jeep was painted and prepared for Sir’s visit to Ahmedabad. I was immensely proud to hand him the keys for its first drive after the restoration.

The final major step was finding the correct front differential, completing the Jeep as a proper four-wheel-drive CJ-3B.

Around 2017-18, I told Sir during one of our late-night conversations that although the engine performed well, I disliked its sound. Within days, he gifted me a sleeveless block and instructed me to build a new standard engine. Following his guidance, I eventually completed a smooth-running Hurricane engine, transforming the Jeep into the authentic 4x4, left-hand-drive petrol CJ-3B I had always dreamed of.

 The journey did not end there. Over the years, under UBS Sir’s guidance and with his encouragement, I have restored numerous other Jeeps, including CJ-2As, GPWs, Station Wagons and early and late CJ-3Bs.

 Looking back, the story seems almost destined. What began with a childhood spent playing in a smoke-grey Jeep at a rural factory became a lifelong passion for preserving these remarkable machines. More importantly, it became a journey of learning, friendship and mentorship.

 Everything began with one Jeep, and a young boy who simply wanted to drive it.