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MB 159388

This Willys MB has received a ‘field’ modification, we believe it was done by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ‘field’ modification includes a lengthened and reinforced chassis, an extended wheelbase and the obvious wooden utility bed on the rear.

This Jeep has been restored over the past 2 years and we decided to leave it as seen today.

Upon restoring the Jeep we found many different layers of paint and markings which indicate that it was used by the RAN during the war. The base coat of paint was the factory Olive Drab that most jeeps are seen painted, it then had a layer of tan paint which would suggest it saw action in the Africa campaign, followed by red oxide and a coat of a naval grey.

Whilst sanding the paint down we managed to find the marking of J189 on the sides of the Jeep. J189 was the designation of an Australian navy Corvette and (later) minesweeper during the war, called HMAS Pirie. This led us to believe the ‘field’ modification of the pick-up bed was done by the Australian navy.

It’s post-war life may have been with the Australian Electric Power Transmission (EPT) company as the top coat of flaking paint was a light grey with EPT stencilled on the bonnet and the wooden sides, followed by living the rest of its time on a farm in New South Wales, Australia where it was then parked in a barn in the 1970s until being transported to the UK in 2023. Everything on the Jeep is original, as it was found.

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