WW2 Jeep canvas top
 

A treasure from the past !

Back in 1976 a few club members discovered the delights of Hudsons stores in Burke st Melbourne . Run and owned by two eccentric brothers the store was a throw back to the depression era .

If you were patient enough to get to know the brothers all sorts of goodies were to be found . Stuff like genuine WW2 Jeep tops, well used, some moth eaten , some with tears . I managed to snare two of the tops and somebody else got four. Comes time to get a top made for my Jeep I take the original to a canvas shop, they made one to the pattern. "where is the original top I asked" answer "we tossed it out" :doh:

Anyway I have this original top on loan from the other guy . Interesting, the tops were all made to the same pattern, but the details like the edge binding material were not the same.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for sharing the story and the photos.

I would love to see more photos of any of the original tops you can access. There are many features in a top to ID it as ford or willys and date its approximate production time frame.

This top, from the photos appears to be a MB top- the 'gimp' or leatherette binding tape is the clue to the original manufactures specifications- ford used a cloth type binding tape.

Can you please share more photos, particularly of stitching details, fasteners, any markings etc?

What happened to 'the other guys' 3 other tops? Can you access them for photos too?

Thanks again,
Ian.

tops
 

hi Ian

Yes the binding tape on this example has a strange coating over the cotton weave , the coating is breaking off with age . The faded white lettering reads: CAUTION LEFT HAND DRIVE

It's a sad story , I loaned one of my tops to somebody ( a club member ) and the top came back to me unpicked and in pieces :bang: The guy was a hot rod builder who owned a Jeep and a Dodge weapons carrier - he left the club many years ago.

We were using these old tops on our Jeeps for a while , looked funny with the moth eaten holes . One of my tops had a short tear in it but I still used it ( the top the canvas people threw out ) . With various house moves I lost most of the other bits , I gave the rear panel to another club member.

I often see people spend a small fortune on a nut and bolt restoration of a Jeep, only to see them fit a top with a plastic window in the rear panel. I see this mistake often . It's like the canvas guy cannot resist the temptation to sew in a plastic window :nono:

Don't know if the other guy still has all of the tops he bought , it was over 40 years ago and only the two of us were shown the back rooms of Hudsons stores . There were quite a few of the tops stored on dusty old shelves , they must have been sitting there for many years.

Hi Mike,

Thanks again for sharing the extra info on the tops (i did wonder what was written on it) and the history of them. That was a shame indeed about your top being puled apart.

I do agree with you on the tops with the plastic rear panel- Ive driven in a fair bit of rain with the jeep- keeping water out of the rear window is the least of my concerns when trying to stop water getting in!

If you ever hear of the top/s he has heading to the bin, please let me know as it would be greatly cherished up here.


Cheers,
Ian.

Ian is correct on the "gimp" edging. Ford used a herringbone twill edging and Willys used the "gimp" or leatherette edging.

I have many pieces of WW II canvas and the "gimp" was also used on the Willys MA.

Here is a photo of a pair of original MA side curtains and they have the same edging.

And...just for fun...here is an original Ford GP top and side curtains. Note is is basically just a canvas tarp with leather attaching straps.

Also to note....I have 6 or 7 of the GP tops, MA top, Bantam BRC top and a lot of side curtains for these as well as MB/GPW and none of them have any MFG's marking on them as some reproduction canvas makers are wont to put on theirs.....

Jim Gilmore
Jim Thorpe, PA. USA

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