Hi to all you 3b rs out in cyber land. My
name is Steve Perialas, and I live in Big Rapids Michigan.
My 3b " Cherry Red " is the crown jewel of my collection. About
five years ago I decided to pursue my plan of collecting one of each Flat Fender
Willys I had as a teenager and beyond. Basically it has taken me four years to
find the right ones. Ironically ALL of my Willys have come from the Big Rapids and
Grand Rapids area within the last one year. Well, back to the story about "Cherry Red ".
I graduated from high school in 1958, and the first car I ever owned was a 1958
Red CJ3B, that had belonged to a Kaiser--Jeep dealer's daughter.. We'll call
her Karen. We, that is Karen and I were dating at the time and I must have fallen
in love with her 3b instead of her, who knows, since our love affair did not last
beyond 8 months.. However, my love affair with 3bs has lasted beyond 40 years and
still going strong. Now that I have put things in perspective on how I feel about
3bs. As Paul Harvey would say ...."now for the rest of the story".
In the May 98 Hemmings Motor News an ad for a 1958 CJ3B is listed with a picture,
I just knew that God wanted me to have this 100% total stock 3b with only
35,000 miles
parked in my garage. Well, I'm here to tell you, that my wonderful wife of thirty plus
years said....
" I know how much the Red jeep would mean to you, so if you agree to
do some things around the house, I won't put up a fuss." Man, I thought It would be
clear sailing from here on out.. Little did I know that I would have to buy THREE CJs
to get the Red 3b I yearned and longed for. The guy that had the 3b also had 2 CJ2a s,
and he wanted out of his jeep collection..... He made me a deal I could
not refuse, however, now I had to convince the true love in my life, that I HAD to buy
all three to get the one I wanted.
Those of you that have bought jeeps WITHOUT checking with your partners, know full well
the pain and agony that has caused... all in all spouses and significant others of
Willys buffs are a pretty understanding lot, but I was concerned that buying three
was pushing the envelope a bit to far. After much coaxing, house fixing, and
general all around begging, I got the go ahead to buy all three Willys, with the
understanding that I would make an attempt to sell the two CJ2a s, since I already had
2 of those in the collection...
"Cherry Red ", as I have named her, was perfect in every way, with the exception of
the left front wheel brake cyl. was leaking (since replaced), a grab bar in the
cockpit, and bolt holes on the top of the fender wells where a roll bar had been
installed. ( this will be re installed, since I intend on driving this Jewel in the
summer ) . I consider myself very lucky to have found this Jewel and to have such an
understanding wife....
Here are pics of...
In closing, for those of you who might in the future, quickly agree to " doing some stuff around
the house " be warned, the stuff around the house cost MORE than the three jeeps did..
BUT it was worth it to get "Cherry Red"
