Art Archer- the founder of Archer Bros. Jeeps and Jeep Parts and our Jeeping family.

This is the family I married into, the Archer family, and besides a beautiful wife and a cute little son, I married into a jeeping lifestyle. We met and married within 10 days, and only after that did she introduce me to her father and her life. It was interesting to say the least! She was living with her mom in the far east bay city of Dublin, and her father lived in Hayward with his new wife Ruth. I met him the first time at his house, and after Jme hugged him and said she wanted to introduce him to her new husband, me, her dad looked around and past me and said “where is he?” That was when I knew something was up. I suspected that Jme was being the rebellious daughter. You see, I was from Africa, so I’m getting an inkling that Jme failed to mention to her dad that I was white, a British colonial settler of Scottish ancestry, And that all she had told him was that she had married an African. I was right. That was exactly what she had done. Anyway, once that was over with, and his confusion was cleared up, I was accepted into the family. Next , I was taken to Archer Brothers, Art’s military jeep business on Meekland Ave in Hayward. There were jeeps strewn everywhere, in the back parking lot, dismantled, being worked on, stacks of dismantled frames, some still in shipping crates from the Philippines, tires, wheels, axles, roll bars, parts piled everywhere, besides shelves packed with parts in the two Quonset huts. It looked disorganized to my untrained eye, but it was very organized and Art knew where every part was. Every time I went in customers were streaming in or leaving, a constant parade of military Jeeps with tough looking men behind the steering wheels. Besides Art, there was his brother Garner, and his son Garry working the counter or working on a jeep. Several mechanics, and younger siblings or step children were either hanging out or press ganged into working. Even Jme knew her way around the shop, having worked in the business since she was a little girl packing gears and ball bearings and repairing carburetors. Besides working the sales counter . For years Archer Bros. Was her life. Her dad taught her how to price her jewelry to make a profit. The success of her bead business stems from her fathers tutelage and role modeling.

Besides the shop, we also went on jeep runs in the mountains. Not too many, as once we were settled down, I got a job, Jme got a job, and we got down to the serious business of raising our son. But we did go on some jeep runs. Up to the snow on Mt. Shasta, that was fun! And the Rubicon, and the Sierra Trek. Jme had a military jeep of her own, which she has proudly told me she built it with her dad when she was 15. At least 5o times. Maybe more. It is a 1955 M38A1. But because Jme is a California hippie, she couldn’t have it be olive drab, she had it painted purple, the actual name of the paint was plumb crazy. That’s Jme.

The jeep runs were really wild, rough trails, over large boulders, rock crawling, up steep inclines, using winches, fording riverbeds with fast running water up to the floor boards, deep mud. And if a jeep got stuck, or broke down, there was Art, with his jeep loaded with spare parts and tools, willing to rescue the driver and the jeep.

He didn’t know he was a legend in the Jeep world, and neither did we, but he is. His son, Garry opened an Archer Bros. Jeep and Jeep Parts shop in Colorado, several friends/customers have also opened their own Archer Bros. Jeep and Jeep Parts. He is on the cover of four wheel drive magazine when he won first place in the Mint 400 Jeep race. We have two Jeeps, our son has a Jeep. Our cousin Shawn in North Carolina has a Jeep, and is really close to opening a Jeep and Jeep Parts business, and because he is an Archer, it might be called Archer Bros.

If you’ve never driven a Jeep, you are missing out on a fun ride. Go out and do it, you will never regret it.