The ubiquitous Jeep.

I knew nothing about the Jeep, except it was an American military vehicle, world famous. Rugged, versatile, carried the victorious American soldiers through Europe to win the war against the Nazis. But then I married into the awesome Archer family and landed smack dab in the middle of Archer Bros Jeeps and Jeep Parts, a small family run business in Hayward, California. I met my future wife, Jme, the oldest daughter of Art Archer, the owner of Archer Brothers Jeeps and Jeep Parts, and of course, she had a Jeep, which she was driving when we went to the beach for our first outing. Camping and four wheeling on the Santa Cruz beach. If you know Jme, she is a hippie chick, so of course, her Jeep, which she built with her dad when she was 15, a 1955 military M38A1, is not olive drab, oh no, it’s purple!

The Srchers are an immigrant family from Ireland, but geneolical research uncovered that they are not Irish, but English, and immigrated from Ireland. They landed on the east coast, and over several generations moved west, first to Upper Peninsula Michigan, where they picked up some Native American blood, Obijiway tribe or nation, then to Idaho, and finally settled in California, in a little rural town in the east bay of Hayward. Art joined the National Guard, where he trained as a mechanic, and where he was exposed to the Jeep. And his lif long love affair started. When his time at the National Guard ended, he opened a home based mechanic shop fixing cars, and naturally he gravitated to acquiring broken down Jeeps and rebuilding and driving them. That turned into Archer Bros. Jeeps and Jeep Parts, based on Meekland Ave, Hayward, in the middle of farmland and orchards. No one thought it was a good idea, Jeeps? He will never make it! Waste of money. They were so wrong.

so what is a Jeep? Where did the name come from? What does it mean, if anything. The first manufacturer of the vehicle was Willys Manufacturing Company, contracted by the military to make a simple, rugged , compact vehicle to operate in the field in bad conditions by unskilled operators under adverse wartime conditions. It was designated G.P. -general purpose Vehicle, So it soon was called jeep. Much later, AMC bought the vehicle using the name Jeep. World War 2 made it ubiquitous and famous. Art was ahead of the crowd, and his vision rode on the wave of the popularity of the 4 wheel drive craze. Jeeping and rebuilding antique or vintage military Jeep collecting became very popular around the country and the world. And he was for the longest time, the only source of parts and Jeeps for enthusiasts to buy. His brother Garner was invited by Art to be his partner, hence brothers was added to the name, and his oldest son also joined the company as a mechanic. Jme, of course, worked there, and brought it into modern times with one of the first computer systems. Garry, the oldest son, moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and opened a Jeep business, Archers. Friends and former employees moved away and opened Jeep business, calling them Archer Brothers. A nephew moved to North Carolina, and his transmission business is slowly becoming a Jeep business.

Art started off buying a ruined jeep here and there as he found them, but as his business grew he needed a consistent source of Jeeps, so he went to military auctions to buy them. Eventually, that wasn’t enough, and he started importing crates of world war 2 era Jeeps still in the crates from such places as the Philippines. Archer Bros. was getting big. He was invited by AMC to join their franchise family, but Srt wanted none of that. He liked what he had created better than some slick corporate entity. He is retired now, and Archer Bros. Jeep and Jeep Parts is closed, a part of history. But a living history. He is celebrating his 90th birthday party this weekend, and friends, family and old customers are dying in from all over to celebrate with him and celebrate his legacy. Some will be driving their Jeeps. The parking lot will have lots of Jeeps on display, a lot that he personally rebuilt. Jme still has hers, our son has one.we also have Jme’s step brothers, who died several years ago. The Archerss are a Jeeping family.

Arch Bros. Was also heavily involved in Jeep racing, and Art won several races. Jme’s mom was a racer too, one of the first woman Jeep racers. They also as a family participated in jeep trails like the Sierra Trek, and the Rubicon. Quite a few weekends we would find ourselves up to our waists or hubcaps in water or mud.

As Art would say “ keep on Jeeping”.