Click here to share your favorite car, car story or any automotive trivia!
In this episode, we shift gears into the past with author Robert O’Connor, whose novel “Jeep Show” blends WWII history with personal car memories. Robert discusses the real-life inspiration behind his book: the wartime USO entertainers who performed from Jeeps for troops at the front lines.
He connects these historic Jeep Shows to his own first car – a scrappy Fiat 128 – sharing how tinkering with that little European car gave him an appreciation for simplicity much like the wartime Jeep. As an Iraq War veteran, Robert also opens up about how working on a vintage Willys Jeep helped him cope with returning to civilian life, each turn of the wrench providing therapy and connection to his grandfather’s WWII stories. Listeners will enjoy rich car culture discussions as Robert and the hosts chat about how military vehicles influenced post-war automotive design and the enduring appeal of Jeeps in car enthusiast circles. Wrapping up, Robert highlights the charitable cause behind his work (proceeds of his book support veteran wellness programs.
This episode blends literary insight, heartfelt nostalgia, and automotive history, offering a unique perspective on how vehicles and storytelling can preserve the legacy of “the greatest generation” and inspire healing across generations of car lovers.
Bob's favorite episode is "From Humvee to Home – Conrad’s Patriotic Car Journey and Family Driving Memories" - https://pod.link/1733902541/episode/14e35670c2a8268fa17865087a9c69af
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Listen on your favorite platform and visit https://carsloved.com for full episodes, our automotive blog, Guest Road Trip Playlist and our new CAR-ousel of Memories photo archive.
Don't Forget to Rate & Review to keep the engines of automotive storytelling—and personal restoration—running strong.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome back to the podcast that runs on most of its
cylinders, roughly half thetime, to all the cars I've loved
before, your authoritativepodcast on automotive nostalgia,
where every car tells a storyand every car has a culture.
You know what time it is.
It's time to plug in, dust offand get a little grease under
the fingernails and slip on thatfavorite car themed shirt.
(00:30):
I think all doug owns is carthemed t-shirt, much to the
chagrin of the people around him.
You at least wash them rightyep it is.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
It is ending up being a big part of my wardrobe.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, and you know, hey, we got to feed the beast,
okay.
So what is on the shirt?
I see some sort of wrench, plusget, get wrenching.
What does it say?
So?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
this is.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
From our wonderful father-daughter episode yes,
which we depending on.
When you hear this, uh, it mayor may not be out in its
entirety, but certainly thereare clips on uh youtube and
elsewhere with caroline andjames uh it was so good those
productions.
So huge fan, wonderful, gotsome.
(01:19):
Uh bought some merch from them.
They threw in some uh, somestickers and some other things.
So Caroline and James HH Wheelson YouTube.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Great show, a lot of fun, very high production values
, wildly entertaining, wonderfulpeople and very funny.
I would like to welcome back.
Wait, what about your shirt?
What about my shirt?
Oh yes, we're not quite readyto introduce the man of the hour
, but it will make sense.
Here I'm wearing a US Armyt-shirt for a couple of reasons.
(01:51):
Let me enter or say hello tolisteners over the past five
days in the United States andaround the world.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthis shirt, ask you how our
guests came into your life andchat a little bit about today's
trivia question as well as mychoice of shirts.
So welcome back to thoselistening over the past week
here, ashburn, virginia, not farfrom Washington DC, where
(02:16):
Doug's about an hour or so fromthat and I lived right outside
of the Beltway for years andyears.
Culver City, california,wichita, kansas, denver and,
north of the border, quebec.
So that's a good segue.
As we mentioned, we are heardaround the world.
Welcome back to listeners inFrance, italy we had a few
(02:38):
downloads in the RussianFederation, as well as Sweden.
Israel is back on the map andour listeners in Bangladesh.
So Bangladesh, I think, wasinterestingly one of the first
places where we were heardinternationally.
So again, welcome back If youwould like to learn more about
us.
Carslovedcom C-A-R-S lovedcom.
(02:58):
Doug is Doug at carslovedcom.
I'm Christian at carslovedcom.
Doug is Doug at Carslovedcom.
I'm Christian at Carslovedcom,so the shirt I'm wearing here is
a tribute to, firstly, my son,who was he in season three,
season two or three, I justcan't remember.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
We're pumping these out, I think season three.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I believe, yeah, season three.
I want to say midway throughthe season, correct.
And so he's in the Army Reserveas well as going to college
right now.
And we were texting a littlebit before the show and I told
him hey, we're having a specialguest on tonight who is a writer
, who wrote this book that I'mholding up.
It is called Jeep Show, a Novel, a Trooper at the Battle of the
(03:45):
Bulge, and it's Robert BO'Connor who's our special guest
today.
But, doug, before we hear fromthe man himself, how did Bob
come into your?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
life.
Yeah well, bob came into ourcollective lives as his book
came out I want to say the endof last year, but we'll confirm
that with Bob and his assistantreached out, saw and heard about
our podcast and thought he'd bea great fit.
Bob and I talked on Zoom for alittle bit and I agreed 100
(04:21):
percent and you know, so excitedhe's actually what our second
author right.
But our first author's got likea vehicle in the title right.
I think Brian was our firstauthor content a lot of creative
(04:45):
people.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So before we hear Bob's voice, I'm going to throw
this out there Quiz question forthe day what was a post-World
War II surplus vehicle that camein a box?
And I don't mean an Amazon boxpeople, I mean a big crate.
This huge thing would show up.
What was it, bob?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Jeep Willie.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
That's right.
Welcome to the show.
Listen to that voice.
We're so proud to have you here.
Thank you for being our guesttoday and making a little bit of
time.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I'm so pleased to talk with you guys and your
listeners, so pleased.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Amen, thank you.
So, doug, I know you want toget into the some of the
questions with with Bob here,but when Doug sent me this book
and I don't know how exactly youguys came into contact.
But doug sent this to me andsaid you gotta read this book,
I'm gonna hold it up and we'llkind of probably snippet this
and put this on youtube.
And we actually read a lot forthis show and I read constantly
(05:39):
anyways, and I picked it up.
And when did you send this tome, doug?
Like maybe a month or so ago?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
About a month ago.
Yeah, I got a lot going on.
Bob sent it to me, I read it.
I sent it to you.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So this book has been loved on a little bit people.
And I got it and I thought ohwait a minute, we have this guy
on in a few weeks.
I'm always juggling a few books.
Let me tell you something.
When this book sets the hook,it is a page turner and it
happens pretty quickly.
And I just mowed through it.
I thought it was wonderful andI've been so excited to have Bob
(06:17):
on the show.
So let's start there.
Bob, how did you get the ideafor Jeep Show and this is
available on Amazon orbookshoporg.
Bob will tell you more.
But how did you get the ideafor this book?
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Christian.
I was researching a book aboutthe American circus a nonfiction
book and I learned about acircus promoter named Jim Hetzer
.
Promoted Circus Prone in the50s and 60s.
I called his daughter to learnmore about him.
Jim is gone, I'm afraid, andshe told me about his career as
(06:56):
a circus promoter and told meabout the circus.
And then she said by the way,you probably don't know, but my
dad was an enlisted entertainerin World War II military
occupation, specialty 442.
And I said, no, I didn't evenknow that there were MOS 442s,
(07:22):
enlisted entertainers.
And she said, yes, not onlythat, but he did Jeep shows,
which were shows done at thefront lines for combat infantry,
and his Jeep show squad leaderwas Mickey Rooney.
May be my age and know whoMickey Rooney was, but for your
(07:48):
younger listeners, or even yourmiddle-aged listeners probably,
I should just say that MickeyRooney was the number one
worldwide box office star of1939.
He was a giant moneymaker forMGM Studios.
And so she told me this and Isaid, oh, my goodness.
And she said by the way, myolder my, my aunt Mabel, his
(08:09):
older sister, saved every letterhe wrote home from training
camp and from the EuropeanTheater of Operations.
So I saw I was like, oh mygoodness, primary sources.
And I said, well, can I comedown to Dallas and read those
letters?
You know, I'll put on archivalgloves and a mask.
She said, oh, don't worry, wepublish them in a book.
(08:30):
Oh, wow, and it's.
It's on Amazon and basicallygot the story of this one
soldier's actual experience asan MOS-442, an enlisted
(08:50):
entertainer.
I decided to make it fictionbecause I wanted to involve the
character in the Battle of theBulge, which was, as many of
your listeners may know, whichthe Battle of the Bulge fought
in late 1944, early 1945, in andaround Belgium and Luxembourg
(09:11):
and the German border, was thelargest battle ever fought by
the United States Army and was apivotal, pivotal battle in the
end of World War II.
So that's how I stumbled uponit.
It was too good a story toignore, too good a story to
ignore, so I abandoned my circusbook and wrote Jeep Show
(09:37):
instead.
I can add Christian and Doug.
I have since talked to many,many World War II historians,
men and women who make theirliving studying World War II,
and I've talked to many, many,many World War II buffs, and
none of them have ever heard ofthe enlisted entertainers.
(09:59):
And you know, as we've talkedabout, mickey Rooney was already
famous when he became an MOS442.
But some of the other nameswill surprise you.
These were at the time.
They were in the Army.
You know 20, 21-year-old menwith some talent, but Mel Brooks
was an MOS442.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Oh, I read about that , yeah, in his autobiography.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Ah yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, I read his autobiography a couple of years
ago.
I was surprised.
I didn't know that I didn't?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I haven't read that.
I'm so glad to hear that.
That is phenomenal.
Yeah, sammy Davis Jr was a MOSfour, four, two Burt Lancaster,
dick Van Dyke and and many, manyothers.
So it was an Van Dyke and many,many others.
So it was an.
It was an unusual combinationof talents.
(10:51):
There were, you know, about 100of these soldiers doing this
job, but several of them went onto be stars.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Now, how did they let it?
One of the things how didMickey Rooney get that close to
the front line?
So when you say entertainment,I think USO big shows in green
zones.
Jeep shows very different story, as close to the front as they
could possibly be.
How did how did that happen?
(11:21):
How did they allow that?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Well, well, two things.
One I will just talk about onething I admire about Mickey
Rooney.
By late 1943, he was under somepressure to enlist, as all the
young men his age were.
He could have honorably servedat Hal Roach Studios, 10 minutes
(11:46):
from his house in Hollywood,making films for the Signal
Corps, and Lieutenant RonaldReagan served honorably there.
He wanted to go whole hog, hewanted to get far away from
(12:12):
Hollywood.
He was living a dissolute andwild personal life there and so
he he joined the morale corpsand you know, once you're yes,
he was a star and he did getspecial treatment, but once
you're in the army you are underorders did get special
treatment, but once you're inthe army you are under orders.
So this morale corps came overto Europe thinking they were
going to be doing a fairly largeshow.
It was called Hip Hooray, it hadarmy actors and it had the army
(12:38):
soldiers in the band and theythought they were going to be,
you know, put in Paris afterParis was liberated and be doing
this show.
But the American army in this,after the breakout of Normandy
in the summer of 1944, moved sofast across France and right up
(12:59):
to the German border that thefrontline combat soldiers were
not getting any entertainment orany morale boosting thing.
A very successful Broadwaydirector, joshua Logan, who was
a captain in the morale corps,was in the army came up with the
idea of putting three of theseentertainment soldiers in a jeep
(13:22):
with a driver driving them tojust behind the front lines,
where these combat soldierswould be back for a hot meal,
maybe a uniform exchange, um andput, and having these three
soldiers put on what essentiallywas a small vaudeville show.
You know they would.
One of them would usually playan instrument in the book that
(13:45):
that is Wes, and he plays anaccordion.
They would do, they tell jokes,they do impressions, they'd
sing and dance and they wouldalways, always, pull a soldier
out of the audience and have himyou know his buddies.
They'd ask his buddies yeah,jimmy, you know he does a great
Edward G Robinson impression orhe's a great singer and they
(14:10):
would always pull a guy out ofthe audience and have him
perform for his buddies.
So that's how Mickey Rooney gotwithin sniper and artillery
range and you know, I have noindication he ever tried to quit
that or get out of it.
I'm full of admiration.
Of course, his private life inHollywood was so wild that this
(14:32):
probably just seemed like justanother risk yeah, just another
chapter.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And if you can imagine and you allude to it in
the book, I think you call itout explicitly.
But for those who may not know,mickey Rooney was could sing
Like the greatest popularsingers, could tell a joke like
the greatest popular comedians.
He could act, he could.
(14:59):
He was a triple, quadruple,quintuple threat.
He could do it all Dance.
Yeah, I mean, this guy could doit all.
And to your point, I like whatyou have here.
The book is interspersed withquotes.
What you have here, the book isinterspersed with quotes, and
the one right after the author'snote here, which effectively
serves as the introduction, ismorale is to the material, is
(15:20):
three is to one.
That's by Napoleon Bonaparte,and the reason for that is
you're given the and you do agreat job during the book of
just how miserable it is at thefront.
You're cold, your feet are wet,you can't dry out, you can't
warm up, you're either bored orterrified.
(15:45):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
And you mentioned the letters,and the letters are interspersed
here throughout the book and Ijust want to read something real
quick here.
This is from the author'sforward here At some point I
learned that one of Jim Hetzer'sdaughters had published a
collection of his letters homeMabel's letters.
The book gave me so many ideasI decided to write a novel, and
(16:09):
that was a cheap show.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
That was a cheap show .
I also got ideas from theautobiographical Unsung Valor
GI's Story of World War II by ACleland Harrison, which is one
of the people the book isdedicated to, and you say I'm
full of admiration for both men.
So how closely are the lettersembedded in the book what you
read at her house?
I used them as inspiration.
I certainly was able to, youknow.
I'll give you an example.
There was a letter about thetroop ship over to Europe and
how uncomfortable it was, and so.
I wrote a chapter in the bookand put the main character, the
protagonist, on the Queen Mary.
Main character, the protagonist, on the Queen Mary, which was
(16:54):
used as a.
It was a luxury liner, thelargest, fastest ship in the
ocean and they, during the warit became a troop ship, went
from carrying 2000 passengers inluxury to carrying 16,000 GIs
in not luxury and, interestingly, my father went over to the war
(17:15):
in Europe on the Queen Mary.
So really writing that chapterreally made me feel closer to my
dad.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, and OK, so that makes sense.
And so you have it dedicated toJim Hetzer.
Yeah, cleveland Harrison, thefellow we were just talking
about, but also there are twoo'connors there's robert e
o'connor, there's georgeo'connor.
Yeah, uh, one us army, one usnavy.
So you know hence why I'mwearing the t-shirt here.
(17:44):
But, yeah, okay, so who wasrobert?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
my dad was robert, robert e o'connor, and then my
uncle, george, his youngerbrother, who joined the Navy at
age 17, fought in the Pacific,fought in the Pacific.
So, yeah, they both those men,of course, meant a lot to me and
mean a lot to me, so I includedthem with the, the two men that
(18:06):
inspired the book Love it.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Love it.
Well, we're going to let's, I'mgoing to toss it over to here,
here to Doug, and we're going tohave you climb into the climb
into a bit of a time machine, goback in your mind to the first
car you owned and tell us whatit was and a little bit about it
.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Doug, do you want me to take it from there?
Yeah, yeah, please.
The.
The first car I owned was aFiat.
What was my model number?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It was a 128, I thought.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
A Fiat 128, which was essentially an economy car, and
I bought it off a old friend ofmine who lived in Vermont and
drove it back to Cincinnati andquickly became acquainted with
the constant electrical problemsthat this model had by the
(19:02):
smell of burning but it's reallythe plastic coating on wires
burning.
But it got me there and I hadthat car for about a year and
then, unfortunately, I wasdriving 20 miles an hour
completely sober on a road thatreally required driving 10 miles
(19:24):
an hour and I hit a tree andtotaled it Darn it.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
They were tiny, weren't they?
They were really small.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I mean, it wasn't like the those miniature cars we
see now.
I mean it was a you know it was.
I think you could fit fourpeople in it, but but it was
relatively small and in fact oneof my memories of it was I took
it to a very goodItalian-American mechanic,
(19:57):
shadetree.
He did work in his own yard onthe weekends and the first thing
he did was take an old sparkplug and stick it in the hose
that went from the catalyticconverter and it increased the
acceleration dramatically.
I'm not recommending that and Ithink the statute of
(20:18):
limitations is over, but that'sone of the things I remember.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, and just I was looking at that car, so was it?
If you recall?
Was it a sedan or a?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
coupe.
So was it, if you recall?
Was it a sedan or a coupe?
It was a sedan, it was a sedan.
And in fact, coming back toCincinnati on an airplane, I met
my bosses.
I worked at Procter Gamble, avery honorable company, and I
met my boss's boss's boss on theairplane back and he asked me
(20:53):
if I would give him a ride homefrom the airport and of course I
said yes, but as we werehalfway there, I had to explain
to him what that smell was.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yes, it's not my burning wire, cologne, sir.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I have bathed recently.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
It's really the car.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, you know that could have been a need for a
promotion.
He calls your boss, ultimatelybrings it.
We got to get this guy's greatyeah.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
We can't have this guy driving around in this Right
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Move him up to an alpha or something.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Well, something worked.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, so this is one of our newer questions which I
love asking people and you haveone of the greatest answers in
our preamble.
Was there a song, a tape, a CDradio station that comes to mind
when you think about that Fiat,that yellow 1973 Fiat 128 sedan
(21:49):
?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
128 sedan.
Yes, as I said, I bought it offa friend in New England and
drove it back to Cincinnati.
Along with the car, I think hegave me a couple of cans of
10W40 motor oil and a tape, acassette tape.
This is in, you know, 1979, acassette tape of Linda
Ronstadt's greatest hits.
It was the only tape I had.
So I listened to LindaRonstad's greatest hits about 22
(22:17):
times on the way back and Itell you what talk about
geniuses.
Linda Ronstad doesn't get old.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Oh, voice of an Angel , yes, voice of an Angel so
talented.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So talented, yeah, and a fine person as well, very
cultured and very humble.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah, and those, yeah , those were the days where you
couldn't find a radio station,especially if you're moving
between states, because you'redriving yes, what do you do?
And probably even had to flipthat tape over.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Oh, yes, of course, of course had to flip that tape
over?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
oh yes, of course of course, yep, so, and that's a
linda ronstadt, right, youprobably needed a break from her
after that for a while.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Yeah, I took a couple of years off, but that's all it
took.
Yeah, that's all it took, andit's still a good memory because
you're.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
You're smiling about it and laughing, oh, absolutely
so.
So we mentioned the reliabilityof the Fiat and unfortunately,
it was destroyed due to anaccident.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
You were saved.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
But what was the replacement car for the?
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Fiat and was.
You know, you know I'm, I'm andI, I.
I didn't tell you this beforeso that you'd let me onto the
show, but and, and I have foundthe show to be, you know,
(23:45):
obviously I listened to severalepisodes and found that it would
be very interesting, but Iwould have said before very
interesting, but I would havesaid before I'm a point A to
point B guy, not a car guy,although that is changing a
little bit now that you've mademe think about things.
(24:07):
So I found the Volkswagen Jetta.
It was a two-door sedan,probably a 1982 model.
I found it to be verysatisfactory.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, yeah, and that's where they were.
And just looking thatgeneration, yeah, it was the
first generation of the Jetta.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah, had a nice shape, don't you think?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, I actually do like it the sedan and the coupe
and introduced in 1979 at thefrankfurt auto show.
So uh and uh built at thewolfsburg plant in germany.
So yeah, really, really neatcar and uh, good for the time.
(24:47):
Uh, stick shift as well, stickshift course.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, and there's a good story there, or I think
you're just a stick shift guygoing all the way forward,
including your current car, yes,in 2004.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Oh, the second car that I totaled and walked away
from was a 1995 Crown VicInterceptor, and maybe some of
your listeners have bought asecondhand police car and was
(25:35):
really, really liked that carand was hit by a fellow who fell
asleep on the way home from hisjob baking Wonder Bread through
the night.
So that car was totaled and Ican't remember why, but I went
and bought a brand new car,which was kind of, you know, a
part hard to do, but maybebecause I'd just been in an
accident, I don't know.
(25:56):
And I bought a 2000 in 2004,.
I bought a Honda Accord fourdoor, five speed manual and I
told myself when I bought it youknow I will drive this car, for
it says I'm buying a new carand you know I'll drive this car
for 20 years and and then youknow I'll I'll sell it if it's
(26:16):
still around, and the 20 yearspassed last August and I'm
keeping it.
I love that car and and and youknow it has paid for itself
several times over it's also funto drive.
You know it's smooth and it'sgot some pickup, especially when
(26:39):
you downshift it's got somereally nice pickup.
And, as I was telling Christian, you'd think.
With the mileage on it.
I only drive to church once aweek, but you know I worked out
of a home office for a while andthat so it's only got one
hundred and fifty thousand mileson it.
So I'm expecting at leastanother 10 years, if, if, I can
(27:04):
find tires for it.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah Well, just just make sure you keep it clean and
waxed in your new climate whereyou're living in the Midwest Big
change with salt.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Aha, yes, because Memphis, tennessee, where I
lived until three weeks ago, notonly do we not have salt on the
roads, we do not have trucksthat come out and plow the roads
.
So once every I don't know twoand a half years, when it snows,
just everybody just stops forthree days.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
yeah, that's uh yeah, christian, christian got snow
for the first time in foreverand it was a record snow in
pensacola.
Oh my god, yeah, I live in thepanhandle of.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
yeah, we didn't get into that with bob, but I live
in the panhandle of Florida,doug lives in the mid-Atlantic.
I lived in the DC area for 20years, which is how we met Down
here in Pensacola.
That thing happened.
We broke a record that it stoodsince 1895 or something, and it
(28:10):
was actually.
The snowfall was perfectbecause it started snowing the
second half of the day.
Everybody went home, stayedhome.
I mean, we're talking a lot ofpeople here.
a lot of kids had never seensnow in their lives, but it was
perfect.
It snowed for a day, it stopped.
Everybody made their snowmen.
And then it just started andthen the temperature just zoomed
(28:37):
right back up and it was gone.
And, like you're saying, if itsnows not that often there's no
reason to pay for a fleet oftrucks with their fleet of salt
spreaders with your mouths andtons of salt Exactly idling.
So just shut everything down.
But Doug is right.
Um, I bought a car recentlyfrom.
I shouldn't get into this story.
(28:58):
All right, let's just send itback to doug I won't I won't
even open a painful can of worms, okay no, it's, it's, it's a
good story.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
So, uh, yeah, you know.
Um, just thinking back aboutthe crown vic and on one of our
previous episodes with JamesMcRae, my friend from high
school, he had a Chevy Capriceand it could have doubled as a
police car and he wears Stetson,as I recall.
(29:27):
I think he had the big intenton the back and he got through
some speed traps back in the day.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I will say that this was a white Crown Vic, so an
unmarked car, but it did havesearchlights on the front and if
I pulled into a 7-Eleven, theparking lot of the 7-Eleven
would empty within about twominutes.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
And also did you notice that when you were
driving?
On an interstate everybody runsup on you going and immediately
settles down to 60?
.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
I forgot.
That is absolutely right.
Right, and I did get stopped acouple of times by real police
who wanted to make sure that Ididn't have a light.
You know that I wasn't.
Didn't have some light underthe uh because, um, apparently
you know, some bad people will.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Yes, do that, impersonating an officer, yeah
yeah and uh.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Then after they figured that out, then they
would marvel at the giant sizeof this crowd.
I think it was a 95 and it wasabout a block long.
Yeah, yeah, but it's tiny.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Growing up my buddies .
Good friend God, I'd forgottenabout this until you mentioned
it.
Maybe it was a Caprice or aMarquis, something similarly
land yachtish.
And when you drove in thatthing.
It was like being in anairplane like a little bit of
turbulence, but this smoothsuspension going down.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Go ahead, Doug.
Very smooth, designed in thelate 70s, early 80s.
Very smooth designed in thelate 70s, early 80s and they
used those body-on-framevehicles forever.
They made so much.
You know, designed in theReagan era for sure.
How long did you have thatCrown Vic for before the
unfortunate accident?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
I had it for about nine months before it was
totaled.
The guy that hit me went to thehospital.
Um, he did not look like he wasgoing to die but he was
staggering around and bleedingand, um, I just stepped out of
the.
I had never been hit in thechest by an airbag before.
So that is kind of a uh, youknow it gets your attention.
(31:50):
You're a little bit.
You know you're a little bitshocked.
But basically I got out andwalked over to the guy's car to
see what's going on and when theambulance came for the guy, the
ambulance guy looked at my carand said, yeah, I understand why
you walked away.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah, it's a wonder he wasn't hurt worse.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Yeah, but there you are.
Well, he kind of glanced.
He hit me over the rightheadlight.
He didn't hit me right in thecenter of my giant motor.
You know, he glanced, he hit meover the right headlight.
So I think that's what savedhim, yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, for sure.
Oh yeah, Before we go muchfurther.
Doug always likes to ask peopleabout their dream car.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
always likes to ask people about their dream car.
So what would your dream car be?
What would you love to have?
Yeah, 1940, I think it's a 43Jeep.
Willie, using the Willey's plans, made 650,000 Jeeps during
(33:00):
World War II For your listenersin the Russian Federation.
About 200,000 of them were sentto Russia as part of what was
called lend-ase.
Really, where we were beforethe war.
We were supplying the Brits andthe Russians with much needed
war material and the Jeepsbecame quite a favorite with the
(33:24):
Russians.
And so, yeah, my dream carwould be a fully restored 1942
Jeep Willie.
And what I would do, doug is Iwould.
I would also look for anappropriate trailer.
(33:45):
There was a trailer that wasmade to fit that Jeep and I
would fill it with books, withmy book, and I would go cross
country, oh wow, stopping atbookstores, and I don't want to
only call them, like the daybefore.
So I'd be leaving Portland,maine, and I, you know, I'd call
, you know I'd call somewhere inNew Hampshire and I'd say I can
(34:06):
be at your store tomorrow.
Get on the phone, you know, anddrive across country, and you
know, do that.
So, jeep 1942 model Jeep.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Willie, well, you know there's always one for sale
, and I'm just thinking aboutour listeners.
So our listeners go tojeepshowbookcom if you want to
find Bob.
Bob might be interested in yourJeep, yeah absolutely.
He's going to give it a goodhome and it's going to live on
full of books.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yes, and probably be part.
I make presentations toveterans groups about these
enlisted entertainers and youknow I could drive the Jeep into
some of these auditoriums, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
So yes.
So I'd put it to work programs,uh, yeah, so, yes, yeah, so I
put it to, I put it to work.
And what a perfect segue,because it was we wanted to ask
you about important causes toyou.
Yeah, so I know you just tippedit a little bit, but there's
actually, uh, you're donating,uh, some money per book sale.
Yeah, to shield and stripes.
(35:09):
Please tell us a little bit.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Yeah, there's an organization a very estimable
organization called Shield andStripes and they help veterans
and first responders and, ofcourse, as you well know, many,
many first responders are alsoveterans.
They help veterans and firstresponders with mental health
and physical health andcounseling in a very intensive
(35:35):
program.
And I met these guys and was soimpressed that I wanted to
support them.
And you know, given that thebook is about the Army, I just
felt that that was anappropriate thing to do.
I will tell you.
I told them I will donate adollar per copy sold to Shields
(35:56):
and Stripes.
I said I would donate all theprofits from the sale of the
book, but a dollar per copy isway, way, way more.
All right, All right.
So Shields and Stripes, Allright, All right.
So Shields and Stripes, I'mproud to be helping them in my
small way, and you know in myopinion and, of course, thinking
(36:24):
of your son, christian you know, we cannot do enough for our
veterans.
We cannot do enough for ourveterans and I wanted to do
something.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Lovely.
Thank you for that.
That is perfect, and let's justcall that out
Shieldsandstripesorg.
Again, shieldsandstripesorg.
That's the organization thatBob mentioned just now.
So yeah, as we ramp down hereand guide the podcast gently, I
(36:50):
have go ahead I have one more,I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
Um, we can't let bob off the show without asking him
what his follow-up to the jeepshow is going to be.
Um, well, your list he canshare.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, I'm.
I know I'm happy to.
I'm working on a sequel.
I don't know what motor vehiclewill be the center of attention
, perhaps, perhaps theprotagonist.
You've given me an idea.
Perhaps the protagonist gets aJeep, willie, or one of the ones
that Ford built as a surpluspurchase in 1947 because they
(37:29):
were sold to the general publicfor about $1,000 after the war.
There were many extras, so itmay be Jeep-centric, but I do
want to send the protagonist tocollege on the GI Bill.
Love that Several million,about 6 million GIs went to
college.
On the GI Bill.
Who would like my dad, whowould not have gone to college
(37:53):
without the GI Bill?
So I want to explore that.
In the meantime, theprotagonist's wife, who is a
much more talented entertainerthan he is, will be working in
New York.
So I've started the sequel.
Thanks for asking, doug.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Yeah, well, they you know, is it fair to call your
book?
Speaker 3 (38:08):
historical fiction.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
Well, they lovely you know, is it fair to call your
book historical fiction?
Speaker 3 (38:13):
It is not only fair, it is completely accurate.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yep, I, I could not get enough of that book.
Just the amount of detail andjust what, of what was going on
in France and what they wereseeing and you know,
unfortunately, unfortunatelycoming across some really just
(38:36):
horrific scenes.
Right, but the detail was sowell done.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Yeah, and I, like you , mentioned the troop ship of
their trip on the way over.
You have a gift for describingthings.
I felt like I was right therein the home.
I felt like I was on the deck.
And then when they, when theywent over this book, just kind
of I wasn't expecting it, itbecame this.
I was locked in, man, it was apage turner.
(39:02):
I couldn't get enough and Ijust mowed through it.
So hey, go ahead.
I wanted to.
You know one reason I made itfiction is.
I, you know.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
I wanted to.
You know, one reason I made itfiction is I.
You know there is brilliantnonfiction books about all
aspects of World War II.
I wanted to reach some peoplewho, likes you know who need a
story.
You know who.
And so in this story which I,as you can tell, I dramatically
(39:37):
over-researched but that gave mea wealth of details to choose
from, you know, someone who isnot going to read a nonfiction
about what it was like to be inthe army and fight in Europe in
World War II will come away withsome understanding of what that
was like.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Right right right, I love that.
Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
I've heard that every Jeep tells a story as well.
There you go, there you go.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
New book.
Hey, I have another book ideafor you, and this one's free,
Bob.
Ok, here's a little historicalfiction for you.
Two lifelong buffoonish friendsstart a podcast about cars.
Ok, you think you can take thatprompt from there.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
I have no idea who we're talking about Christian.
I can tell you that will neversell.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Oh my gosh, the perfect punchline.
We can't end it any better thanthat.
Thank you for the perfect end.
He is Robert B O'Connor.
The book I'm holding it up isJeep Show.
You have to get it, paigeTurner.
This is at the confluence of somany wonderful things History,
(40:40):
supporting our troops, soldiers,cars, interesting people, but
terrible podcast hosts.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Thank you, bob, for being part of the show.
Total trip man.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I've been looking forward to meet you for some
time this was a real treat forme and thank you for making the
time.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
You're very gracious with me and of course, I was
kidding.
It's a very interesting podcast.
I like it.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Yeah, If we could just get rid of Doug we might
have something.
Just kidding, you have heardthe high-revving, low-mileage,
late-model heard worldauthoritative podcast on
automotive nostalgia.
He is Doug.
Reaching at Doug at CarsLovecom.
I am Christian.
Reachme at Christian atCarsLovecom.
We're going to hold up the bookone last time.
You know, if you look closelyhere, I know when I've enjoyed a
(41:24):
book, because I dog hear theheck out of it.
If there's a wonderfuldescription, a great turn of
phrase, a quote that I can't getout of my mind or something
particularly memorable, I dogear it and I don't know if the
camera's going to pick this up.
It is Just dozens of dog earsin this.
He is Robert B O'Connor.
The book is Jeep Show.
(41:44):
So hey, please follow and tella friend if you've liked what
you heard.
It helps us grow.
Check out our link tree,linktree, slash carslovecom.
We like to think of it as ourdigital switchboard.
I'm sure we'll see you at thenext level Car show, showroom,
race trip, concourse.
Thank you.
Welcome back to the podcast that runs on most of its
cylinders, roughly half thetime, to all the cars I've loved
before, your authoritativepodcast on automotive nostalgia,
where every car tells a storyand every car has a culture.
You know what time it is.
It's time to plug in, dust offand get a little grease under
the fingernails and slip on thatfavorite car themed shirt.
(00:30):
I think all doug owns is carthemed t-shirt, much to the
chagrin of the people around him.
You at least wash them rightyep it is.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
It is ending up being a big part of my wardrobe.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, and you know, hey, we got to feed the beast,
okay.
So what is on the shirt?
I see some sort of wrench, plusget, get wrenching.
What does it say?
So?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
this is.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
From our wonderful father-daughter episode yes,
which we depending on.
When you hear this, uh, it mayor may not be out in its
entirety, but certainly thereare clips on uh youtube and
elsewhere with caroline andjames uh it was so good those
productions.
So huge fan, wonderful, gotsome.
(01:19):
Uh bought some merch from them.
They threw in some uh, somestickers and some other things.
So Caroline and James HH Wheelson YouTube.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Great show, a lot of fun, very high production values
, wildly entertaining, wonderfulpeople and very funny.
I would like to welcome back.
Wait, what about your shirt?
What about my shirt?
Oh yes, we're not quite readyto introduce the man of the hour
, but it will make sense.
Here I'm wearing a US Armyt-shirt for a couple of reasons.
(01:51):
Let me enter or say hello tolisteners over the past five
days in the United States andaround the world.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthis shirt, ask you how our
guests came into your life andchat a little bit about today's
trivia question as well as mychoice of shirts.
So welcome back to thoselistening over the past week
here, ashburn, virginia, not farfrom Washington DC, where
(02:16):
Doug's about an hour or so fromthat and I lived right outside
of the Beltway for years andyears.
Culver City, california,wichita, kansas, denver and,
north of the border, quebec.
So that's a good segue.
As we mentioned, we are heardaround the world.
Welcome back to listeners inFrance, italy we had a few
(02:38):
downloads in the RussianFederation, as well as Sweden.
Israel is back on the map andour listeners in Bangladesh.
So Bangladesh, I think, wasinterestingly one of the first
places where we were heardinternationally.
So again, welcome back If youwould like to learn more about
us.
Carslovedcom C-A-R-S lovedcom.
(02:58):
Doug is Doug at carslovedcom.
I'm Christian at carslovedcom.
Doug is Doug at Carslovedcom.
I'm Christian at Carslovedcom,so the shirt I'm wearing here is
a tribute to, firstly, my son,who was he in season three,
season two or three, I justcan't remember.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
We're pumping these out, I think season three.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I believe, yeah, season three.
I want to say midway throughthe season, correct.
And so he's in the Army Reserveas well as going to college
right now.
And we were texting a littlebit before the show and I told
him hey, we're having a specialguest on tonight who is a writer
, who wrote this book that I'mholding up.
It is called Jeep Show, a Novel, a Trooper at the Battle of the
(03:45):
Bulge, and it's Robert BO'Connor who's our special guest
today.
But, doug, before we hear fromthe man himself, how did Bob
come into your?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
life.
Yeah well, bob came into ourcollective lives as his book
came out I want to say the endof last year, but we'll confirm
that with Bob and his assistantreached out, saw and heard about
our podcast and thought he'd bea great fit.
Bob and I talked on Zoom for alittle bit and I agreed 100
(04:21):
percent and you know, so excitedhe's actually what our second
author right.
But our first author's got likea vehicle in the title right.
I think Brian was our firstauthor content a lot of creative
(04:45):
people.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So before we hear Bob's voice, I'm going to throw
this out there Quiz question forthe day what was a post-World
War II surplus vehicle that camein a box?
And I don't mean an Amazon boxpeople, I mean a big crate.
This huge thing would show up.
What was it, bob?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Jeep Willie.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
That's right.
Welcome to the show.
Listen to that voice.
We're so proud to have you here.
Thank you for being our guesttoday and making a little bit of
time.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I'm so pleased to talk with you guys and your
listeners, so pleased.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Amen, thank you.
So, doug, I know you want toget into the some of the
questions with with Bob here,but when Doug sent me this book
and I don't know how exactly youguys came into contact.
But doug sent this to me andsaid you gotta read this book,
I'm gonna hold it up and we'llkind of probably snippet this
and put this on youtube.
And we actually read a lot forthis show and I read constantly
(05:39):
anyways, and I picked it up.
And when did you send this tome, doug?
Like maybe a month or so ago?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
About a month ago.
Yeah, I got a lot going on.
Bob sent it to me, I read it.
I sent it to you.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So this book has been loved on a little bit people.
And I got it and I thought ohwait a minute, we have this guy
on in a few weeks.
I'm always juggling a few books.
Let me tell you something.
When this book sets the hook,it is a page turner and it
happens pretty quickly.
And I just mowed through it.
I thought it was wonderful andI've been so excited to have Bob
(06:17):
on the show.
So let's start there.
Bob, how did you get the ideafor Jeep Show and this is
available on Amazon orbookshoporg.
Bob will tell you more.
But how did you get the ideafor this book?
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Christian.
I was researching a book aboutthe American circus a nonfiction
book and I learned about acircus promoter named Jim Hetzer
.
Promoted Circus Prone in the50s and 60s.
I called his daughter to learnmore about him.
Jim is gone, I'm afraid, andshe told me about his career as
(06:56):
a circus promoter and told meabout the circus.
And then she said by the way,you probably don't know, but my
dad was an enlisted entertainerin World War II military
occupation, specialty 442.
And I said, no, I didn't evenknow that there were MOS 442s,
(07:22):
enlisted entertainers.
And she said, yes, not onlythat, but he did Jeep shows,
which were shows done at thefront lines for combat infantry,
and his Jeep show squad leaderwas Mickey Rooney.
May be my age and know whoMickey Rooney was, but for your
(07:48):
younger listeners, or even yourmiddle-aged listeners probably,
I should just say that MickeyRooney was the number one
worldwide box office star of1939.
He was a giant moneymaker forMGM Studios.
And so she told me this and Isaid, oh, my goodness.
And she said by the way, myolder my, my aunt Mabel, his
(08:09):
older sister, saved every letterhe wrote home from training
camp and from the EuropeanTheater of Operations.
So I saw I was like, oh mygoodness, primary sources.
And I said, well, can I comedown to Dallas and read those
letters?
You know, I'll put on archivalgloves and a mask.
She said, oh, don't worry, wepublish them in a book.
(08:30):
Oh, wow, and it's.
It's on Amazon and basicallygot the story of this one
soldier's actual experience asan MOS-442, an enlisted
(08:50):
entertainer.
I decided to make it fictionbecause I wanted to involve the
character in the Battle of theBulge, which was, as many of
your listeners may know, whichthe Battle of the Bulge fought
in late 1944, early 1945, in andaround Belgium and Luxembourg
(09:11):
and the German border, was thelargest battle ever fought by
the United States Army and was apivotal, pivotal battle in the
end of World War II.
So that's how I stumbled uponit.
It was too good a story toignore, too good a story to
ignore, so I abandoned my circusbook and wrote Jeep Show
(09:37):
instead.
I can add Christian and Doug.
I have since talked to many,many World War II historians,
men and women who make theirliving studying World War II,
and I've talked to many, many,many World War II buffs, and
none of them have ever heard ofthe enlisted entertainers.
(09:59):
And you know, as we've talkedabout, mickey Rooney was already
famous when he became an MOS442.
But some of the other nameswill surprise you.
These were at the time.
They were in the Army.
You know 20, 21-year-old menwith some talent, but Mel Brooks
was an MOS442.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Oh, I read about that , yeah, in his autobiography.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Ah yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, I read his autobiography a couple of years
ago.
I was surprised.
I didn't know that I didn't?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I haven't read that.
I'm so glad to hear that.
That is phenomenal.
Yeah, sammy Davis Jr was a MOSfour, four, two Burt Lancaster,
dick Van Dyke and and many, manyothers.
So it was an Van Dyke and many,many others.
So it was an.
It was an unusual combinationof talents.
(10:51):
There were, you know, about 100of these soldiers doing this
job, but several of them went onto be stars.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Now, how did they let it?
One of the things how didMickey Rooney get that close to
the front line?
So when you say entertainment,I think USO big shows in green
zones.
Jeep shows very different story, as close to the front as they
could possibly be.
How did how did that happen?
(11:21):
How did they allow that?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Well, well, two things.
One I will just talk about onething I admire about Mickey
Rooney.
By late 1943, he was under somepressure to enlist, as all the
young men his age were.
He could have honorably servedat Hal Roach Studios, 10 minutes
(11:46):
from his house in Hollywood,making films for the Signal
Corps, and Lieutenant RonaldReagan served honorably there.
He wanted to go whole hog, hewanted to get far away from
(12:12):
Hollywood.
He was living a dissolute andwild personal life there and so
he he joined the morale corpsand you know, once you're yes,
he was a star and he did getspecial treatment, but once
you're in the army you are underorders did get special
treatment, but once you're inthe army you are under orders.
So this morale corps came overto Europe thinking they were
going to be doing a fairly largeshow.
It was called Hip Hooray, it hadarmy actors and it had the army
(12:38):
soldiers in the band and theythought they were going to be,
you know, put in Paris afterParis was liberated and be doing
this show.
But the American army in this,after the breakout of Normandy
in the summer of 1944, moved sofast across France and right up
(12:59):
to the German border that thefrontline combat soldiers were
not getting any entertainment orany morale boosting thing.
A very successful Broadwaydirector, joshua Logan, who was
a captain in the morale corps,was in the army came up with the
idea of putting three of theseentertainment soldiers in a jeep
(13:22):
with a driver driving them tojust behind the front lines,
where these combat soldierswould be back for a hot meal,
maybe a uniform exchange, um andput, and having these three
soldiers put on what essentiallywas a small vaudeville show.
You know they would.
One of them would usually playan instrument in the book that
(13:45):
that is Wes, and he plays anaccordion.
They would do, they tell jokes,they do impressions, they'd
sing and dance and they wouldalways, always, pull a soldier
out of the audience and have himyou know his buddies.
They'd ask his buddies yeah,jimmy, you know he does a great
Edward G Robinson impression orhe's a great singer and they
(14:10):
would always pull a guy out ofthe audience and have him
perform for his buddies.
So that's how Mickey Rooney gotwithin sniper and artillery
range and you know, I have noindication he ever tried to quit
that or get out of it.
I'm full of admiration.
Of course, his private life inHollywood was so wild that this
(14:32):
probably just seemed like justanother risk yeah, just another
chapter.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And if you can imagine and you allude to it in
the book, I think you call itout explicitly.
But for those who may not know,mickey Rooney was could sing
Like the greatest popularsingers, could tell a joke like
the greatest popular comedians.
He could act, he could.
(14:59):
He was a triple, quadruple,quintuple threat.
He could do it all Dance.
Yeah, I mean, this guy could doit all.
And to your point, I like whatyou have here.
The book is interspersed withquotes.
What you have here, the book isinterspersed with quotes, and
the one right after the author'snote here, which effectively
serves as the introduction, ismorale is to the material, is
(15:20):
three is to one.
That's by Napoleon Bonaparte,and the reason for that is
you're given the and you do agreat job during the book of
just how miserable it is at thefront.
You're cold, your feet are wet,you can't dry out, you can't
warm up, you're either bored orterrified.
(15:45):
Absolutely, Absolutely.
And you mentioned the letters,and the letters are interspersed
here throughout the book and Ijust want to read something real
quick here.
This is from the author'sforward here At some point I
learned that one of Jim Hetzer'sdaughters had published a
collection of his letters homeMabel's letters.
The book gave me so many ideasI decided to write a novel, and
(16:09):
that was a cheap show.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
That was a cheap show .
I also got ideas from theautobiographical Unsung Valor
GI's Story of World War II by ACleland Harrison, which is one
of the people the book isdedicated to, and you say I'm
full of admiration for both men.
So how closely are the lettersembedded in the book what you
read at her house?
I used them as inspiration.
I certainly was able to, youknow.
I'll give you an example.
There was a letter about thetroop ship over to Europe and
how uncomfortable it was, and so.
I wrote a chapter in the bookand put the main character, the
protagonist, on the Queen Mary.
Main character, the protagonist, on the Queen Mary, which was
(16:54):
used as a.
It was a luxury liner, thelargest, fastest ship in the
ocean and they, during the warit became a troop ship, went
from carrying 2000 passengers inluxury to carrying 16,000 GIs
in not luxury and, interestingly, my father went over to the war
(17:15):
in Europe on the Queen Mary.
So really writing that chapterreally made me feel closer to my
dad.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, and OK, so that makes sense.
And so you have it dedicated toJim Hetzer.
Yeah, cleveland Harrison, thefellow we were just talking
about, but also there are twoo'connors there's robert e
o'connor, there's georgeo'connor.
Yeah, uh, one us army, one usnavy.
So you know hence why I'mwearing the t-shirt here.
(17:44):
But, yeah, okay, so who wasrobert?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
my dad was robert, robert e o'connor, and then my
uncle, george, his youngerbrother, who joined the Navy at
age 17, fought in the Pacific,fought in the Pacific.
So, yeah, they both those men,of course, meant a lot to me and
mean a lot to me, so I includedthem with the, the two men that
(18:06):
inspired the book Love it.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Love it.
Well, we're going to let's, I'mgoing to toss it over to here,
here to Doug, and we're going tohave you climb into the climb
into a bit of a time machine, goback in your mind to the first
car you owned and tell us whatit was and a little bit about it
.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
Doug, do you want me to take it from there?
Yeah, yeah, please.
The.
The first car I owned was aFiat.
What was my model number?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It was a 128, I thought.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
A Fiat 128, which was essentially an economy car, and
I bought it off a old friend ofmine who lived in Vermont and
drove it back to Cincinnati andquickly became acquainted with
the constant electrical problemsthat this model had by the
(19:02):
smell of burning but it's reallythe plastic coating on wires
burning.
But it got me there and I hadthat car for about a year and
then, unfortunately, I wasdriving 20 miles an hour
completely sober on a road thatreally required driving 10 miles
(19:24):
an hour and I hit a tree andtotaled it Darn it.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
They were tiny, weren't they?
They were really small.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I mean, it wasn't like the those miniature cars we
see now.
I mean it was a you know it was.
I think you could fit fourpeople in it, but but it was
relatively small and in fact oneof my memories of it was I took
it to a very goodItalian-American mechanic,
(19:57):
shadetree.
He did work in his own yard onthe weekends and the first thing
he did was take an old sparkplug and stick it in the hose
that went from the catalyticconverter and it increased the
acceleration dramatically.
I'm not recommending that and Ithink the statute of
(20:18):
limitations is over, but that'sone of the things I remember.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, and just I was looking at that car, so was it?
If you recall?
Was it a sedan or a?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
coupe.
So was it, if you recall?
Was it a sedan or a coupe?
It was a sedan, it was a sedan.
And in fact, coming back toCincinnati on an airplane, I met
my bosses.
I worked at Procter Gamble, avery honorable company, and I
met my boss's boss's boss on theairplane back and he asked me
(20:53):
if I would give him a ride homefrom the airport and of course I
said yes, but as we werehalfway there, I had to explain
to him what that smell was.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yes, it's not my burning wire, cologne, sir.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
I have bathed recently.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
It's really the car.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, you know that could have been a need for a
promotion.
He calls your boss, ultimatelybrings it.
We got to get this guy's greatyeah.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
We can't have this guy driving around in this Right
Right.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Move him up to an alpha or something.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Well, something worked.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, so this is one of our newer questions which I
love asking people and you haveone of the greatest answers in
our preamble.
Was there a song, a tape, a CDradio station that comes to mind
when you think about that Fiat,that yellow 1973 Fiat 128 sedan
(21:49):
?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
128 sedan.
Yes, as I said, I bought it offa friend in New England and
drove it back to Cincinnati.
Along with the car, I think hegave me a couple of cans of
10W40 motor oil and a tape, acassette tape.
This is in, you know, 1979, acassette tape of Linda
Ronstadt's greatest hits.
It was the only tape I had.
So I listened to LindaRonstad's greatest hits about 22
(22:17):
times on the way back and Itell you what talk about
geniuses.
Linda Ronstad doesn't get old.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Oh, voice of an Angel , yes, voice of an Angel so
talented.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So talented, yeah, and a fine person as well, very
cultured and very humble.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Yeah, and those, yeah , those were the days where you
couldn't find a radio station,especially if you're moving
between states, because you'redriving yes, what do you do?
And probably even had to flipthat tape over.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Oh, yes, of course, of course had to flip that tape
over?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
oh yes, of course of course, yep, so, and that's a
linda ronstadt, right, youprobably needed a break from her
after that for a while.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Yeah, I took a couple of years off, but that's all it
took.
Yeah, that's all it took, andit's still a good memory because
you're.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
You're smiling about it and laughing, oh, absolutely
so.
So we mentioned the reliabilityof the Fiat and unfortunately,
it was destroyed due to anaccident.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
You were saved.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
But what was the replacement car for the?
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Fiat and was.
You know, you know I'm, I'm andI, I.
I didn't tell you this beforeso that you'd let me onto the
show, but and, and I have foundthe show to be, you know,
(23:45):
obviously I listened to severalepisodes and found that it would
be very interesting, but Iwould have said before very
interesting, but I would havesaid before I'm a point A to
point B guy, not a car guy,although that is changing a
little bit now that you've mademe think about things.
(24:07):
So I found the Volkswagen Jetta.
It was a two-door sedan,probably a 1982 model.
I found it to be verysatisfactory.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, yeah, and that's where they were.
And just looking thatgeneration, yeah, it was the
first generation of the Jetta.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah, had a nice shape, don't you think?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, I actually do like it the sedan and the coupe
and introduced in 1979 at thefrankfurt auto show.
So uh and uh built at thewolfsburg plant in germany.
So yeah, really, really neatcar and uh, good for the time.
(24:47):
Uh, stick shift as well, stickshift course.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, and there's a good story there, or I think
you're just a stick shift guygoing all the way forward,
including your current car, yes,in 2004.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Oh, the second car that I totaled and walked away
from was a 1995 Crown VicInterceptor, and maybe some of
your listeners have bought asecondhand police car and was
(25:35):
really, really liked that carand was hit by a fellow who fell
asleep on the way home from hisjob baking Wonder Bread through
the night.
So that car was totaled and Ican't remember why, but I went
and bought a brand new car,which was kind of, you know, a
part hard to do, but maybebecause I'd just been in an
accident, I don't know.
(25:56):
And I bought a 2000 in 2004,.
I bought a Honda Accord fourdoor, five speed manual and I
told myself when I bought it youknow I will drive this car, for
it says I'm buying a new carand you know I'll drive this car
for 20 years and and then youknow I'll I'll sell it if it's
(26:16):
still around, and the 20 yearspassed last August and I'm
keeping it.
I love that car and and and youknow it has paid for itself
several times over it's also funto drive.
You know it's smooth and it'sgot some pickup, especially when
(26:39):
you downshift it's got somereally nice pickup.
And, as I was telling Christian, you'd think.
With the mileage on it.
I only drive to church once aweek, but you know I worked out
of a home office for a while andthat so it's only got one
hundred and fifty thousand mileson it.
So I'm expecting at leastanother 10 years, if, if, I can
(27:04):
find tires for it.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah Well, just just make sure you keep it clean and
waxed in your new climate whereyou're living in the Midwest Big
change with salt.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Aha, yes, because Memphis, tennessee, where I
lived until three weeks ago, notonly do we not have salt on the
roads, we do not have trucksthat come out and plow the roads
.
So once every I don't know twoand a half years, when it snows,
just everybody just stops forthree days.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
yeah, that's uh yeah, christian, christian got snow
for the first time in foreverand it was a record snow in
pensacola.
Oh my god, yeah, I live in thepanhandle of.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
yeah, we didn't get into that with bob, but I live
in the panhandle of Florida,doug lives in the mid-Atlantic.
I lived in the DC area for 20years, which is how we met Down
here in Pensacola.
That thing happened.
We broke a record that it stoodsince 1895 or something, and it
(28:10):
was actually.
The snowfall was perfectbecause it started snowing the
second half of the day.
Everybody went home, stayedhome.
I mean, we're talking a lot ofpeople here.
a lot of kids had never seensnow in their lives, but it was
perfect.
It snowed for a day, it stopped.
Everybody made their snowmen.
And then it just started andthen the temperature just zoomed
(28:37):
right back up and it was gone.
And, like you're saying, if itsnows not that often there's no
reason to pay for a fleet oftrucks with their fleet of salt
spreaders with your mouths andtons of salt Exactly idling.
So just shut everything down.
But Doug is right.
Um, I bought a car recentlyfrom.
I shouldn't get into this story.
(28:58):
All right, let's just send itback to doug I won't I won't
even open a painful can of worms, okay no, it's, it's, it's a
good story.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
So, uh, yeah, you know.
Um, just thinking back aboutthe crown vic and on one of our
previous episodes with JamesMcRae, my friend from high
school, he had a Chevy Capriceand it could have doubled as a
police car and he wears Stetson,as I recall.
(29:27):
I think he had the big intenton the back and he got through
some speed traps back in the day.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I will say that this was a white Crown Vic, so an
unmarked car, but it did havesearchlights on the front and if
I pulled into a 7-Eleven, theparking lot of the 7-Eleven
would empty within about twominutes.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
And also did you notice that when you were
driving?
On an interstate everybody runsup on you going and immediately
settles down to 60?
.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
I forgot.
That is absolutely right.
Right, and I did get stopped acouple of times by real police
who wanted to make sure that Ididn't have a light.
You know that I wasn't.
Didn't have some light underthe uh because, um, apparently
you know, some bad people will.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Yes, do that, impersonating an officer, yeah
yeah and uh.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Then after they figured that out, then they
would marvel at the giant sizeof this crowd.
I think it was a 95 and it wasabout a block long.
Yeah, yeah, but it's tiny.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Growing up my buddies .
Good friend God, I'd forgottenabout this until you mentioned
it.
Maybe it was a Caprice or aMarquis, something similarly
land yachtish.
And when you drove in thatthing.
It was like being in anairplane like a little bit of
turbulence, but this smoothsuspension going down.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Go ahead, Doug.
Very smooth, designed in thelate 70s, early 80s.
Very smooth designed in thelate 70s, early 80s and they
used those body-on-framevehicles forever.
They made so much.
You know, designed in theReagan era for sure.
How long did you have thatCrown Vic for before the
unfortunate accident?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
I had it for about nine months before it was
totaled.
The guy that hit me went to thehospital.
Um, he did not look like he wasgoing to die but he was
staggering around and bleedingand, um, I just stepped out of
the.
I had never been hit in thechest by an airbag before.
So that is kind of a uh, youknow it gets your attention.
(31:50):
You're a little bit.
You know you're a little bitshocked.
But basically I got out andwalked over to the guy's car to
see what's going on and when theambulance came for the guy, the
ambulance guy looked at my carand said, yeah, I understand why
you walked away.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah, it's a wonder he wasn't hurt worse.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Yeah, but there you are.
Well, he kind of glanced.
He hit me over the rightheadlight.
He didn't hit me right in thecenter of my giant motor.
You know, he glanced, he hit meover the right headlight.
So I think that's what savedhim, yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, for sure.
Oh yeah, Before we go muchfurther.
Doug always likes to ask peopleabout their dream car.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
always likes to ask people about their dream car.
So what would your dream car be?
What would you love to have?
Yeah, 1940, I think it's a 43Jeep.
Willie, using the Willey's plans, made 650,000 Jeeps during
(33:00):
World War II For your listenersin the Russian Federation.
About 200,000 of them were sentto Russia as part of what was
called lend-ase.
Really, where we were beforethe war.
We were supplying the Brits andthe Russians with much needed
war material and the Jeepsbecame quite a favorite with the
(33:24):
Russians.
And so, yeah, my dream carwould be a fully restored 1942
Jeep Willie.
And what I would do, doug is Iwould.
I would also look for anappropriate trailer.
(33:45):
There was a trailer that wasmade to fit that Jeep and I
would fill it with books, withmy book, and I would go cross
country, oh wow, stopping atbookstores, and I don't want to
only call them, like the daybefore.
So I'd be leaving Portland,maine, and I, you know, I'd call
, you know I'd call somewhere inNew Hampshire and I'd say I can
(34:06):
be at your store tomorrow.
Get on the phone, you know, anddrive across country, and you
know, do that.
So, jeep 1942 model Jeep.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Willie, well, you know there's always one for sale
, and I'm just thinking aboutour listeners.
So our listeners go tojeepshowbookcom if you want to
find Bob.
Bob might be interested in yourJeep, yeah absolutely.
He's going to give it a goodhome and it's going to live on
full of books.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
Yes, and probably be part.
I make presentations toveterans groups about these
enlisted entertainers and youknow I could drive the Jeep into
some of these auditoriums, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
So yes.
So I'd put it to work programs,uh, yeah, so, yes, yeah, so I
put it to, I put it to work.
And what a perfect segue,because it was we wanted to ask
you about important causes toyou.
Yeah, so I know you just tippedit a little bit, but there's
actually, uh, you're donating,uh, some money per book sale.
Yeah, to shield and stripes.
(35:09):
Please tell us a little bit.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Yeah, there's an organization a very estimable
organization called Shield andStripes and they help veterans
and first responders and, ofcourse, as you well know, many,
many first responders are alsoveterans.
They help veterans and firstresponders with mental health
and physical health andcounseling in a very intensive
(35:35):
program.
And I met these guys and was soimpressed that I wanted to
support them.
And you know, given that thebook is about the Army, I just
felt that that was anappropriate thing to do.
I will tell you.
I told them I will donate adollar per copy sold to Shields
(35:56):
and Stripes.
I said I would donate all theprofits from the sale of the
book, but a dollar per copy isway, way, way more.
All right, All right.
So Shields and Stripes, Allright, All right.
So Shields and Stripes, I'mproud to be helping them in my
small way, and you know in myopinion and, of course, thinking
(36:24):
of your son, christian you know, we cannot do enough for our
veterans.
We cannot do enough for ourveterans and I wanted to do
something.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Lovely.
Thank you for that.
That is perfect, and let's justcall that out
Shieldsandstripesorg.
Again, shieldsandstripesorg.
That's the organization thatBob mentioned just now.
So yeah, as we ramp down hereand guide the podcast gently, I
(36:50):
have go ahead I have one more,I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
Um, we can't let bob off the show without asking him
what his follow-up to the jeepshow is going to be.
Um, well, your list he canshare.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah, I'm.
I know I'm happy to.
I'm working on a sequel.
I don't know what motor vehiclewill be the center of attention
, perhaps, perhaps theprotagonist.
You've given me an idea.
Perhaps the protagonist gets aJeep, willie, or one of the ones
that Ford built as a surpluspurchase in 1947 because they
(37:29):
were sold to the general publicfor about $1,000 after the war.
There were many extras, so itmay be Jeep-centric, but I do
want to send the protagonist tocollege on the GI Bill.
Love that Several million,about 6 million GIs went to
college.
On the GI Bill.
Who would like my dad, whowould not have gone to college
(37:53):
without the GI Bill?
So I want to explore that.
In the meantime, theprotagonist's wife, who is a
much more talented entertainerthan he is, will be working in
New York.
So I've started the sequel.
Thanks for asking, doug.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Yeah, well, they you know, is it fair to call your
book?
Speaker 3 (38:08):
historical fiction.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
Well, they lovely you know, is it fair to call your
book historical fiction?
Speaker 3 (38:13):
It is not only fair, it is completely accurate.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yep, I, I could not get enough of that book.
Just the amount of detail andjust what, of what was going on
in France and what they wereseeing and you know,
unfortunately, unfortunatelycoming across some really just
(38:36):
horrific scenes.
Right, but the detail was sowell done.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Yeah, and I, like you , mentioned the troop ship of
their trip on the way over.
You have a gift for describingthings.
I felt like I was right therein the home.
I felt like I was on the deck.
And then when they, when theywent over this book, just kind
of I wasn't expecting it, itbecame this.
I was locked in, man, it was apage turner.
(39:02):
I couldn't get enough and Ijust mowed through it.
So hey, go ahead.
I wanted to.
You know one reason I made itfiction is.
I, you know.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
I wanted to.
You know, one reason I made itfiction is I.
You know there is brilliantnonfiction books about all
aspects of World War II.
I wanted to reach some peoplewho, likes you know who need a
story.
You know who.
And so in this story which I,as you can tell, I dramatically
(39:37):
over-researched but that gave mea wealth of details to choose
from, you know, someone who isnot going to read a nonfiction
about what it was like to be inthe army and fight in Europe in
World War II will come away withsome understanding of what that
was like.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Right right right, I love that.
Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
I've heard that every Jeep tells a story as well.
There you go, there you go.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
New book.
Hey, I have another book ideafor you, and this one's free,
Bob.
Ok, here's a little historicalfiction for you.
Two lifelong buffoonish friendsstart a podcast about cars.
Ok, you think you can take thatprompt from there.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
I have no idea who we're talking about Christian.
I can tell you that will neversell.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
Oh my gosh, the perfect punchline.
We can't end it any better thanthat.
Thank you for the perfect end.
He is Robert B O'Connor.
The book I'm holding it up isJeep Show.
You have to get it, paigeTurner.
This is at the confluence of somany wonderful things History,
(40:40):
supporting our troops, soldiers,cars, interesting people, but
terrible podcast hosts.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Thank you, bob, for being part of the show.
Total trip man.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I've been looking forward to meet you for some
time this was a real treat forme and thank you for making the
time.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
You're very gracious with me and of course, I was
kidding.
It's a very interesting podcast.
I like it.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Yeah, If we could just get rid of Doug we might
have something.
Just kidding, you have heardthe high-revving, low-mileage,
late-model heard worldauthoritative podcast on
automotive nostalgia.
He is Doug.
Reaching at Doug at CarsLovecom.
I am Christian.
Reachme at Christian atCarsLovecom.
We're going to hold up the bookone last time.
You know, if you look closelyhere, I know when I've enjoyed a
(41:24):
book, because I dog hear theheck out of it.
If there's a wonderfuldescription, a great turn of
phrase, a quote that I can't getout of my mind or something
particularly memorable, I dogear it and I don't know if the
camera's going to pick this up.
It is Just dozens of dog earsin this.
He is Robert B O'Connor.
The book is Jeep Show.
(41:44):
So hey, please follow and tella friend if you've liked what
you heard.
It helps us grow.
Check out our link tree,linktree, slash carslovecom.
We like to think of it as ourdigital switchboard.
I'm sure we'll see you at thenext level Car show, showroom,
race trip, concourse.
Thank you.
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