|
 It
all began in March of 2007 when
an ad
was posted on our website for a 1948 Jeep
Willys that was for sale by the original owner. As soon
as we read the ad we knew that we had to have it. Although the
Jeep itself is rare and unique, it was more about the history of the
Jeep and its owner that intrigued us.
Colonel Nick Fallier,
the 85 year old original owner of the Willys was a decorated Fighter Pilot in
World War II and he bought the Jeep new in 1948 when he returned
from his overseas tour of duty. He had cherished the Jeep for over
59 years and it was even a regular on the old television series "Gentle
Ben". Since nobody was driving the Jeep anymore the decision
was made to sell it.
We immediately bought
the Jeep and booked our flights to Florida to pick it up. At
that point
 our plan was simply to spend some time with Nick and then
drive the old Jeep back to Arizona and call it a day. We
thought that the 2,200 mile trip in an old Jeep would be a cool way
to spend a few weeks and see some great sights along the way.
Once we got going it didn't take long to realize that we had made a
huge mistake by limiting ourselves to only a 2,200 mile trip...we
were having way too much fun to end the trip in Arizona. It
was soon decided that we should drive our 48' Jeep through all 48
States and do it in honor of the war veterans that
spent countless hours and miles in similar Jeeps, but in brutal
conditions. We anticipate the entire journey to be in excess
of 18,000 miles and we will be doing it over a 4-5 year period
starting in May 2007.
We will end the trip back where we started in Tallahassee Florida so
we can spend a few more days with Colonel Nick. There will be
no short-cuts on this trip. The shortest route to go through
all 48 states is approximately 9,000 miles. Considering the
fact that our Jeeps average speed is only 30 mph we are forced to
stay off of the Interstates and stick to the back roads the whole
way.
Because of this we are estimating our total mileage to be between
18,000 and 20,000 miles which should equate to 628 hours of driving. Go
here to check out
our forecasted statistics. |
Our cause
 Other
than having the adventure of a lifetime in one of the coolest
vehicles ever created, we are using this trip as a means to promote
and support some of the charities and foundations that we are
passionate about. With our
JeepBrokers.com
website getting over 1,000,000
visitors per month and our aggressive promotion of this trip, it
is a great vehicle (pardon the pun) for helping a good cause.
One of the things that Nick talked about when we met him was the
lack of support and recognition that injured soldiers receive when
they come home from battle, so we have decided to support and raise
awareness for all of the injured and disabled war veterans.
Throughout this trip we are going to promote and support the
Wounded Warrior
Project and we will be posting more details on our support strategy
and fund raising programs in the near future so please check back
soon. Feel free to send us your fund raising ideas or
suggestions
here. |
|
The more support we get,
the more support we can give.
We are making this trip for the sheer adventure and have no
expectations of benefiting financially from it. We do have
plans to develop and implement revenue generating programs
throughout this trip in order to support the above charities. We are searching for
companies that can help us reduce our costs by donating various items or services
and in return they will get their company or product aggressively
promoted by us for the duration of this trip and beyond...we all
win.
We are looking for
companies that can provide the following:
(and in return we will promote your company and products to all of
the 1,000,000 visitors we receive each month)
-
Lodging and meals
-
Gas, oil and
transfer case fluid (see last years trip)
-
Jeep Willys parts
(Thank you SC Jeep Parts)
-
Roll bar and bikini
top
-
Auto transporters
and towing
-
Tires
-
Rain gear and
adventure clothing (the Jeep has no top or doors)
-
Printing company
that can provide decals for our Jeep
(Thank you Doty Graphics)
-
Communications (CB
radio, cell phone, GPS technology)
-
Media & promotion
companies
more information on
becoming a sponsor
We would like to thank the following sponsors for supporting us in
2007 and 2008...
HermTheOverDriveGuy.com |
