Original purpose of the fold down windshield?

TJ Jim

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Why does the front windshield fold down? A bit of fun maybe, nostalgia maybe. WWll it folds down to point your rifle out the front?
 
I’m sure it’s just there for as you said, nostalgia. But I’ve always wondered if anyone has ever folded it down for an actual useful reason…
 
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To put gurneys with seriously injured soldiers on the front and still have IV access is what I’ve seen.

In seriously muddy crap (think Europe in the Spring of 1945 when snow thaws, windshield wipers don’t really get mud off that great

Then they just kept the feature
 
Originally it helped the fit into smaller crates for shipping. Here are pictures…

In a combat situation, it reduced the chance that your position would be given away by a windshield reflecting the sun light and also aided in the ability to return fire.

Now, I think it is just a nod to the heritage of a Jeep.
 
To put gurneys with seriously injured soldiers on the front and still have IV access is what I’ve seen.

In seriously muddy crap (think Europe in the Spring of 1945 when snow thaws, windshield wipers don’t really get mud off that great

Then they just kept the feature

I think you're right. The old wiper blades ran off of engine vacuum and were mostly useless. Also, the defroster was a joke. So, in mud or winter they had to fold the windshield just to see where they were going. We had two vintage Jeeps on our ship in the late sixties and I drove one all the time we were on the beach. It was fun to drive, but they were grossly under-powered compared to modern Jeeps.
 
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We had two vintage Jeeps on our ship in the late sixties and I drove one all the time we were on the beach. It was fun to drive, but they were grossly under-powered compared to modern Jeeps.
They had more than enough power for their intended purpose which did not include highway cruising speeds. I drove one in Vietnam and while it's top speed was only 45 or so it was fast enough for me.
 
Americans and their obsession with horsepower! High school bud had a '48 Willys truck. Even though it had a Chevy straight 6 transplanted into it as well as an overdrive, its top practical speed was about 45-50. Fast enough as long as you stayed off the freeway! Still faster than a VW microbus...
 
Knowing the military it had several designed purposes now that I think about it.
 
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They had more than enough power for their intended purpose which did not include highway cruising speeds. I drove one in Vietnam and wile it's top speed was only 45 or so it was fast enough for me at the time.

I suppose you're right. You must have had different gearing, or something, because I could not get it over 40 going downhill with a 50 mph tailwind. We had trailers that carried antenna sections. We landed somewhere, LCVP'd the Jeep and trailer ashore, then drove across the sand to the antenna site and erected the antenna. Antennae were part of a litorral electronic navigation system, obsoleted by the SATNAV system, now known as GPS (after a few improvements). Never had a problem with getting stuck.
 
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Americans and their obsession with horsepower! High school bud had a '48 Willys truck. Even though it had a Chevy straight 6 transplanted into it as well as an overdrive, its top practical speed was about 45-50. Fast enough as long as you stayed off the freeway! Still faster than a VW microbus...

Damn German lover. ;)
 
And sadly, the 300D makes the microbus look like it has sports car acceleration.

The 77 300D I drove in HS was clocked 0-60 @24.8 seconds. But it did have enough torq to pull my mothers horse trailer to shows with two horses in it.....not sure that was a bright idea but she did it for years.
 
The 77 300D I drove in HS was clocked 0-60 @24.8 seconds. But it did have enough torq to pull my mothers horse trailer to shows with two horses in it.....not sure that was a bright idea but she did it for years.
I used to work with a guy that had a VW bus that he'd built with a bored engine and a specially geared transmission called the "Freeway Flyer". Always wanted to race the guy on the freeway up Carmel hill in my 240D. We both said the same thing to each other: "You'll out accelerate me in the beginning, but I'll reach the top of the hill before you." We never did get around to doing it, unfortunately.
 
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One of the reasons I was attracted to the TJ was because of the windshield.

My dad's old CJ that I drove through high school had it. Of course it was more readily functionable and fun to lower while cruising the beaches.

I haven't tried to lower mine but aren't there extra steps? Removing part of the roll bar perhaps?
 
Originally it helped the fit into smaller crates for shipping. Here are pictures…

In a combat situation, it reduced the chance that your position would be given away by a windshield reflecting the sun light and also aided in the ability to return fire.

Now, I think it is just a nod to the heritage of a Jeep.

I used to restore MGAs and they were often shipped overseas that way when new. Other versions were known as "CKD" models meaning Completely Knocked Down and they shipped in smaller crates. They were easier to ship but they also beat certain export & import taxes because the final assembly was done in the country where they were sold to the end consumer.

I never got one in this condition. :( It took about 5 minutes to install the windscreen when it arrived. After 5 years of use it took 5 hours to remove one due to seized hardware!

EDIT: Imagine getting a new car and having oil on it from the one that was shipped above it! :ROFLMAO:

MGA 1.jpg
 
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I used to restore MGAs and they were often shipped overseas that way when new. Other versions were known as "CKD" models meaning Completely Knocked Down and they shipped in smaller crates. They were easier to ship but they also beat certain export & import taxes because the final assembly was done in the country where they were sold to the end consumer.

I never got one in this condition. :( It took about 5 minutes to install the windscreen when it arrived. After 5 years of use it took 5 hours to remove one due to seized hardware!

View attachment 380734

My folks had a red MGA, with the rare hardtop. Half the time in the morning, it wouldn't start. My mother would roll it down the driveway, and pop the clutch in 2nd. That would get it running about half of those times. The rest of the time, she'd dog it over to the side at the bottom of the driveway and we'd walk back up and take the truck. Dad would get home from work, "do something" under the hood and drive it back to the top.