The DJ-3A Dispatcher finds another niche
It all began at a resort in Acapulco named the Las Brisas, featuring luxury rooms built into the hillside but without elevators. So they needed to get the guests up the winding roads to their room and utilized up to 50 of the DJ-3A Jeeps (flat fender Jeeps) like this week’s spot that I saw at the 2024 Chicago Auto Show. These special order Jeeps were mostly painted Tropical Rose Pink and led to the creation of the “Surrey” for Domestic use, named the “Gala” for export as rental Jeeps and powered by the Go Devil engine, 60 hp & 105 ft./lbs. torque mated to a 3-speed manual transmission.
Kaiser, the owner of Jeep at the time, also owned a 1,100-room resort on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and made rental Surrey’s available to tour the island. The Surrey became famous after its use in popular movies like Blue Hawaii starring Elvis Presley. The popularity of the Surrey led to the creation of Barbie Jeeps, which were available in other special order colors such as Cerulean Blue, and Jade tint Green. Other special colors, such as those purchased by Hertz Rent-A-Car and Pepsi, were available as a special order.
Approximately 1,200 Jeep Surrey’s were made between 1959 and 1964 and today have a significant following. The Pink Surrey displayed here was the 53rd DJ-3A built in January 1960 and now resides at a Chicago area museum. They come up for sale occasionally, a lot of them being projects, but good examples are selling for just under 40 grand. Nothing says beach life more than the Jeep Surry.
RELATED Spot: Read about another famous Jeep, the Tuxedo.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest spot. Come back next Friday for another one of my finds along with some of its history. I have lots of other spots on our site. Go see if you owned one once or knew someone who did. Have a super weekend.
Savage On Wheels 
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