Our First Baja Vehicle... 1965

When my dad heard about the great fishing in Baja, off the beach he had to go! When he was told he needed a Jeep to get to those beaches, he was sure that was a deal maker, as he had a wife and a 7 year old boy to bring along and a little Jeep would not work for a family. The friend informed him that Jeep made a station wagon that had 4 wheel drive and could fit the bill! That was maybe the fastest vehicle purchases my dad ever made?

Kaiser-Jeep Corporation magazine add, 1963:



We did a lot of traveling over the old roads of Baja in the Jeep from 1965-1968. Our first trip was to Gonzaga Bay in 1965, south from San Felipe. In 1966, we did the peninsula run from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas (800 dirt miles then). In 1967 we went to L.A. Bay, via Gonzaga and Calamajue. Other trips included several to Nuevo Mazatlan on the gulf and San Antonio del Mar on the Pacific, both for surf fishing. We also did the Ensenada-San Felipe drive (only 10 miles were paved, in '67)



At Alfonsina's...



At Nuevo Mazatlan (Agua de Chale)... before the trees were planted, Luis had built these tall cabanas we pulled into.



The Jeep had the Rambler V-8, automatic transmission and air conditioning. It took everywhere and rarely a problem... I remember it not starting due to vapor lock on the grade north of Comondu and a Mexican man and son drove up in old Willys wagon, opened the hood, amazed by the size of our engine and all the other stuff, and got us going. Seeing other vehicles on the road to La Paz was rare back in those days.

My dad traded the '65 Jeep for a 1970 Wagoneer (AMC had just bought Jeep and added their little logo to the tailgate). Sadly, that was not a good buy and he soon traded it for a '72 4WD Chevy Suburban (he liked lots of room for packing gear). It lasted only a couple years before he changed it for a Ford wagon, his last car.

Quote: Originally posted by Barry A.

No. Back then all pics were, and are, on slides, and never converted to digital. Barry

I had the same genre Kaiser/Jeep pick up when I was 19. The problem with mine was the over head cam 6 cylinder crap motor. The 4 speed manual in 4 low could out crawl any of my friends Fords and Chevys at the time (when the motor was running:mad.

[Edited on 1-3-2015 by chippy]

Quote: Originally posted by chippy

I had the same genre Kaiser/Jeep pick up when I was 19. The problem with mine was the over head cam 6 cylinder crap motor. The 4 speed manual in 4 low could out crawl any of my friends Fords and Chevys at the time (when the motor was running:mad. [Edited on 1-3-2015 by chippy]

As I recall our engine in the Dodge Army Ambulance was a flat-head 6 cyl. and was bullet-proof, at least it was while we were abusing it-------but pathetic power---------the low speed tranny made up for lack of power most of the time. Going over the horrible grades to Gonzaga was a challenge as even with granny-gear it still did not have enough power and scared us to death. Those were the days-------------------

I can't recall if it had "A-Trac"-------we never could figure out what all those buttons on the dash were for, and since it was "Army" we were afraid to push any of them. (Boom??)

Barry

Now now Barry, you know that A-TRAC is near and dear to my heart and only on certain models of 4WD Toyota and Lexus vehicles!

I even had a badge made...



INFO for anyone wondering:
A-TRAC (Active Traction Control) is a system that utilizes the ABS brakes and spin sensors at each tires to stop a spin when traction is lost and matches the rotation to the other tire on the axles...

In essence locking the tires as a locking differential does, but with brakes and not gears inside the differential. As soon as you have moved ahead of the poor traction, the tires rotate as normal open differential tires do. This allows easy steering on the trail, unlike lockers which make steering difficult. It is like automatic lockers on all 4 tires, and only active when you need traction.

I personally found that having this system on all 4 tires, instead of a locker on just the rear tires gave me superior control and security to go nearly anywhere, and beyond where any other stock, non-modified 4WD truck can go.

David, I loved your photos, but that 1963 magazine ad is priceless !! "Also, I got...."


[Edited on 1-11-2015 by Bob H]

Love the old pics.

Just took my two boys down for 9 days over Thanksgiving and 8 days over New Years.

I have probably 10,000 pictures from about two dozen trips down since they were 4 years old. Gonna do the first boat trip with my oldest this year crossing from San Carlos to Santa Rosalia, down to Mulege and Loreto, maybe on to La Paz.




[Edited on 1-12-2015 by JZ]

[Edited on 1-12-2015 by BajaNomad]

Quote: Originally posted by Barry A.

No. Back then all pics were, and are, on slides, and never converted to digital. Barry

When I was 16, I took my first trip without parents along, driving my VW powered Baja dune buggy (Myers Manx with roof rack and side curtains)... Apr. 1974... To Gonzaga Bay with side trips along the way. A Baja 500 style loop.

Old road south of Puertecitos, was steep and rocky! 1974:



I repeated the same trip the next year

On the road to El Marmol... Apr. 1975:

Good "stuff" .. thanks for the time warp

Quote: Originally posted by wessongroup

Good "stuff" .. thanks for the time warp