Willys Jeep in Bucharest house yard (©Valentin Mandache)
I encountered this vehicle, which is a Willys Jeep, the World War II iconic jeep (the make is embossed on the engine bonnet), in Domenii quarter of Bucharest, itself an area built up in Art Deco, Modernist and Neo-Romanian architectural styles roundabout the great conflagration. The army car, which is excellently restored and kept, suits thus wonderfully the surrounding architectural designs. I am curious how the the vehicle was acquired by its actual owner, as this type of US Army motor is rare in Romania, a country that was on America’s opposite camp during both the war itself (with the exception of the period 23 August ’44 – 9 May ’45) and the Cold War that followed. I know that some of these jeeps were captured from the Red Army on the eastern front, which were part of the US support of the Soviet Union against Germany and its allies, transported by sea to the Russian held Arctic port of Murmansk and then distributed on the huge front-line, some of them ending up as captured material as far south as Romania. King Michael, the sovereign during wartime and a passionate car collector, has among his collection a Jeep of that origins. I also believe that this particular vehicle could have been acquired in the last decade or so on the open antiquities market (ebay, etc.) once Romania got rid of the communist dictatorship and joined again the more normal world.
Willys Jeep in Bucharest house yard (©Valentin Mandache)
