Olive Drab Drivers members Ryan Maise, Mike Terry, John Yerry and Jeffery “Al” Goines socialize around Yerry’s 1942 Ford GPW during the club’s monthly meeting at the Chuy’s restaurant on Rosedale Highway.
“If we don’t restore the history of this stuff, who will?” asked Yerry. “Who’s ever going to see a jeep from World War II if we don’t do it?” In addition to the mechanical challenges of refurbishing a vehicle that is 75-plus years old, Yerry pointed out that a lot of painstaking research can go into restoring it to its original To learn more about condition. the Olive Drab Drivers or to contact the club, visit “You see, both Ford and olivedrabdrivers.com. Willys made jeeps during World War II,” he explained. “But Ford put an ’F’ on every part of theirs, right down to each individual bolt.” According to Goines, finding such specific parts used to be something of a challenge, but these days, the Internet is a restorer’s best friend. “The Army stocked so many spare parts, you can still find a lot of original parts online,” he said. “Otherwise, you can get reproduction parts for just about every nut and bolt.” In addition to restoring the vehicles, the club takes pride in displaying them to the public and rolls out to a number of community events throughout the year. “In the Veterans Day Parade, we will have a three-block long column,” Yerry said. “We’re normally the biggest entry in there.” They also make regular appearances at veterans events, Memorial Day services, and visits to retirement homes in the community, as well as at their monthly club gatherings at the Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler on Rosedale Highway. “We normally have a pretty good turnout for our meetings,” Yerry said. “There are clubs out there that don’t have as big a meet once a year as we have once a month.”
Olive Drab Driver Chip Goforth shows off the engine of his Korean War era Willys jeep. Unlike other car clubs, the Olive Drab Drivers doesn’t collect dues from its members or charge fees to show vehicles, and anyone with an interest in preserving a piece of military history is welcome to join them. “We’re just a cool, odd group and I wouldn’t belong to any other club,” Yerry said. bakersfieldlife.com
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