This top & bow set came out of Napa valley California, in '96 or' 97, and was advertised as fitting a 1945 CJ2A. At the time, I had only had my '46 CJ2A for a couple of months, and was not aware that they had been manufactured any earlier than that, so I presumed that the owner was just off by a year.

The seller was the son of the original owner, and was "cleaning up shop" after inheriting the estate, and he remembered the jeep from his youth. The jeep was used as a work rig around the farm, but the top was rarely used since the weather was usually good. Some time during the early years of use, the jeep was destroyed in an accident, and the top sat there in storage, forgotten. His recollection was that it had been there since the late '40s.

During the cleanup, he found the top, and advertised it in one of the local Swap/Trade type newspapers. A friend was in the area at the time, informed me of it, and offered to buy it and bring it back to me. So I bought it sight unseen, based on his opinion that it was in very good shape. For being 50+ years old at the time, it is in great shape.

However, it doesn't quite fit right, and I've come to the conclusion that it was meant for an earlier variant of CJ-2A than mine.

1) the door hinge pins are about 2" too short to fit properly on my CJ-2A. I've come to the conclusion that this top was designed to fit earlier lower door hinge sockets. Earlier hinge sockets protruded upwards into the tub side opening, while later hinges were flush. My tub has flush hinges. See the Door Hinge Socket page

2) the door latches are on the door jambs, not the doors. I've been informed recently that the very early '45 jeeps used this style, but haven't been able to cofirm when the change occured.

3) the rear and side canvas does not overlap the tub. They barely reach the top of the tub rail. The canvas has certainly shrunk somewhat, so I hqave to see if I can stretch it back out again.

So you see, I'm still not certain of what I have, so if you're looking to take dimension from what I have, be forewarned.

Last updated: Feb. 20, 2005