Video: Buster Keaton Pitches the 1960 Jeep Line

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Here’s the legendary silent film actor Buster Keaton to pitch the 1960 Jeep line from WIllys Motors.

 

Called “the great stone face” for his deadpan delivery, Buster Keaton was a comedy king of Hollywood’s silent era. Film critic Roger Ebert declared him  “the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies,” while Hollywood historians say he was the best physical comedian of all time. That’s saying a lot, as his contemporaries included Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. His setup here is brief, but it surely drew the attention of television viewers in 1960. A few years later he took similar roles for the  Ford Motor Company.

This spot drills down on the uncanny flexibility of Willys Jeep vehicles. In 1960 they included the univeral CJ-5, the stretched-wheelbase CJ-6, the 4WD pickup, and the cabover FC-150 and FC-170 trucks. (See our feature on the Forward Control Jeeps here.) Two engines did the bulk of the work: the F-head 134 CID Hurricane four with 72 hp and the Super Hurricane 226 CID L-head six with 105 hp, a legacy of Kaiser-Frazer. As the announcer notes, the Jeep platform’s tremendous versatility was based on its multiple power take-off locations and on the nearly infinite variety of upfitter options—from posthole augers to backhoes. See the many things a Jeep could do in the video below.

 

6 thoughts on “Video: Buster Keaton Pitches the 1960 Jeep Line”

  1. (your local Jeep dealer) “Look him up tonight, call him up tomorrow!”

  2. Give yourself a treat and look up on YouTube some of the stunts Keaton did. A century before CGI he was doing visual gags that still amaze. A time when Hollywood was interested in entertainment rather than social justice virtue signaling

  3. In 1959, when my friend and I were 15, his dad bought a farm and I went to visit. they had an original WWII Jeep that he drove around for various chores. It was a ball to ride in but the steering was shot. His dad traded it for a small tractor to a highway contractor who wanted it for his work. Apparently it wouldn’t go straight down the road and ended up being buried under a section of highway between Regina and Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan. What a shame.

  4. The excellent content at Motor City Garage never fails to impress. Today’s Jeep/Buster Keaton liaison feature is a perfect example. I enjoy coming here every day. Thanks, Mac!

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