My brother is looking at a CJ2a that spent most of it's life in a crate... what is the top speed on a truck this old.. the guy was asking $2,500 and he says the truck is in red..

????? Not sure what speed has to do with a vintage Jeep????
I would think your brother would want it for its nostalgic value, not it's top end speed. If that is all you are interested in, perhaps it is not the right vehicle, for your brother.

Side note: If my memory serves me correctly, it would be a 4 cylinder, geared very low, and may have a top speed of about 50-55 mph.

In red what?

45 to 55mph would be my guess unless it's been altered.
$2500 is a heck of a price if it's in decent shape.

no... he's not looking for a hot rod.. he wants to know if he can use it locally or otherwise... for example: getting to NyC from across the river in NJ there are some 65+mph highways.. I haven't see it yet but he says the guy who's selling it (he own's a body shop) told him it was "in a crate" for a while..

Is red an OEM color for a CJ2?

I just got off the phone with him and he says someone's looking at the truck right now.. they'll probably buy it.. i told him a week ago when he saw this truck it was a great deal..

Did they used to sell them in crates?

Pretty sure that's how they came back from overseas and their armed forces duties. Don't know the exact years, and I wouldn't think it would've been red from the factory in that condition.

Some of the ones built by Mitsubishi were Red....

My bad it was a CJ3B built by Mitsubishi that were red.

Check out this web site. Seems to be a SHITE load of info on the CJ2A.

http://www.thecj2apage.com/

Thanks!!

55 is pushing it if it doesnt have any mods

i would say that it would go 55 at really high rpms, but it will be happiest at 45 and you will also, because att 55 it feels likke the body is about to fall of off the frame never mind the really loud whine of the engine.

and the ones from military went overseas in crates and then came back, but my guess is that someone was going to restore it, broke i tdown and saved it in crats, than someone fianlly got around to it, but you never no, it could be one of the surplus ones they sold after the war, but you think they would keep it od green and tell u its a m38,
the best way to tell is if it has a tailgate, no tailgate M38, w/ tailgate, cj2a

and thats a steal if i truns, and doesnt have much rust!

oh and if he has lots of questions www.earlycj5.com
is a great place, with some good tech articles and a forum

hi all, I got a 47 and it was factory red, these are post war jeeps,and yes the name says it all, I yanked the ford v8 and put in my hemi and replace front and rear axels for better performance, its not a dragster, atleast not yet, it runs the stock T90 gear box and transfer, and I also had to install better springs an replaced the steering gear, it still needs paint but those big chrome valve covers are awsume to see, this aint my first and I gots a nother newer cj that I'm fixn up so I too can turn around on those little trails, I have biked the Elk trails in colorado and run the Arizona deserts and hi country looking for stuff to photograph, I may not be an authority but my library helps,thanks all

47 willys, got any pics of your jeep? We would love to see them..