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New military exhibit rolls into San Diego Automotive Museum

San Diego Union-Tribune - 5/20/2023

The San Diego Automotive Museum likes to tell stories through the 75 cars and motorcycles in its collection. Stories about history, about culture, about technology.

One story has been missing: the military. That changed Saturday.

With Military Appreciation Month as the backdrop, the museum in Balboa Park debuted a new exhibit, "Salute to San Diego's Troops." It features two legendary combat workhorses, a 1942 Willys MB Jeep and a 1985 Humvee.

"We've always wanted to do an exhibit that would honor the military, but we haven't had the right vehicles," museum CEO Lenny Leszczynski said after a private ribbon-cutting ceremony that drew several dozen people, including active-duty and retired members of the armed forces.

What had been an idea took shape after the museum was contacted by Rob Luddy, a Navy veteran, World War II buff and retired software executive. He lives in Santaluz, a community just east of Del Mar, and wanted to donate the Willys.

This particular Jeep didn't have any combat pedigree — it was stateside during World War II, at an armory in Buffalo — but its family tree was appealing to the museum, Leszczynski said.

And it had an interactive feature officials liked, too.

Over the years, service members and veterans have signed their names on the underside of the hood. "What if we continued doing that?" museum staff wondered, thinking that would be a nice way to celebrate museum visitors with ties to the military.

A hood for signing is now part of the exhibit. Saturday, several service members added their names, happily.

"I think it's great," Marine Col. Mike Ogden said after he'd put down the Sharpie. "I'm an infantry guy, and we're familiar with scrambling into vehicles. They're part of who we are. So an exhibit like this is nice to see."

Luddy didn't sign Saturday. His name was already on the Willys' hood. So was his dad's, and his father-in-law's, all veterans.

He acquired the Jeep in 2015, "thanks to the Internet, an iPad, a glass of Scotch and a very supportive wife." All came together one night while he was scrolling on his computer, musing about acquiring a Willys as a nod to his fascination with World War II. This one popped up on his screen.

The previous owners told him it had been at the armory and used for a while as a snowplow. In San Diego, it saw duty on Halloween, ferrying neighborhood kids around for trick or treat.

"We had fun with it for several yeas, but we didn't really have room at the house," Luddy said. He put it in storage, "but that didn't feel right." So he contacted the museum.

"We're really glad it found such a good home," he said.

The other featured attraction in the exhibit, the 1985 Humvee, is on loan from Camp Pendleton.

Both vehicles sit near the museum's entrance. A wall behind them explains some of San Diego's long ties to the military, starting with the Spanish construction of the Presidio in 1770.

Leszczynski said the museum hopes to add more military vehicles that can be used in other exhibits, and to tell other stories.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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