POW Camp Concordia’s SEEP begins journey to full restoration

On Saturday, August 28, the POW Camp Concordia Museum's SEEP began its two-year journey to full restoration.

The SEEP - technically a 1943 Ford GPA - was a World War II amphibious jeep built for the U.S. Army between September 1942 and June 1943.
The idea was to build a vehicle that could navigate seas as well as lands. The SEEP was intended to transport soldiers to and from offshore ships, but the concept never quite panned out. Built at 3,400 pounds, the vehicle ended up being heavier than intended, which made it sit too low in the water. It was easily swamped by waves and therefore could not carry much weight -- either soldiers or cargo. On land it was even worse: slow, clumsy, difficult to steer, and prone to breakdowns.
Twelve thousand seven hundred seventy-eight SEEPs were built before the contract was terminated. It is believed that only 80 of the vehicles still exist in the world, and about 20 of them are in the United States.
How did the POW Camp Concordia Museum come to own one? That's a winding tale that begins over 70 years ago with Judy Ford trying to learn how to drive.
"My husband's grandfather, Luther Ford, bought the vehicle sometime around 1948," said Marian Condray, the assistant director of the Cloud County Tourism Office. "Luther Ford's daughter, Judy (Kent Condray's mother), used the vehicle to learn how to drive on their farm in Aline, Oklahoma, when she was about 14 years old."
Marian Condray and her husband Kent eventually came into possession of the vehicle, and it sat in their barn in Clifton for almost 20 years. In 2017 they donated the vehicle to the POW Camp Concordia Museum.
Restored, seaworthy GPA’s are valuable and quite the attention-grabber. Recent sales of SEEPs in the last five years have fetched anywhere from $125,000 to $260,000.
The museum made the decision to restore its SEEP. On August 28, Lowell May and his wife, Janice, towed the SEEP to Sheridan, Montana, where it will undergo a two-year restoration by David Welch.
Welch is an expert on the unique vehicle, and once owned a SEEP that was featured on an episode of the television show 'Pawn Stars.' "We filmed that episode at Lake Las Vegas for two days with Rick (Harrison) and Corey (Harrison)," Welch recalled. "They called the episode 'By Land Or By Seep.'"
Welch wanted $240,000 for the vehicle, which Rick Harrison was unwilling to pay. Welch eventually sold the SEEP to another buyer. "I guess it just boiled down to two guys who couldn't agree on the right price."
Welch started restoring old World War II Jeeps about 20 years ago. He has restored four of the amphibious Ford GPA SEEPS. "It's a very valuable vehicle. A very rare, very collectible vehicle."
Welch's restoration process will take about two years. "Ninety-nine percent of the parts are common to the Jeep, so they're not that hard to find. The hard part is the tub built around the vehicle. Those are made from sheet metal, which is curved and very thin in some places. It's time-consuming to redo the metal. Every nut and bolt will be done by hand in my shop. The only thing I send out to be done are the gauges."
Welch said the POW Camp Concordia Museum's SEEP will undergo a complete factory restoration. "You can either restore it to museum quality, which means it'll be a static display - it won't move; it's not seaworthy. A factory restoration means the vehicle will be identical to what it was when it rolled off the assembly line, and that makes it much more valuable. This vehicle has matching serial numbers, and that also adds to the value."
SEEPs were built with a 134 cubic inch, 60 horsepower engine; a three-speed manual transmission with a PTO-driven propeller and bilge pump. They're about 15 feet long and six feet wide, and come with a spray windshield, spare tire and anchor mounted on the back deck, and a rudder mounted to the steering linkage. The SEEPs' seat cushions double as life preservers.
The full restoration costs are expected to be about $100,000. The museum is applying for a Dane G. Hanson grant and will hold fundraisers to offset the cost.
What will the museum do with the SEEP once it's restored?
"I highly recommend they take it in the water for a spin," Welch said with a laugh.
"That's exactly what we intend to do," said Marian Condray. "It was always Paul's (Rimovsky) dream to drive it. So we've decided that his daughter (Sheri Johnston) will get the first ride in it."
The museum will have the SEEP on display for all tours, and drive it in special events like parades and World War II commemorative shows.