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Welcome to eWillys.com, a website for vintage jeep enthusiasts. I update this website nearly every day with jeep deals, jeep history, interesting reader projects, jeep related info, and more.
These quick searches can help you find things on eBay. People list in the wrong categories all the time, so don't be surprised to see brochures in the parts area for example.
The links to posts below show jeeps grouped by models, condition, and other ways. Some of these jeeps are for sale and others have been sold. If you are unsure whether a vehicle is still for sale or not, email me at d [at] ewillys.com for more info.
There are plenty of interesting, unusual, historic and surprising stories related to Jeeps and their owners. In addition, some of these features have nothing to do with jeeps. This link will display all featured stories starting from the latest.
Looking for parts and not sure where to go? There are a variety of large and small new and used parts sellers both online and offline.
Importantly, the allure of buying a project jeep can be romantic. The reality of restoring a jeep can be quite different, expensive and overwhelming without the right tools and resources. So, tread carefully when purchasing a "project". If you have any concerns about buying a vintage jeep, or run across a scam, feel free to contact me for help, comments or concerns .
This is a hard to find postcard I just picked up on eBay. There is another one still available on eBay.
Here’s an AMC themed Warn overdrive brochure that I hadn’t seen.
View all the information on eBay
“GLOSSY CATALOG INSERT 8.5 x 11
FRONT and BACK
1 PAGE INSERT
Items are described as accurately as I can, with emphasis on the flaws to avoid disappointment
~ Shelve wear from age and use is Visible
~ Scuff marks
~ Creasing VISIBLE
~ Wear/Tear on Edges/Corners
please refer to photos. Additional photos can be provided”
This is an AMC themed Warn hubs brochure. Again, not one I’ve seen.
View all the information on eBay
“GLOSSY CATALOG INSERT 8.5 x 11
FRONT and BACK
1 PAGE INSERT
Items are described as accurately as I can, with emphasis on the flaws to avoid disappointment
~ Shelve wear from age and use is Visible
~ Scuff marks
~ Creasing VISIBLE
~ Wear/Tear on Edges/Corners
please refer to photos. Additional photos can be provided”
There are two of these Jeep Parts’ postcards available on eBay. Given the FC-170 and the split window trucks and wagons, I’d say this is a 1958 or 1959 postcard.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage Jeep Parts Advertising Brochure Big Postcard 5” x 8” in Excellent Condition see pictures. Richie Motors Cumberland Wisconsin.”
UPDATE: These are still available. Price is $100.
(12/06/2022) This may represent all the postcards in this series from what I believe is either 1948 or 1949.
View all the information on eBay
“THIS AUCTION IS FOR 10 VERY RARE,ORIGINAL EARLY WILLYS JEEP SALES & SERVICE DEALER POSTCARDS, & AN ORIGINAL WILLYS OVERLAND LUBRICATION AGREEMENT BOOKLET FOR THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT
ORIGINAL – NOT A REPRODUCTION.
40’S VINTAGE
10 DEALER SALES AND SERVICE PAPER POSTCARDS.
ALL THE BACK SIDES ARE THE SAME AS PHOTO SHOWS.
THE PHOTO’S SHOW THE 10 DIFFERENT FRONT SIDES WITH THE COLORED GRAPHICS AND ADVERTISING INFORMATION.
AS AN EXTRA ON THIS AUCTION LISTING IS AN ORIGINAL, UNUSED, WILLYS OVERLAND LUBRICATION AGREEMENT
BOOKLET FOR THE VEHICLE GLOVE BOX.”
UPDATE: I ran across another of these Work-and Hobby Horse Ads from 1965. It appears to be part of a campaign, but I don’t know how many ads were created. I’ll update this post as I locate others.
This ad is available on eBay and was featured in the Farm Journal Magazine and possibly others:
Here’s one from PINTREST and features a Tux Park IV:
This ad from PINTREST shows off both the CJ-6 and CJ-5 Tux Parks:
This one was made into a metal sign, so it’s not an exact copy of the ad. It’s for sale on eBay:
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This was originally published March 06, 2022: Barry Thomas (Farmjeep.com) shared this 1965 ad that shows a CJ-5 being used as an extra farm hand. If anyone happens to have any ads showing a CJ-5 on the farm or with a lift, Barry would be very interested in it.
UPDATE: I’ve added the updated scans. This is actually a nicely illustrated brochure. I don’t think my scans really captured the color.
Here’s a brochure I’ve never seen that I just purchased on eBay. My guess is it a late 1940s brochure. I’ll update it with better pics when it arrives.
The latest date published in this brochure is April of 1973, so my guess is that this was printed in mid-to-late 1973. It covers the history, mission, facilities, models, executive staff and other details. These aren’t he best scans, but they’d work for recording this bit of history.
UPDATE: This Jeepster photo is making the rounds on Facebook; this post provides a little more info.
=================================
Posted December 24, 2020: This article provides more information about this stunt Jeepster and plane. It was published in the March 20, 1949, issue of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
===================
Originally Published Dec 8, 2012:
The Sunkist Lady was an Aeronca 15AC Sedan airplane flown by Dick Riedel and Bill Barris used to set a world-record for endurance flight. They spent a total of 1008 hours and 2 minutes aboard the airplane, ending their flight in April of 1949. Unfortunately for them, their record was broken six months later.
What makes this relevant for jeep fans was that to keep the plan in the air, the crew used Jeepsters borrowed from local dealers to race down the airport runway so the crew could hand fuel and food to the two pilots.
Thanks to Colin for forwarding the story!
Here is a link to a story and a video about the flight (124 MB): http://www.cityoffullerton.com/depts/airport/the_sunkist_lady.asp
Here is a second article: http://vintageairphotos.blogspot.com/2012/03/saga-of-sunkist-lady.html. The picture below is from that article.
Matt spotted this cool, rare calendar from Kaiser’s Argentina arm. Sell will consider offers, but the buy-it-n ow price currently is $349.90, especially given this is coming from Argentina where the exact same item is priced at US$71.20 (61,702 Argentine Pesos).
View all the information on eBay
“ORIGINAL CALENDAR IN VERY GOOD CONDITION.
SMALLS DETAILS IN COVER.
MEASURES: 58 CM x 42 CM.
PLEASE SEE THE PICTURES !”
This ad was published in Time Magazine, date unknown, which often published unique ads that I haven’t seen other places. The use of Willys-Overland about the model name suggests to me it might be a 1947 or late 1946. I don’t remember the Jacobsen Manufacturing or its mowers appearing in any other ads.
View all the information on eBay
This 3-page item is a pricing document for dealers, but also contains some detailed model information.
View all the information on eBay
This sign appears in good shape.
https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/1084688676155238
“49 1/2″ x 13 1/2″ x 8″ Original Willy’s Jeep dealership flickering flashing sign”
Thanks to Matt for sharing this document. This 16-page September 1947 issue of WO Sales News begins by announcing the addition of the “step” on CJ-2As. In an older comment by Bill Norris, “According to the 49 parts manual they [the steps] were available on 2As after serial number 129806”. This seems in relative accordance with the timing of the article.
The next story introduces the Laurel C. Worman hardtops, followed by another introduction, the Jeep-A-Trench.
On page six is an interesting story about a caravan of wagons that brought television to smaller towns across the country. To that point, television was only available to areas within a fifty mile radius of a large tower. When the jeep caravan arrived in towns, it offered twice-daily shows via a portable studio setup.
On page eight is a discussion of how to arrange and display jeeps. There are many car museums that could benefit from these insights! I’m not much of a fan of “parking lot” style museums.
The remainder of the pages discuss dealer info, marketing, testimonials, and other highlights.l
UPDATE: Matt provides some insightful comments in posted comment at the bottom. Per his comment, I added a small blurb that (I hope) clarifies that the Jeep News issues discussed below were more consumer-oriented, similar to The Willys War News, rather than dealer-oriented periodicals like the WO Sales News and Salesbuilder. Still, it would be interesting to get more WO Sales News issues and compare the content to the Jeep News issues to see if there is any reuse of content, which would suggest some kind of coordination between those two periodicals. That the Jeep News seems to have stopped about the same time the Salesbuilder launched is also curious, but perhaps just a coincidence?
L to R News Periodical Covers –>1945 The Willys War News, 1945 The Willys News, 1946 Fergason’s Jeep News, 1947 WO Sales News, 1947 Milt. Henry’s Jeep News, 1947 Russ Borg’s Jeep News, 1948 WO Sales News, 1948 Salesbuilder, 1948 Cristie’s Jeep News
I sent Barry Thomas the following information the other day. He found it very interesting, so I thought I would republish (and fix the errors, ugh) the info here. If anyone can add to this or correct it, I’d appreciate it!
Here’s a history I’ve assembled about the transition from The Willys War News to Willys-Overland’s Salesbuilder.
July 1945: During WW2 Willys-Overland launched The Willys War News (probably in 1942). The last issue appears to have been July 1945: http://www.ewillys.com/2015/03/20/the-willys-war-news-vers-3-3/
Sept. 1945: As far as I can tell, the next issue was also labeled The Willys War News, but with WAR X’d out in red. It is marked Volume 1, No. 1, suggesting it was the beginning of something else. http://www.ewillys.com/2023/10/13/volume-1-issue-1-of-the-willys-war-news/ (It’s unclear to me how many additional issues of The Willys War News were published.
1946: My best guess is that W-O launched WO Sales News in 1946 as a dealer marketing periodical. I don’t have any 1946 issues, but a 1947 issue (below) claims to be Volume II, which likely makes Volume I published in 1946, though how many issues were produced I don’t know.
1946: A magazine, more consumer facing than the WO Sales News, was launched in 1946 called Ferguson’s Jeep News Volume 1 No. 1, but there’s no information (that I have spotted) in the first issue indicating who was producing the magazine: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/08/28/1946-issue-of-jeep-news/. Given the proper use of apostrophes around the name ‘Jeep’ , there could have been some influence by Willys-Overland behind it, but I can’t say for certain.
Importantly, Matt notes in the comments below that he has a Volume 1 No. Jeep News issue with the name C. Denigers, so there was some kind of marketing program likely used to assigned names to the top of these issues. But, who was overseeing such a program isn’t your et clear.
Jan 1947: Willys Overland publishes WO Sales News Volume II No. I. Printed on the cover of the bottom page is “January 1947”, which suggests to me the intent to publish this as a monthly periodical: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/06/january-1947-willys-overland-sales-news/
1947: Jeep News Volume 1 No. 3 was published, but this time it was Milt. Henry’s name at the top, replacing Ferguson: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/09/1947-jeep-news-vol-1-no-3/ I explain in the post link why I thought this was published in 1947.
1947: The next issue of Jeep News Volume 1 No. 4 has Russ Borg’s name headlining the issue: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/11/year-jeep-news-vol-1-no-4/
Jan 1948: The next issue of WO Sales News that I have is WO Sales News Volume III No.1, published January 1948: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/12/jan-1948-willys-overland-sales-news/
July 1948: The first issue of Salesbuilder appears in July of 1947 as Volume 1 No. 1. I don’t yet have this full issue: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/05/28/salesbuilder-magazines/
Why the name change from WO Sales News to Salesbuilder? There was a short blurb on google announcing this change published in the 1948 Volume 22 of “Tide”, a marketing and advertising publication, but I can’t find much more info than the screen shot I grabbed (to get to this link, google “salesbuilder jeep news”, then click on the “books” search tab:
Also, about this time, Willys Overland was undergoing a marketing shift, pushing out the “Willys” brand in favor of “Jeep”, a discussion I have documented on eWillys. The company would reverse this trend in 1951 with the introduction of the Willys car and the Willys Makes Sense marketing campaign, also documented on that link above. Both issues are also discussed as part of the Willys Makes Sense Ad Campaign Post.
1948: The last issue of Jeep News (that i know of) shows Cristie’s as the headliner of Volume 1 No. 6. I believe it appeared in 1948 based on pics of two “Lefty” CJ-2As photos in the issue.
Salesbuilder would run throughout 1953, when Kaiser Purchased Willys-Overland’s Assets. To the best of my knowledge, the name was switched to Kaiser Willys News (Unless there was something else between Salesbuilder and KW News that I haven’t seen). .
Well folks, this is the last issue of the big batch of Willys News and Jeep News periodicals that I purchased back in December. From my perspective, it was great to have dependable, easy to produce, interesting content available to post for such a long period. I also am glad to be documenting this type of stuff, as it hasn’t been well-documented (to my knowledge) on the internet to-date. I don’t really have much else in the queue document-wise, but obviously there *should* be ongoing updates about the FC rebuild.
Coinciding with this last issue, the weather here has warmed with highs in the low 60s, which gives me much better weather to work on the FC; it also forces me to juggle that effort with the need to work on the pasture, ready the irrigation systems, and prep the lawn and garden for the growing seasons. Given Ann is still slowly getting better, but still has setbacks physically, this will mostly fall on me. So, updates may slow like they did this time last year.
The eight-page 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 4 announces on page one that KJC would be sponsoring two major golf games. This continues the KJC’s movements into shifting the jeep vehicles away from their utilitarian and agrarian roots, towards family, luxury and fun. That doesn’t mean there was no utilitarian promotion, as page two reported that KJC officials contacted one thousand mosquito abatement administrators to promote the jeeps. Curiously, next to that utilitarian article are three photos of jeeps on the beach with young adults and surfboards.
Page three goes international, with announcements from Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and India. Page four and five provide stories of travel. Page four published a travel piece to Alaska in a Wagoneer by Bill Thomas, who was a travel editor for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Page five showcases a report by Charles R. Meyer, a freelance writer from New York, who took his family on a trip to Nova Scotia in a camper-equipped Gladiator.
Pages six and seven contain a variety of photos and captions, including the announcement of the Rat Patrol series. Page eight highlighted a different show, noting the success of Daktari.
This four-page September 1965 Jeep Service and Parts News includes, on the last page, a list of all models and their Vehicle prefix, which is handy given the scarcity of records for this time period. There’s also a short blurb on page three about how the cross pieces under the hood of a Wagoneer could short out the alternator!
This issue is the last issue of Jeep and Service News, dated June-July 1966, that I bought in December. Most interesting to me were the modifications (not repairs) the USPS was requiring of the recently purchased FJ-6 and FJ-6As noted at the bottom of page four.
UPDATE: More information on the goal of Kaiser-Jeep’s 1966 Eastern European Caravan. This article was published on page 7 of the May 14, 1966, issue of International Commerce, a US Department of Commerce Weekly magazine. In it, the Commerce Department’s ostensible goal was as an “imaginative technique to promote U.S. Exports”, as part to the U.S. Government’s continuing effort to promote East-West Trade. It’s possible the trip was underwritten in some form (cash or government favors or both) to encourage Kaiser-Jeep to participate.
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This September 1966 Four Wheeler Magazine article describes the scene when the Kaiser-Jeep sponsored Eastern European Caravan crossed into (then) Czechoslovakia, as a line of restored and refurbed jeeps awaited them. Remember, that no new parts had even available to these die-hard jeep fans since 1946, making their rebuilds even more remarkable. The Prague Jeep Club alone had more than 300 jeeps and 400 members.
The 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 3 has more information.
The eight-page issue of the 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 3 began with the 1966 Caravan of Jeeps organized by Kaiser Jeep to introduce the jeeps to Eastern European countries (See the next post about a story in the September 1966 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine at the surprise awaiting the caravan in Czechoslovakia).
Page two shows a photo that went viral, in today’s slang, of a Harvey Schaible in a V-8 powered jeep that flew into the air at the top of a hill climb that was part of a Play Day weekend with multiple local clubs attending the event. Page three contains various stories, including a good photo of a TWA-branded airport jeep. Pages four and five continue the story of the Eastern European Caravan.
Page six has fascinating story about the use of 2WD DJ-3As and DJ-5s RHD vehicles (the DJ-5 having been launched in 1966), some converted to automatic transmissions, for use as spay vehicles.
Page seven reports on the use of jeeps to travel a portion of the Oregon Trail between Vale and Farewell Bend, Oregon. Some of this area would be passable by I-84 in 1975, but even today some of the original trail traveled in 1966 is still evident (see this map, which shows a partial area between Vale and Farewell Bend).
Page eight has multiple stories, including a photo and short report on Mr. Diamant and his family, who were traveling in a Gladiator Camper. There’s a longer story and a map of their travels here.
This four-page issue of the April 1964 Jeep Service and Parts News includes an exploded view of the T-89 side-shift transmission. It also appears to have a useful side image of how the J-series gas pedal operates, along with how to make adjustments (I’m not familiar with them).
The eight-page Jeep News Volume 12 Number 1 kicked off 1966 with the news that sales increased 23% and, surprising to me, special equipment sales jumped almost 42%. Given the increase in Wagoneers and Gladiator sales, I would think the special equipment numbers would be falling, as I thought a shift was happening away from the notion of utility vehicles in favor of “fun” and family vehicles. I’d be curious to know what was driving those equipment sales.
Page two is mostly dealer news, while page three continues a page-one discussion of the anti-skid, safely and traction capabilities of the Wagoneer and Gladiator jeeps. Page four highlights the use of larger magazine images.
Page five goes international and includes an article about Mrs. Welthy H. Fisher, an 85-year-old literacy advocate, who raised funds for a Wagoneer-turned-traveling-library, which she used to deliver books to folks in India as part of a function of Literacy Village, a program she launched at age 73. From her photo, I’d never guess she was 85.
Page six features Sinclair Oil’s Wagoneer, which traveled with a touring exhibit featuring a flatbed trailer with nine large animatronic dinosaurs. I wonder whatever happened to those dinosaurs. Here is a pic of them floating down the Hudson River circa 1964:
Page seven reported on the unexpected 4WD display at a Florida Airstream gathering of almost 1500 trailers. Mud had forced many of the trailers to be towed into the site via tractor, but the fact that Florida Outdoorsman John Wilhelm had a Wagoneer capable of puling his trailer into the site without issue seems to have spurred interest in his jeep. Page eight highlights the use of jeeps in Detroit Mine, something covered by Jeep News previously and other sources.
The July 1963 Jeep Service and Parts News page three includes some important tips about towing a jeep vehicle with an automatic transmission. Page four provides an exploded view of a Dana 20 transmission.
On October 28, 1954, Kaiser Willys announced the addition of The Western Duty Snow Plows to the Special Equipment line.
This eight-page holiday issue is the final issue of 1965 (only 6 issues produced). Page one introduces the first luxury Wagoneer, the Jeep Super Wagoneer. Page two highlights the growing demand for contract plowing. Page three continues the luxury wagon discussion, while also noting that parts can make an “attractive store display”; so, when you start hanging parts in the living room, just show your partner this article and how it can be actually attractive (good luck with that, lol).
Pages four and five share more on Gladiator and Wagoneer vehicles. Page six shows off an unusual display in Peru, while the new Kaiser Argentina Model 101 four-door jeep is depicted. Page seven shares news on the Afton Canyon excursion in Southern California, which is the first I’ve heard of this annual trip. It drew 398 vehicles in 1965.
Page eight includes a story on a New Jersey M-38 fire jeep. Also on the page is a photo of Col. Dave Harbour, an outdoor writer who drove his wagon 100,000 miles, being presented with a model jeep, but I can’t tell what kind of model it is.
