emailNeed to contact me and don't have my email? Click on email button.
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 .
Roger Martin spotted this sign for $225. It’s 48″ wide by 17″ tall. I don’t know how ‘vintage’ it is, but I would have bought it if it was still available. It sold quickly.
I finally snagged one of these ‘Jeep’ Planning brochures. Based on some of the images (like the WILLYS and JEEP within a link), I’d say this was produced in the Fall of 1944. As best as I can tell, it might be the earliest brochure for what would be the CJ-2A, though you’ll note that only CJ-2s are pictured (unless I missed an X-cj). The brochure breaks down the four principal uses for the “peace time jeep”.
These three ads were all featured in Australia’s Power Farming and Better Farming Digest magazine in 1960. Each one is 18cm x 24cm (7in x 9.5in). I wish the pics were better.
Chris added this unique and undoubtable rare Turner Mower matchbook cover to his already extensive collection of jeep-related matchbook covers.
A Turner mower brochure can be seen under #3 on this post. http://www.ewillys.com/2017/03/03/mowers-for-the-early-jeeps/
And, more info on additional Turner jeep-related products: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/06/10/1948-turner-stationary-hay-baler/
UPDATE: Steve shared this link about a ‘Lady Jeep’ article written for the Heinz Center, which led me to Amazon. That listing included a date and magazine for this ad … the August 31, 1946, issue of the New Yorker. And, there’s a better pic on Amazon.
=====================
Originally published May 19, 2019: This ad was on google image search, though it was gone from the actual destination page to which Google directed me. So, I have no date or magazine name to identify when this ad was published. It treats the Army jeep as a tomboy and the wagon as a Lady.
You’ll note that the patent number 2854111 is the same one connected to this single lever design: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2854111. Read to the end, as this patent number appears connected with an odd looking, Dualmatic-related hub.
This post is all Scott Gilbert’s fault. We got talking about the different color of Dualmatic hub labels on Sunday and, suddenly, my Sunday afternoon vanished into research!
This post leverages the great work from the CJ-2A.com’s dualmatic twin-lever page and the ih8mud hub forum about Dualmatic twin-lever hub variations. For the record, I’ve never owned any of these hubs, so I’m leveraging pics and the internet as best I can. It is a working post. If you have corrections or comments, please let me know!
If only I had each set of hub in front of me I might have a better shot at highlighting the differences (height and faces), but I do not have them. So, I’ll just do my best with the faces and some documentation for dating purposes.
I was going to use the CJ-2A page’s nomenclature, but after studying the different faces, I think it’s better, as I hope you will see, to expand the styles types:
Design A: Recessed center, full ribs, sharp-ended ribs
Design B: Raised center, full-ribs, sharp-ended ribs
Design C: Raised center, full-ribs, round-ended ribs
Design D: Raised center, one-end of both ribs recessed from the edge, all round-ended ribs
Design E: Raised center, both-ends of ribs recessed from the edge, all round-ended ribs
Design W: These were marketed by and stamped as Watson hubs (hence why I call them Watson hubs), but also stamped and sold by third-parties like Sears unstamped and unbranded.
Before we begin with the twin-lever design, let’s look at the single lever design. Dualmatic’s founder Charles Simonsen’s original patent was for a single lever design.
This photo may highlight why that design didn’t hold up well and why support was needed for the cam levers:
This photo was found on a G503 forum. You can see that the lever has been highly stressed.
CONJECTURE: If the bending of the single lever was even a somewhat common occurrence, then it would explain the shift to a dual lever, rib-supported design. One of those early designs may have been the Design W or the Watson hub seen at the bottom of the post, but it seems to me that when full of mud and small debris, that loosening the levers would have been difficult. So, my theory is that the next idea was Design A, which is the earliest one documented with a specific date.
DESIGN A: The earliest example of a Dualmatic hub with a date comes in the form of this April 1958 advertisement in Popular Mechanics. For our purposes, this would be Design A. It has full, un-rounded ribs and a recessed interior
Design A hub with recessed center, full ribs, sharp rib ends.
Design A hub with recessed center, full ribs, sharp rib ends.
Design A can also be seen in this undated brochure, most likely pre-1963 given the lack of full-size jeeps:
Curiously, Design A was still around in 1964, as evidenced by this 1964 Montgomery Wards catalog ad below, but a new type of style appeared, which I call Design C, with a raised center (for branding I assume) and full, but rounded-ribs (and around as late as August 1965 in a Four Wheeler Ad):
Designs A & C Dualmatic hubs. Lower pic — Design A hub with recessed center, full ribs, sharp rib ends. Design C Dualmatic hubs with raised center, full ribs, round-ended ribs.
DESIGN C: Here is a better pic of Design C. You’ll note that the sticker branding is colored black. So far, the consensus is that there were three different colors of stickers, black, blue and red. Again, when each was used and why they changed is uncertain:
Design C Dualmatic hubs with raised center, full ribs, rounded-ended ribs.
DESIGN B: At some juncture, Design B was introduced. Design B had a raised center and full, sharp ribs like Design A. You’ll also note that this has the red center branding sticker: Continue reading
These two “No Roads Needed For a ‘Jeep'” ads appeared during the late spring of 1953 in two different California newspapers. I don’t know if this was just a regional or a national campaign.
This first ad appeared in the April 29, 1953, issue of the Sacramento Bee, sponsored by the Winter Willys Company:
This second ad appeared in the May 12, 1953, issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, sponsored by Mosso & Puccinelli:
UPDATE: Here’s another “Bond Wagon” ad for sale on eBay.
View all the information on ebay
“Grade per Six Grade System: Near Mint
Page size in English units (approximate): 10 1/4″ X 13 3/4”
This 4-page brochure from D.L. Beck Manufacturing included a separate price list that dates the brochure around August 1, 1955. Curiously, the “Econo” hardtop was no longer featured in the brochure (see a 1954 example brochure at the bottom of this post). Apparently that “Econo” line of hardtops wasn’t good enough after all (see letter at the bottom that explains the reference).
=====================
Originally Posted December 14, 2014 —
These three ads are each listed separately on eBay. Two of the ads are from 1947 and one is from 1948. All three are the same size, approximately: 13.5 x 18.5 cm (5.31 x 7.28 inches).
UPDATE: As best as I can tell, it looks like 1963 was when Don Pratt’s Jeep Tours began working with the Kachina Cab company. The article appeared in the August 13, 1963, issue of the Arizona Republic:
===============================
Originally posted June 2019: According to this Pink Jeep Tour site, Pink Jeep Tours is the oldest continuously operating Jeep Tour Company in the United States. It was started in 1958 by a Sedona Realtor named Don Pratt, who would drive clients to see homes at Broken Arrow Estates. The Broken Arrow tour is the original Jeep tour and is still today the most popular tour in Sedona.Why did he make the jeeps pink? Mr. Pratt got the idea while visiting the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach, where everything was pink.
But, that’s only part of the story. In her book Echoes of Sedona Past, Mary Lou Keller explains how her and her husband cleared the first trail and how, when Glenn Keller decided not to open a jeep tour business, their friend Don Pratt asked if he could do it instead. Mrs. Keller covers the story in five pages of her book available to read on Google.The book also includes the image below of Mary Lou Keller with her do Pico in her (probably) 1946 CJ-2A:
Oops .. this was supposed to appear on Wed morning … Oh well!
This ad for Winter Willys was published in the February 21, 1953, issue of the Sacramento Bee. It highlights the availability of the Jeep branded implements. some of which was saw in these ‘Jeep’ brochure posts.
This 1946 brochure was produced as part of the GET A ‘JEEP’ campaign that lasted through most of 1946.
This ad just expired on eBay and will likely be reposted at some point. It’s a Willys Export Company magazine ad, but unclear to me who the audience was. If this were a Canadian ad I imagine it would be tagged with a Kaiser Willys of Canada moniker, so it’s unclear to me what magazine this might have been.
View all the information on eBay
“1956 4 Wheel Drive Jeep Vintage Print Car Ad – Rare International Life Mag Ad
Aprox 10″ X 14 ” – Excellent condition
This is an ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC print ad from a Life or Saturday Evening Post Magazine. Not a reproduction or copy. There may be some yellowing or chipping around the edges.”
This is a good ad for the Structo Ride-on Fire Jeep. It appeared in the September 1961 issue of Playthings magazine.
View all the information on eBay
“You get 1 sheet, 2 pages.”
UPDATE: Steve spotted this interesting post that shows a hoard of envelopes sent by customers and dealers to Olympic that was found. It’s kind of cool.
“There were over 100 covers here, and I have scanned a number of them above to share with members. A few were pre-war 1930s.
There are amazing array of origin country, commercial covers from the 1940s mainly. They have never been near a stamp dealer for ~65-75 years.
Burma, Portuguese India, Iran, Iraq, Cyprus, Malta, Southern Rhodesia, Thailand, Malaysia, France, China, Netherlands indies, Sarawak, Uganda, Belgium, Portugal, Turkey, a real early Israel cover, Egypt, Trinidad, Fiji, South Africa, Argentina, Sudan (several!), Lebanon, Ceylon, Greece and
There is a 1949 India Gandhi commercially used – a $50-$100 cover in today’s market. Who would know – 1949 Gandhi stuff is white hot.
Includes Registered mail and Postage dues assessed etc. Pretty much all of them sent to Olympic Spark Plugs Pty Ltd in Melbourne.”
========================================
This May 29, 1946, ad out of Australia in “The Bulletin” shows what I believe to be a depiction of two Chinese women driving a jeep.
View all the information on eBay
“Olympic Spark Plugs Large Full Page Original Advertisement removed from a 1946 Australian Newspaper and in good condition for age having some marks and creases and age yellowing and minor damage around the edges. PLEASE NOTE the minor damage around the edges. Size of the paper which the advertisement is on is 43 cms x 27 cms. It would look good framed on your wall or displayed with your Olympic Spark Plug Collection or if you collect Spark Plug Memorabilia. This advertisement would be hard to find in this size.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This ad was published in an Australian farming magazine.
“Australian Jeep Original Advertisement removed from a 1958 Australian Farming Magazine and in good condition for age having some marks and creases and age yellowing of the paper. Size is 18 cms x 24 cms. It would look good framed on your wall or displayed with your vehicle at a car show.”
An eBay seller has several lots of full-size jeep brochures for sale.
This four-page La Jeep Francaise brochure sold on eBay (out of the UK) for under $10 US.
“A rare original Hotchkiss Willys Jeep brochure undated c1950’s with French text. Brochure is very small format 4pp fold out illus in line drawings, no photos and is in very good condition.”
UPDATE: After reading this more carefully, I agree with Don that this is likely something that was aimed as dealers. It is an odd piece for sure.
This ad came to me from eBay and has “KW 258” printed in the lower right, which I am interpreting as February 1958 (but I could be wrong). It is more of a “use your jeeps on the farm” type of ad, which Willys Motors seemed to be going away from in the US by this time.
This unusual brochure shares information about the Baby-jeep, a bassinet available in three colors–blue, ivory, and salmon–that was produced out of Holland. The brochure includes a small, illustrated jeep on the cover. It’s printed on thick paper that makes for a nice brochure, but I’m still not sure why it is call a “Baby-jeep”.
These three Kaiser-Willys ads demonstrate a national campaign ad offering to dealers who wanted to share the news that Kaiser and Willys vehicles were being sold under the same brand. Though the purchase was announced in the spring of 1953, the ad campaign was introduced until the fall of 1953 after the sale was completed (See the June 1953 ad at bottom that introduces a new dealer, but doesn’t mention Kaiser).
The imagery and order of the blocks is interesting. Though Kaiser purchased Willys-Overland’s assets, for the extensive network of Willys dealers the experience was the opposite; they were adding Kaiser products to their Willys sales portfolios. I expect this explains why the Kaiser block is pictured being added to the Willys block rather than the other way around.
This ad was published on November 05, 1953, in The Times out of Shreveport, Louisiana, by Dixie Kaiser-Willys.
This ad was published on October 08, 1953, in the Birmingham News, out of Birmingham, Alabama, by the Roy Bridges & Co., Inc.
This ad was published on November 15, 1953, in the Great Falls Tribune, out of Montana, by Robinson Motor Co.
A June 5, 1953, full-page ad out of California introduced Haley Motors, a new “Willys” dealer. Though the merger had been announced, it wasn’t finalized until the fall of 1953; this likely explains why there was no mention of Kaiser in this ad.
In 1953 Willys-Overland shared these mat examples of ads on one page (15″x20″) with its dealers. I’m amazed that any of these surprised, as it is printed on newspaper.
The Form-104 Selective drive brochure I’ve seen previously, but I’ve not seen the 1961 Power-Lock brochure.
This Power-Lock brochure is a tri-fold brochure that folds from 3.5″ x 5.5″ to 10.5″ x 5.5″
This folded Cutlass Selective drive brochure has a form number of 104, but lacks a date. It is small, only folding in half from 3.5″ x 5.5″ to 7″ x 5.5″
