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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 .
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $500.
Jordan spotted this unusual combo. This package creates an early jet powered boat using a Kermath modified L-134 and a Hanley Hydrojet. I’ve included a Kermath brochure and links to the development of the Hydrojet by Keenan Hanley at the bottom of the post.
“Willys Jeep engine block casting number 804380, and Hanley Kermath HydroJet. I’ve never attempted to start. $500”
Rear view of the W-O Canvas Top on a VEC CJ-2A. The PTO pump looks to my untrained eye to be an MP Universal Jeep Packaged Pump Model 12M-WJ.
UPDATE II: I’ve added a second version of the W-O Canvas Top brochure (tan brochures). they come from a Willys-Overland Equipment Book that, based on other brochures contained in that book, was likely published earlier than the brochures that appeared in the original version of the post.
This jeep brochure from an early Willys-Overland Special Equipment catalog highlights the first production soft top for the CJ-2A. It was labeled a W-O Canvas Top. The material used wasn’t your average canvas, at least according to the brochure. Instead, it was 10oz soldenized duck. That description meant nothing to me, so I attempted to decipher it.
These two brochures were published in a Willys Industrial Equipment book. It appears Willys-Overland changed up the name slightly to the Willys Canvas Top, though in the text the W-O Canvas Top name remains the same as above.
The biggest mystery was the term “soldenized”. Not even the internet knows what “soldenized” means. The fact that the term probably describes a means of mildew or waterproofing makes sense, and Robert Ackerson described it similarly in his jeep book, but that’s more a description of the result of the process, not a description of the process itself.
This appears to be an introductory mailer for the FC-170.
View all the information on eBay
“Hello, You are looking at an ORIGINAL bi-fold Postcard
1957 Forward Control JEEP FC-170
Eccher’s Jeep, Ferndale, Pa.”
I suppose the timing of this article is appropriate, given those of us in the north half of the blue ball are plunging into winter quickly (at least the weather in Washington State feels wintery), as a recent Smithsonian Magazine article on the Zamboni Company featured several photos I hadn’t seen of Jeep-based Zamboni vehicles. Here’s the article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-zamboni-changed-game-ice-rinks-180973352/
The article also included this ad featuring the CJ-3B as Model D from the Zamboni Company’s archives:
If you are not familiar with the use of jeeps as early Zambonis, check out my post about the various jeep models that were used for which Zamboni machines. The CJ-3B Page also has background information about the Zamboni Ice Resurfacers.
If you really like pics of Zamboni machines, check out the Zamboni: The Coolest Machines on Ice.
Maury spotted a collection of brochures and parts booklets on eBay that I was lucky enough to win. One of the brochures describes the portable, gasoline-powered Model 800G Warn Winch. On the other side of the brochure is an Electric Marine Model 400E Winch. A post from 2017 about the 800G includes pics of it.
The Model 800G Gasoline Warn winch:
According to Warn Industries, the Model 800G ad below is from 1969.
Between February 1970 and April 1970, Warn also included the winch in a Four Wheeler inner-cover, full-page advertisement. Given the importance of the company’s hubs and vehicle winches to Warn’s profit margins, I’m surprised the company included the 800G in this full color ad. Perhaps management had high hopes for the product? Whatever the hopes, I can find no evidence that Warn advertised the 800G ever again after April 1970.
Real-world example from the Warn website, There are also pics on Warn’s Facebook Fan page.
The Warn Marine Model 400E Electric Winch:
This brochure appears on the back of the 800G brochure. I could find no other information about it online.
As part of the collection of brochures/booklets I received yesterday from my eBay win, I also received three jeep parts catalogs: a 1963 Montgomery Ward, a 1964 Sears, and a 1966-1967 Bergs catalog. I was surprised to discover that the Sears and Berg catalogs are nearly identical. Maury confirmed that his 1968 Sears catalog is also nearly identical. So, if you are bidding/buying late 1960s jeep parts catalogs, I felt folks should be aware of this. Below are some comparison pages.
The covers are customized.
Sears is shown on the top and Bergs on the bottom. The inner cover and first page (labeled page 3) are custom:
Interior pages 4-5 begin the identical part of the catalogs:
Interior pages 18-19:
UPDATE: Barney corrected me. The tops in the first brochure were Whitco tops.
I bought this hoping for more Bestop info (thinking they were Bestop tops), but Bestop isn’t mentioned in this brochure at all. I’m guessing the date of 1975 based on the fact that I don’t see any later dates on ‘the facts’ list.
This selling guide is a four page plasticized brochure for identifying and selling the proper top for the proper jeep.
This was on eBay. I’d say it was published between 1948 and 1950.
View all the information on eBay
“Up tonight I have the beginning of a collection of literature I just acquired. Here I have a Genuine original 1950? Willys Sales brochure. This is about 4 by 9 and 1/4 inches with around 22 pages. Fair shape with some wear and deterioration to the covers as shown. This is a neat piece of Advertising to display with your classic. As with all my parts, if you feel it has an issue once you receive it, please contact me to have it resolved.
I value my reputation and try to provide hard to find parts at great if not down right cheap prices to keep our old cars on the road. . Keeping NOS Affordable. You can buy directly from me at sometimes down right cheap prices or buy from one of the many dealers I ship to weekly for a much higher price. Remember the government is still printing Money but this is decades Old. A nice finishing touch to your Authentic restoration. These little parts really make your restoration stand out. The part number on this is not available. Remember always use genuine parts in your restoration. Don’t miss out!!!”
This CJ-5 Tuxedo Park brochure sold on eBay recently. It’s dated January of 1964.
As often is the case with these company bios, I rarely know the full story, so this is a working draft. (note, I have seen Bestop as BesTop and BESTOP, but I feel Bestop is easier to read for our purposes). If you have other interpretations, thoughts, or corrections, don’t hesitate to comment below.
Bestop Launches:
In the early 1950s, Tom Bradley ran an auto upholstery shop in Boulder, Colorado. After some customers came to him wanting repairs to their soft jeep tops, Tom decided he could build a better top, so he launched Bestop on a part-time basis in 1954. According to the Bestop website, “Working out of an old brick schoolhouse with seven employees, Bestop quickly developed a reputation for quality and the word spread.” And, from 4wd.com, “To [Tom’s] surprise, the Jeep replacement tops began making more profit than the upholstery projects. It wasn’t long before Bradley decided to sell his upholstery business and focus on designing and manufacturing tops.”
Here’s a look at some early brochures. Note the “Vinalette” top, an attempt at branding that didn’t last very long. These brochures are likely mid to late 1950s (these pics came from this eBay auction):
The Bestop site notes that the business continued to grow for ten years under Tom. At that point, the story on the company’s website advances to the mid-eighties, but skips additional history in the process.
Bestop Expands Product Line:
The only evidence I could find that Bestop expanded it’s produced line under Tom was this 1961 brochure introducing rear seats. The seats have a flat, simple design.
The Stengel’s Obtain Control:
In September of 1966, forty-year-old James (Jim) Joseph Stengel filed a patent for a plastic tab that, when placed on the front edge of a soft top, allowed it to hook into the down-facing channel that is attached to most vintage 1/4 ton jeep windshields. This improved the speed at which a top could be mounted to a jeep. What Jim’s relationship to Bestop was at that point isn’t clear to me yet.
As of the 1966 patent filing, there was no assignment to any company, just to Jim himself. In the meantime, at some point between 1964 and 1968, Jim and his wife Marj acquired Bestop (from Tom?) and began operating it, as her obituary notes “Marj and Jim ran their business, Bestop Mfg., which grew to be a leading manufacturer of cloth “tops” for Jeeps and other recreational vehicles”.
One bit of evidence that the Stengels were connected to Bestop by 1966 was that Jim filed the above 1966 patent under the address “P.O. Box 318, Boulder, Colorado”, the same address that appears in this May 1968 brochure published by Bestop.
Two years later, in 1968, Bestop Manufacturing filed for a Trademark on the name Bestop, again under the same PO Box 318 address :
Now, this is where it becomes a little confusing. At some point in 1968, Bestop acquired or expanded into several lines of additional products and, around the same time period, Husky Products appears to have dropped a similar type of products.
Below is a visual comparison of a 1966 Husky brochure and the 1968 Bestop brochure. The first three pages of the Bestop brochure kind of look like reworked versions of the 1966 Husky brochure (it’s this comparison that started my dive into this topic). And, yes, I realize the tops are somewhat different, especially at the back (Husky continued to advertise the full top into the 1970s, but dropped advertising for the half tops, the multiple doors, and other items).
Roger spotted this sign. I can’t tell how large it is, but it looks like a good price.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/571612383646378/
“Nice Jeep light up decor”
Here’s another hard-to-find farming brochure produced by the Newgren Company.
This love company brochure highlights its Spike Tooth Harrows equipment. Based on the first set of pics here, this equipment have have been used with the Disc frame work as well.
Photos of this unit can be seen here (or just look above this post).
This is the Love Company’s tandem disc setup (learn more about the Love Company and its lift at Farmjeep.com). It appears the same structure was use atop a tandem spike tooth harrows, too.
Here’s a 1952 French ad for underwear that includes a jeep.
View all the information on eBay
“This is an original 1953 print ad size : 6.7″ x 5.1″”
UPDATE II: More Hamm’s stuff thanks to Maury:
UPDATE: Maury shared a TV commercial that accompanied the Hamm’s beer ad campaign shows in the stickers below. For those old enough to remember Grizzly Adams, which I watched as a kid, it sure feels like an episode of that show. It turns out there was a John “Grizzly” Adams (1812-1860), upon whom the movie/show may have been based, who lived a pretty wild life.
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Original Post November 2012: Is this evidence that a Bear is a Jeeper’s best friend? There are two different ebay auctions for this sticker.
1. This seller is offering two stickers for less than the ad below
“2-Vintage Hamm’s Beer Stickers
RARE SET Grizzle w Jeep & Grizzle w Canoe
Cool set with both stickers included.
These are new-unused stickers!
Thank you for looking!”
2.”Up for auction is a rare vintage Hamm’s Beer sticker with a bear riding in a Jeep. Very cool. New old stock. Measures approx. 5.25″ x 5.25″. Multiple available. Please email any questions prior to bidding. Thanks!”
This unusual envelope was printed with the briefly promoted “J” logo, used by Willys-Overland during late 1945.
View all the information on eBay
Here’s a curiously early newspaper ad for the Willys Jeep in the August 18, 1944, page 3, of the Healdsburg Tribute and Enterprise out of California. It’s a small, one-column, straight to the point ad without any credit as to what company placed the ad. This may be the earliest ad for the jeep I’ve seen in a newspaper. This would have been placed during Willys-Overland’s fight with the FTC over W-O’s use of the term “Jeep” in its marketing.
The ad was again published the following month in Monterey, Virginia, on September 29, 1944, in the Highland Recorder: https://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-bin/virginia?a=d&d=HR19440929.2.28.1&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN-willys+jeep——-
These are the final pages for the Con-Ferr catalog.
View pages 1-20 plus Covers and History:
View pages 20-42:
View pages 42-96:
This brochure was on eBay. It sold for $20.52 (I lost out on it). Unfortunately, the photos on the ebay ad only showed a few pages.
“This is a listing for an AUSTRALIAN WILLYS JEEP CJ-6 sales brochure from the 1960s. This brochure was printed in Australia for the domestic Australian market. This brochure has 8 pages of illustrations, specifications and other information. See photos for details.”
This Carbogram was published six times a year by the Holley Carburetor Company of Warren, Michigan. The below issue features the announcement that Willys would be using Holley’s 2300 Carb in conjunction with the new Tornado-OHC engine.
View all the information on eBay
When your crops need cultivating, look no further than Newgren! This brochure appeared in a late 1940’s Special Equipment Book.
And, it only weights 1221 lbs! This was featured in a late 1940s Special Equipment Book.
