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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 .
In 1949, Willys-Overland halved the number of ads in the Montana Farmer-Stockman from 1948’s eight ads to only four. This may underscore the financial issues Willys-Overland was facing.
The first ad was published January 15, 1949:
This unusual set of drawings highlight some Parkway Conversion details and some DJ-3A Hardtop details. Each sheet is 29″x18″. Asking price is $47.50.
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“”Jeep Model CJ-3A Dispatcher”, Plans for the Parkway Conversion Utility Delivery Vehicle canopy assembly and attachment, by the writers and illustrators of Willys-Overland Motors, Toledo, Ohio. No Copyright, but a 1956 date. Published by Jeep, Willys Motors, Toledo Ohio. NOT Ex-Library. Note – the photos you see are of these diagram sheets – no ‘Stock Photos’.
A tight firm clean set of three sheets, each 29″ x 18″, each detailing the assembly and attachment of these canopies to the Jeep CJ-3A vehicle of that day. clean and very well illustrated pages.
Sheet 1, illustrated with paragraphs of text, dated March 1958;
Sheet 2, Close-up with all dimensions including window dimensions and attachment detail;
Sheet 3, An Isometric view with attachment directions.
A splendid set of plans for that splendid old barn find or the Jeep Dispatcher passed down to you. Direct from a postwar Jeep dealer’s library. No dogears, No mustiness, No smoke smell. Splendid for the owner rebuilding that old find. We do try to describe them correctly – We want you back as a customer – hundreds of repeat customers.
A wonderful set of directions for the Mechanic, collector, historian, author. No names. Darkenings but no markings. NOT Ex-library. NOT Remainder-marked. We combine S&H on multiple purchases. Check out our eBay store – Navalperson 2 – Navalperson Books and More – 1,600 and more items waiting for you there. Buy with confidence – over 30,000 satisfied Internet buyers can’t be wrong!! Don’t let this one get by you – this is a marvelous Jeep find.”
Now that’s a load!
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“This Auction is for a 1940’s real photo travel trailer postcard of a Jeep pulling a trailer Good used condition ”
Seller’s asking price is $295. The contents are likely very similar to this one, which has been scanned and made available for free.
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“”Product Merchandising Manual” by the writers and illustrators of Willys Motors and Willys-Overland Export Corporation, Toledo Ohio. No Copyright information. Assembled and Published by Willys and the Jeep Division in the early 1950s – we make a presumption of 1955 based on the Jeep CJ-5 described herein., Presumed First Edition, NOT Ex-Library. No ISBN. Note – the photos you see are of this binder and sections no ‘Stock Photos’.
A tight firm clean binder containing Forty (I through XL) tabbed sections of promotion information for the Jeep dealer to sell Jeeps to the public. The purpose-made three-ring binder is deep blue/yellow-green lettered and decorated with the large Willys ‘W’, although the information is for Jeep. The binder is 11 1/2″ x 11 1/2″ if you count the big graceful curve of the 3 1/4″ spine. The hinges for the binder are separately hinged so the binder could hold additional information as developed by Willys and Jeep. The pages are 11″ x 8 1/2″ with 3/8″ color-coded plasticized tabs identifying the sections. Those sections, again, total 40. Continue reading
Mark Smith was the leader of the 1978 Jeep Expedition of the Americas (also known as the Expedicion de Las America), a 20,000-mile, 120 day odyssey that covered the Americas. Much of the trip was on roads, with the offloading of the the Darien Gap, the section of land between Colombia and Panama, the focus of the trip.
The narrator in the movie notes, rather dramatically and erroneously, that the Gap had only been crossed once before by the British Army. In fact, the Darien Gap had been crossed at least once before in 1960 by a group in a Landrover and a Willys truck, the story of which was published in National Geographic and clearly titled “We Drove Panama’s Darien Gap“. Though Frank and Helen Schreider drove the entire length of the Americas in their SEEP, Tortuga, in 1954, one place they didn’t attempt to drive, but instead floated around, was the Darien Gap.
Fortunately for us, the 1978 trip was captured on video, so we can enjoy some of what they saw during their adventure. Vimeo currently has a twenty-seven minute video of the trip. It’s a little dated at times, but still interesting to watch:
This April 01, 1949, article by Jack Cady highlighted the effort of Lou Morris to deliver the mail in a CJ-2A navigating the Wild Horse Trail from Havre to Canada during Montana’s winter of 1949.
This ad appeared in the October 14, 1954, issue of Oregon’s Heppner Gazette Times. It includes an illustration of the new CJ-3B. It also shows that some KW logos appeared in newspaper ads for a short time.
This ad appeared the following week (October 21, 1954) in the same newspaper with similar elements.
In case anyone’s interested, Four Wheeler ran an article by Verne Simons about making seat covers.
https://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/body-chassis/cj-2a-seats/
This eBay auction features a set of Las Brisas Menus from 1973 that include images of pink DJ-3A Galas on the front.
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I bet this kid grew up to be an FC kind of guy. He looks very serious about jeeps!
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“You are bidding on a Nice Vintage Young Boy & 1957 Jeep FC-150/FC-170 Pickup Truck Decorated Crepe Streamers Photograph.
Very nice condition.
Great photo view showing young boy wearing suit & tie, posing beside classic 1957-1958 Jeep FC-150/FC-170 pickup truck. Decorated with crepe paper streamers & sign. Parked in front of church, possibly wedding event.
Border edge has processing/developer date stamp: 1/58 – Church sign has Aug 25, 1957 date.”
UPDATE: I mistakenly list a September 1949 Ad as a September 1948 ad. I removed that, so now there are only seven ads on this post.
Willys-Overland ran a series of Universal Jeep and Truck ads in the Montana Farmer-Stockman newspaper through 1948. The ads for the Universal Jeep focused on farming and ranching and appear most, but not all months (The paper is archived at the Library of Congress and appears to have been a bi-monthly publication). Below are seven ads I could find. In 1949, the number dropped to only 4 ads.
No February Ad
Someone on Facebook claimed that hood strips were a factory option, though without specificity as to which model of jeep in which time period such an option was offered. I was not aware of this option nor have I seen any documentation for such an option. Of course, I’ve seen plenty of jeeps for sale with hood strips, but never saw much consistency among the designs.
So, anyone know 1) were hood strips ever a factory option? 2) were they ever a dealer option? 3) were they ever featured as a special equipment option? 4) if any of these are true, does anyone have documentation?
Here’s an example of wood strips:
From the CJ-3B Page: https://www.cj3b.info/Tech/HoodProblems.html
Roger spotted this unusual toy with an etched-in jeep grille.
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“You’re getting the vintage wood folk art toy shown. 5″ red jeep. Nice overall condition”
This old package of Buckeye Silver Liquid Iron includes an endorsement by Willys Motors, Inc.
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“THIS AUCTION IS FOR ONE/1 USED RARE/VINTAGE ORIGINAL BOX CONTAINING BUCKEYE SILVER SHIELD LIQUID IRON TESTED & INDORSED BY WILLYS MOTORS.
MADE BY BUCKEYE PAINT AND CHEMICAL CORP. OF TOLEDO OHIO, ALSO HOME OF THE WILLYS JEEP.
ITS A 2 PART ADHESIVE AND FILLER. BOTH PARTS ARE IN THE BOX.
THE HARDENER IS STILL IN LIQUID FORM. THE LIQUID IRON LOOKS MORE OF A PASTE. I DID NOT OPEN EITHER ONE OF THE CONTAINERS.
GREAT GRAPHICS ON BOX. GREAT IMAGE OF A WILLYS JEEP CJ5.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $25.
This Moriarty Brothers (Manchester, CT) Willys Jeep Key Ring a neat little piece. Some history behind that dealership.
“estate sale find : vintage 1960’s Willys Jeep Keys I was told and leather clip key chain. Back side says Willy’s- Jeep , and front side says : Moriarty Brothers inc. Manchester Connecticut. Lincoln-mercury, Meteor-comet . Phone mitchel 3-5135.”
I purchased this cool booklet off of eBay. It has some great pics. I’ll share once it arrives.
Steve shared this ad for Proto Tools that included a Jeep. It appeared in the March 1953 issue of Mechanix Illustrated.
This photo is another image-applied-to-plate that’s on eBay. It’s a neat photo showing at least four Ford GPs inside a boxcar.
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“Jeep New Metal Sign: Military Jeep Secured Inside Vtg. Railroad Boxcar 4 Transit
Suitable for framing or hanging, has pre drilled holes. A nice piece of 20th century history.
Great coloration in the sign.
The sign measures 9″ x 12″
This sign is also available in 12″ x 16″ for $29.88.”
Any thoughts on where this photo was taken?
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“1942 Press Photo Soldiers drive amphibious jeeps in Armistice Parade. This is an original press photo. War implements – jeeps in Armistice Parade Photo measures 8 x 3 inches. Photo is dated 11-11-1942.”
UPDATE: Adding to this post, there are a few examples of DJ-3As with wide windowed hardtops. It’s possible they were just using the CJ-5 hardtops. http://www.ewillys.com/2021/02/10/photos-of-a-1956-rhd-dj3a/
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Original post from March 17, 2020:
The small rear window can be seen on the back of the top at the left top of this 1956 DJ-3A brochure.
Mike raised a question the other day, which resulted in us learning something new. He was viewing the launch-brochure for the DJ-3A when he noticed that the Koenig-manufactured hardtop was illustrated with a small rear window. Up to that point, Mike and I and several other folks were under the impression that all these tops had the same size rear window, but in fact that was false.
Instead, it appears that in 1955, through 1946(?) and possibly into 1957, Jeep used a small window in the back of the top, before moving to a larger one. Especially with the DJ-3As, with their lack of side windows, that small window would have made backing up difficult, as it would have been hard to see anything behind the driver.
Here are the four types of hardtops of this style identified so far.
This photo shows the same jeep from the side. You can see the lack of side windows.
Mike shared this photo that was drifting around Facebook. It’s clip of Dean Martin behind a Jeepster Commando. According to the Facebook post, “Dean Martin, Senta Berger, Janice Rule, and a ‘67 Jeepster Commando Station Wagon. From the 1967 Matt Helm film “The Ambushers”.” As Derek Redmond pointed out, it’s not the only Jeep in that movie.
The Internet Movie Car Database has even more pics from the movie. In fact, Jeepster Commandos appeared in a variety of movies: https://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Jeep_model-Jeepster+Commando.html
I have one of these wood Jeepster models. There’s another one on eBay currently.
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“Antique vintage new old stock Models of Merit by Ace Products jeep jeepster kit no.7r Balsa Wood Model Kit Condition is nos In box complete with instructions”
These pics are a little nicer, but from a different eBay auction:
Maury spotted this one. It was on eBay (sold for $17.50). This 1979 guide seems a clever way to diagnose transmission problems.
“”Kaiser Jeep Corporation Automatic Transmission Circular Slide Rule Calculator” by the writers and illustrators of Kaiser Jeep Corporation, Toledo Ohio. No Copyright data; research indicates Kaiser Jeep used Borg-Warner transmissions at least 1970-1972 – probably longer. Here is a guide for use while servicing those transmissions. Kaiser Jeep published the wheel as a Mechanic’s tool, and as an advertising piece, for their dealers selling retail product in that era. Note – the photos you see are of this mechanic’s tool and advertising piece – no ‘Stock Photos’.
A tight firm clean double-wheel ‘slide rule’ calculator in tan/black, unmarked, a trifle darkened after a half-Century on a shelf. 7 1/4″ in diameter; the inner wheel is 5 1/2″ in diameter.
A guide to when service is required on these transmissions;
The order in which the tests should be made;
The reverse shows the Pressure Levels, where the Transmission selector (gearshift) should be place and what RPM or MPH should be utilized in those tests;
Speeds at which downshifts should be made.
A solid clean circular slide rule – lots of data on the reverse. Direct from a postwar Jeep dealer’s library. No mustiness, No smoke smell. We do try to describe them correctly – We want you back as a customer – hundreds of repeat customers. “
This 4 Wheel Drive Booklet was likely produced between 1955-1957. An accompanying order form (seen at the bottom) suggests it was likely a 1957. The booklet was assigned form W-640. It’s not in the best of shape, but it also wasn’t very expensive.
The is a much better version of this booklet as compared to the earlier version from 1952.
