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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 .
The front passenger jeep wheel looks like it is barely on the wood.
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“1943 Press Photo Mechanics work on Jeep at Birmingham Army Air Base.
This is an original press photo. U.S. Army, WAC, Birmingham Army Air Base Photo measures 8.25 x 10.25 inches. Photo is dated 08-20-1943.”
UPDATE: Nate’s hoping to gather some Stratton-related information. So, I’ll be using this post to gather that info. If anyone has any more insights into this lift, email me at d@ewillys.com or post it directly to Nate’s thread on the earlyCJ-5.com page. Also, Clint Dixon and Barry Thomas have authored a five-part series of articles for the Dispatcher Magazine titled “The Making of the Farm Jeep”. The Fall of 2018 issue includes information on the Stratton Lift.
As early as 1949 Stratton Equipment out of Cleveland, Ohio, was marketing hydraulic products. One example was their truck lift, a hydraulic lift used for placing cargo onto truck beds. The lift is pictured at the top of page 146 in the October 1949 issue of Popular Mechanics. This was just one of multiple patents filed over the period of three decades (1940s-1970s) by Alfred F. Foote, product designs both jeep-related and non-jeep-related.
1) On July 27, 1960, Alfred F. Foote filed a patent for the Stratton Lift with the Stratton Equipment Company as the assignee. Due to the lack of information related to Stratton lifts, it was unclear to most when this product hit the market. Given the patent date, the lift likely entered the market in late 1960 or later.
As part of his patent, Foote references both the Monroe and the Love designs. The patent for the lift was granted on Feb. 26, 1963.
2) This Stratton brochure is currently on eBay (Nate has better scans of this brochure):
3) These are two mailers that I think someone sent me .. was it you Barry? Continue reading
This ad with a CJ-2A sporting a canvas top was published in the November 24, 1946, issue of the Evening Star.
This cartoon appeared in the March 18, 1946, issue of the Evening Star.
This is an unusual item.
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“THIS AUCTION IS FOR ONE Original Vintage STICKY BACKED PICTURE OF A 1950 WILLYS JEEP STATION WAGON MODEL POSTER WITH DETAILS OF ITS FEATURES. THIS POSTER WAS TO BE USED TO CORRECT A SALES POSTER ALREADY PRINTED THAT HAD THE WRONG INFORMATION ON IT. THIS STCKY WAS TO BE PLACED OVER THE ORIGINAL POSTER TO CORRECT THE ERRORS. ERRORS HAD TO DO WITH THE FRONT END DESIGN, AND MOTOR.
THE POSTER COMES WITH A WRITTEN LETTER FROM WILLYS OVERLAND ON WHY THIS POSTER IS NEEDED AND HOW TO USE IT.
DATED MAY 20,1950
MEASURES 22 X 11-3/4 INCHES.”
Get ready for the sand and surfer early this year! Maury shared this vintage beach towel sporting a CJ-5.
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“This is a fun beach towel with a Jeep/beach/sunset thing going on. It’s woven into that pattern, so the picture appears on both sides in ‘opposite’ colors (more like reversed colors). This one is in very good shape with only a few very minor pulls – no big runs, tears, or stains. It is from a local estate so may have a history with smoking and/or pets. Our household has dogs so there is a likelihood of a pet hair of allergens. 59″ x 31″ Not super thick and plush but also not ridiculously thin like a cheap hotel towel.”
This November 14, 1943, Evening Star article highlights both the mystery armor plated jeeps and about how pretending to be crazy might just save your life.
Canada’s Maclean’s Magazine featured an illustrated jeep on the cover of its October 1, 1945, issue. Though there’s no specific article about the jeep, you can read the entire issue online (and many other issues) here: https://archive.macleans.ca/issue/19451001#!&pid=0_1
As a side note, though Canada and the US (and Great Britain) all declared war against Japan on December 8th, 1941, on December 7th, 1941, four hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 2000 Canadian troops along with 12,000 Chinese (and British?) troops, attacked a Japanese force of 52,000 strong in Hong Kong. The fighting lasted for three weeks. The Japanese prevailed, but they suffered significant losses.
The April 16, 1943, issue of the Evening Star announced the D.C.’s Woodrow Wilson High School ‘smashed’ the city’s jeep record by getting selling enough bonds and stamps to purchase 22 jeeps. 
On the same page of the newspaper was a nice story (nothing about jeeps) about a man who was blinded at his machine shop job, but managed to find work again due to his heightened sense of touch.
Blaine shared this video of a restored FC-170 Rescue Van in Germany doing some four-wheeling. It’s all in German. My only wish is that I’d like to see more of the van’s insides.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was Make Offer.
The seller on Facebook is trying to figure out a value for these Victory Toys out of the Netherlands. Here’s a post published about these jeeps.
“I’m trying to come up with an approximate value of these two cast iron WWII toy Jeep’s. What I do know thus far is that they were manufactured by Victory Toys out of Holland. I see pictures of them online and more than a few times I see the word rare. If someone could assist me with a fair price for them I’d truly appreciate it. Thank you! Will ship once I derive a price 49420”
This April 4, 1943, article in the Sunday Star shares more about the things the military was doing with jeeps (not the best scan, but it’s all I got).
I thought this early delivery sedan with a half window installed on the back driver’s side was interesting.
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“VINTAGE POSTCARD – CONDITION: EXC – SEE SCANS. DATE/ERA: c1950s-60s. Standard Size 3.5×5.5 Inches. “
Thats’a full load.
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“1943 Press Photo New Guinea – a jeep & crew transports wounded Allied soldiers
This is an original press photo. Wounded Allied soldiers are shown being carried to the rear from a fighting front in New Guinea. An American (left) and an Australian …. bumper of the jeep.Photo measures 9.5 x 8.5inches. Photo is dated 02-09-1943.”
Interesting brochure. It includes a quiz.
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“Original salesman’s part color catalog , 8.5 x 11 , 12 pages , 3 file holes at edge , also includes non color sales sheet , 8.5 x 11 , 2 pages , shows various Willys features , descriptions , etc .”
These aren’t the greatest brochure examples, but I’ve never run across brochures for A. J. Parsons equipment. Also included are a couple go-for-digger plow documents. The price is crazy.
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Plow:
Steve shared this ice-cream related photo.
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“WOMAN w ICE CREAM TRUCK JEEP @ GOLDEN STATE DAIRY 50’s photo ESKIMO PIE SIGN
Vintage original snapshot photo, circa 1950’s.
Dimensions: 5″ x 3 1/2″
Condition: Good, surface creases/wrinkles, bit of album paper remnants on back, see scan.”
Fort Belvoir was happy with the WACs they had and was hoping to recruit more. An article in the July 25, 1943, issue of the Sunday Star covered the recruitment program.
Maury shared this one. It isn’t pristine.
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“Universal Jeep Willys-Overland Sales Brochure. Undated. 32 pages. With photos. See photos. Creases and stains.”
UPDATE II: Some additional photos of the Esslingen, Germany, recondition facility posted to Facebook. The first one is similar to the final photo in this post, but the details show it’s a different photo (probably earlier given these have soft tops and military markings.
UPDATE: This was originally published in 2013.
The Bechtel-McCone Remanufacturing Process rebuilt from an article in issue #122 of the Army Motors Magazine Winter ’08 by Lloyd White
One topic that appears in my new book is the 1941 attack on Russia by Hitler. Called operation Barbarossa and named for the medieval Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa it was the largest invasion in the history of warfare. It included three million soldiers, 600,000 vehicles, and 750,000 horses. For comparison, the D-Day invasion force was approximately 150,000 men. Even a month later, only a million men had landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Supporting these huge numbers required plenty of logistics. For example, the German military had 250 companies of veterinarians that, at the height of the war, were capable of servicing almost 100,000 horses a day. Near the end of the war, horses became vital for the Germans on the Eastern front, as the terrain was often too inhospitable for vehicles, if they had any running vehicles at all.
What does this have to do with jeeps? Well, despite their disposable nature, many people don’t know that the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Department created special facilities to rebuild jeeps (and other vehicles). Facilities were located both in the U.S. and abroad. Here’s some information about the US divisions.
I spent time last night, probably too much, gathering and organizing some information about these programs. The idea and much of this information came from Maury Hurt’s efforts to gather and document reconditioning programs. There are a variety of threads about these at G503. However, what I didn’t see was a place that gathered the information together as I have below. I expect to add to this post over time with more information about the international programs.
Steam cleaning jeeps at Bechtel-McCone’s remanufacturing facility in Birmingham, Alabama.
UNITED STATES REMANUFACTURING:
The following companies remanufactured a total of 16,176 jeeps in the United States according to Charlie Weaver via Jim Allen’s book “Jeep”. There are examples of the data plates applied to the dash of jeeps by the companies below. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find examples for all the companies. Next to the companies are the number of jeeps each is credited with rebuilding.
1. Bechtel McCone 4,986
2. Allison Steel Manufacturing Company Plate 2,865
3. Moore Equipment Co plate and a second one and a third one. 2,443
4. Higgins Plastic Corp 1,850
5. Stewart & Stevenson 1,750
6. W.A. Bechtel plate 1,555
7. Bishop McCormick & Bishop (no examples found) 343
8. International Diesel (no examples found) 267
9. Vancura Motor Company (no examples found) 66
10. A.M. Meyerstein (no examples found) 49
I found these plates in several locations (documented in the links above) and then organized them as you see. I thought it would help people who run into plates, but don’t know what they have.
This March 02, 1941, photo from the Evening Star appears to show the original Pygmy.
This article, titled SUPER JEEP: A 1942 WILLYS THAT CAN’T BE KILLED, ran a couple years ago on driving line.com, but is still an interesting look at a unique build.
https://www.drivingline.com/articles/super-jeep-a-1942-willys-that-cant-be-killed/
Just a handful of posts today.
So, I’m supposed to fly out of Virginia on Thursday AND I’m flying standby (hey, it’s free). However, there’s one hitch. An unusually massive snow fall/blizzard hit the Pasco area (well, a good portion of Washington State), which has caused airport and interstate closures. Another heavy snow is supposed to arrive there today and additional snow will arrive Tuesday and Wednesday.
The question is, will I make it home if I leave Thursday? I can probably make it from Richmond to Minnesota (that’s my transfer point), but whether I can make it from there to Pasco remains to be seen, as the closed airports will likely force passengers to filled up subsequent flights.
I like the adventure of it, not knowing if I will get stranded in Minneapolis or not. Stay tuned!
Mario shared this article on Facebook from the May 25, 1941, issue of the Des Moines Register. A report describes his experience riding in one and imagines how it might be used. I find the claim that it would go “87-miles-an-hour–without opening it up” a stretch, but that was likely just a propaganda plug.
