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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 photo from the October 1954 issue of Kaiser Willys News got me thinking. Anyone know when the first jeep trenchers were manufactured?
UPDATE: Here’s another one of these rare brochures for sale. Thanks to Bill Norris and Derek Redmond for the extra pics. This brochure has been for sale on the same eBay pager for four years. Its on sale at the moment.
This unusual fiberglass hardtop was created by the Reinforced Plastics Corp. I have yet to see one in the wild. Two journal articles (Chemical Week 1957, Volume 81 and National Defense Transportation Journal 1957, Volumes 13-14) both have announcements for the new top, pegging its inception around mid-1957. Unfortunately, Google will only provide snipped views of these University of Michigan scanned journals. The date of these journals suggests the lister of this brochure is probably wrong about the 1955 date for the brochure.
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Ann says they tilted the camera for this shot. I can’t tell for sure. This photo was featured in the March 1955 issue of the Willys News and shows Vice President Hickman Price descending a steep gradel in a CJ-5.
Here’s an unusual piece.
“Vintage Colorful Japanese Jeep Envelope or Sleeve — New Old Stock… Newspaper like paper has colorful illustration on one side and line drawing on the other… Colorful illustration of a woman officer driving a jeep, a small doll dangling in the wind shield and a rose… Back side has line drawing of a little girl riding a donkey… There is also Japanese character writing… Good condition, new old stock, both top and bottom open… Piece measures about 5 1/8″ x 7 3/8″… ”
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This CJ-2A has the spare tire on the side and sports a Beck “ECONO” Model F3B-100 hardtop.
The CJ-2A has the same hardtop, but for some reason it no longer has a side mount tire.
Frazier spotted a wonderful color video from 1949. Credit for the one-hour length film goes to Ray and Virginia Garner. As I watched it the first time I was struck by the quality of the cuts, the closeups and faraway shots, and the overall sense of a narrative, despite the lack of sound. A little research proved that this wasn’t Ray’s first video. He’s got a long resume that stretched back to pre-WWII. He and his wife Virginia continued filming for years, traveling around the world, and made films for NBC and ABC News.
LINK FOR VIDEO==> Check out the one hour video that starts near Moab and ends within Canyonlands National Park. The jeep section begins at the 15:30 mark and lasts the rest of the film. You’ll eventually realize that there are two green CJ-2As, though I didn’t see a scene that ever showed both together. If you know southern Utah at all you will really appreciate this gem.
Here’s the archived description:
Movie (color, no sound, 57 minutes, 33 seconds): a home movie by Ray Garner shows various scenes in the deserts of the American Southwest. Ray and Virginia Garner take a road trip in a wood-frame station wagon, camping in the desert of Utah and Arizona. Scenes include Arches National Monument, sand dunes, the La Sal Mountains from Arches, cactus and other vegetation, Monument Valley, wildlife (caterpillar, lizard, insects, scorpion, “Hassayampa legend” sign; car travel in the desert; camping; a windmill pumping water; men climb El Capitan (Agathla Peak) in northern Arizona; the couple in a motorboat on the Colorado River. jeep ride at Dugout Ranch and Canyonlands, San Juan County; petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock; dynamiting a boulder to clear a path for the Jeep; Chesler Park and the Needles area; Indian ruins (Beef Basin?); small planes land and take off at Chesler Park; installing climbing ropes on rocks in Canyonlands to access Indian ruins; Wedding Ring Arch in Salt Creek Canyon; Indian ruins and petroglyph (“All-American Man”) in Salt Creek area. Final sequence shows more natural arches.
I feel like I have seen these two jeeps somewhere recently ….
Thanks to Gray and Dave for sharing photos form the 2017 Mason-Dixon Willys Jeep Gathering on Sunday. The weather was perfect and both reported they had a good time.
Dave noted, “Great show on a beautiful day, though a bit warm for the end of October in these parts. I didn’t do any counting but, I’m estimating around 10-12 used parts vendors with everything imaginable related to cjs, trucks, and wagons, and around 40-50 jeep vehicles including civilian cjs, the trucks, wagons, FC, Jeepster guys and, the military vehicle group that included a military wrecker, a WWII deuce and several jeeps. All in all, this is a great show that gets better each year. Thanks to the Union Mills Homestead site for having us and to Mike for organizing it.”
Gray added, “Such a great show . Lots of parts for sale and everybody was so nice!”
Below are a mix of Dave and Gray’s photos. The first one shows this year’s award winners:
A reader from South Africa sent the serial number of his jeep to me, asking when it was built. I concluded that the serial number indicated he has a 1966 CJ-5. The curious part is that he has AA’s stamped on the end of the serial number.Here’s an approximate example of his serial number: 8305 211XXX AA …. It turns out, he’s not alone.
Here’s an example (again from South Africa) of a CJ-6 with the AA’s stamped into the serial number: http://www.4-the-love-of-jeeps.com/cj6-big-red-comes-to-papa.html
The internet also has a few references to others with the double AAs. What I think is going on is that as a part of converting left handed jeeps to right handed ones, the company that did it was also adding a set of AA’s to the serial number. Does anyone know of this to be the case?
CJ-6 serial number with AA’s stamped in it.
I snagged this early 1950s Jeep Utility Wagon brochure off eBay. It took some time to find an inexpensive one. It came with a small bundle of other brochures.
A little something to read from five years ago …
Originally published October 31, 2012: I stumbled across some Flickr Images of the Clark County, Nevada, Sheriff’s Office Jeep Posse. I searched for a website for the group, but could only find a Sheriff site.
Here are a few images from Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh7cz/4011171143/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh7cz/4011171121/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh7cz/4011171165/in/photostream/
In February, 1952, Popular Science published a short article about this Jeep Posse. Note the Slat Grille MB.
This October 1954 photo and caption from Kaiser Willys News highlights Chuck Yeager’s recent purchase of a Willys Wagon (or maybe he was given it).
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Interesting photo. It appears this has a bed extender on it. I don’t think I’ve seen that on a fire jeep previously?
“1953 Press Photo McCloskey & Burke inspect donated jeep with fireman Pizzatola. This is an original press photo. This Jeep, equipped with two-way radio, was donated by the New Orleans Fire Department to the Fort Pike Volunteer Fire Department for communication between the two departments for fires along Cef Menteur. Highway Safety Commissioner McCloskey and Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Burke inspect the jeep. The fireman is Sam Pizzatola. Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches. Photo is dated 09-22-1953.”
UPDATE: Barry noticed that this may very well be a photo with FDR in the passenger side of the jeep. 1) He spent extended periods of time in Georgia, 2) the side would have been cut to make it easier for him to get in the jeep, and 3) it looks quite a bit like FDR.
No date on the photo. The jeep to the left has had some modifications done to the entry area.
“Press Photo The Army jeeps shown in a field –
This is an original press photo. The Army jeeps shown in a field Photo measures 11 x 7 inches. Photo is dated –none.”
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I don’t think I’ve seen this photo. That looks to be an early GPA to me.
“1942 Press Photo U.S Army Amphibious Jeep Proceeds into swollen Ohio River. This is an original press photo. Turning off the highway it proceeds into the swollen Ohio River between Fort Knox and Louisville. The Propeller is put in motion and its Ship Ahoy. Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches. Photo is dated 04-10-1942.”
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It’s different.
“I built this bar about 8 months ago out of an unrestorable 50s Jeep Willys Wagon. Thought that it would be a great center piece for the man cave I was going to build. It has working Edison Light Bulbs. My wife informed me after building it that my young children would not be allowed near it because it has rust on it. Oh well. It is up for sell. $1000 boo.”
https://littlerock.craigslist.org/fuo/d/jeep-willys-bar/6351976638.html
This October 1954 photo and caption from Kaiser Willys News underscores how confident Willys Motors was about the coming year and their new CJ-5 model. About this time there was an explosion of new brochures and mailers, so Willys Motors did what it could to generate excitement about the commercial and utility market.
This is a neat piece.
“1960s Jeep original dealership showroom two sided paper sign, size 15 by 17 inches, condition is good, any questions please send an e-mail, USA shipping will be $8.00, overseas at extra cost.”
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That’s a stark photo, but also a very thoughtful one if the photographer is correct.
“1946 Press Photo Jeeps and Studebaker Trucks That Helped Russia Win the War. This is an original press photo. This is typical of the destruction of Stalingrad, where workers and farmers pitched in to help the Red Army hold. These two Russian Chauffeurs say jeeps and studebaker trucks helped Russia win the war. They suggested Strohm take this picture so he could tell the American people they appreciated the things we sent them in lend-lease. Photo measures 9 x 7.25 inches. Photo is dated 10-04-1946.”
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Roberto Flores’ search for fires in Portugal tangentially led to a finding a few links to blogs with fire jeeps on them.
This first set of photos is from a 2008 post on a Portuguese website. According to a translation, “On the day of [the jeep’s] baptism, the Father said in his address: “The first-aid jeep is intended to fill a very important gap in this Corporation, which is to be able to turn to places of difficult access or even of the city, where it is not justified to move a heavier car.”
This second fire jeep resides at the Fire Museum at Dafundo in Portugal. This 1947 CJ-2A was acquired in 2010, then restored.
This last website from Catalonia only shows one photo and it’s not the best angle. Still, the parking lights suggest it is a 1946 or early 1947 CJ-2A. It’s not clear where this one is located, other than in Portugal.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Good look at a Ford GP.
“VINTAGE POSTCARD – CONDITION: VG/some corner wear *SEE SCANS BELOW OF BOTH SIDES. DATE/ERA: c1940s. Standard Size 3.5×5.5 Inches.”
An odd Christmas-jeep-pic-coin combo card.
“This vintage Christmas greeting card is unused with no envelope. Has line of discoloration on front from age and storage. 4 3/8 x 5 3/8″.”
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UPDATE: There’s another set of Bantam BRC-60-like cards on eBay. I’ve got a set of these (those are mine pictured below). Pretty neat!
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Here’s another Las Brisas Menu from 1966. I have one from August of ’66. This one is from July.
“Date: July 30, 1966.
Restaurant: Las Brisas Hotel.
Location: Acapulco, Mexico.
Size when open: 14 x 23 inches – 3 panel card stock menu.
The World’s Only Hotel With Room Service By Jeep.”
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Joe-in-Mesa joined the MVPA last weekend (You can track the convoy’s progress here) while they were camped in Williams, Arizona. He filed this report with photos!:
“I trailered my ’42 GPW up Friday to join in the festivities thru Sunday morning. She ran pretty well, despite not liking cold morning air and me forgetting to tighten the points adjustment securing screw (oops). I understand 47 MVPA vehicles rode into Williams, and our Phoenix area clubs brought up another half dozen-ish. Our AMVCC club treated them to breakfast Saturday morning at the vehicle parking encampment. It was truly a perfect weekend: the vehicles, venue, weather, and so many great people!”
I’ve attached about 14 of the many pics I took, focusing on the jeeps. My GPW shows up at least 5 times since I wanted to include the Rt 66 and Grand Canyon RR images that were the backdrop to the whole event.
Not too long after Kaiser acquired Willys-Overland the company introduced a dealer news periodical. What I learned recently is that initially the periodical was called Kaiser Willys News. It wasn’t until March of 1955 that the Kaiser name was dropped and it was renamed Willys News. Apparently, it was felt that the jeep dealers needed different information and support from that of the auto dealers? I don’t know for sure, but it makes sense.
Here are examples of each periodical.
