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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 .
These are scans I made of a reader’s Texaco lubrication charts years ago. The first one is for the CJ-2A and CJ-3A. The second one is for the 4WD Truck.
Ann spotted this video by the Jeep Guy. It’s part of a series of videos spoofing high end vehicles vs. not-so-high-end vehicles.
John’s wife Anne spotted this jeep-themed quilt at a Salt Lake City quilt show. I am still waiting on my jeep quilt from my wife (to be fair, she has no time for quilting these days and no doubt she is waiting on me to finish projects for her).
This undated, 32-page introduction to the Universal ‘Jeep’ is a 8.5″ x 11″ booklet I didn’t have and can’t remember seeing previously. I managed to buy it off ebay for $7. Now, that’s a score!
Note that the final photo shows an early dash, along with JEEP illustrated on the windshield rather than WILLYS.
UPDATE: I have updated the post to include the entire newspaper.
First published Jan 22, 2014: The photo below shows the cover of a rare edition of The Willys War Newspaper. Published on September 28, 1945, this appears to be both the last issue of The Willys War News and the first issue of The Willys News. I base this on three facts: 1) the word ‘war’ is scratched at the top, 2) the small explanation at the bottom of the front page and 3) the publishing date.
Searches of “The Willys War News” yielded the following:
The Willys War News, Vol. 3, No. 3, May 19, 1945 http://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/HTML_findingaids/MSS-072.html
The Willys War News, Vol. 1, No. 10 in 1943 (8 pages) http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-1943-jeep-willys-overland-war-238396381
Based on those clues, I would estimate that there were were at least 24 editions IF there were 10 issues in 1943 and 10 issues in 1944 and at least 4 issues in 1945. Anyone know of other examples of this? This seems as rare as the Globe Trotter Magazine.
Though I created this two-page scan from the July 30, 1945, issue of Life Magazine ten years ago, but somehow it never got posted. You may have seen it other places, such as Barry’s Farm Jeep page.
Tom spotted these OEM Jeep Seat Belts. They ship for $13.50.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/306502398757190
“Nos willys jeep optional seat belts 250”
I can’t remember who shared this, but it sure is an odd item. The seller thinks they “have a good idea want it go’s for” and is sure it is a Cushman jeep. If it is a Cushman jeep, it is something I’ve never documented nor can I find anything using Google about it.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1681869702280556/
“Not sure the age just know it’s old Cushman jeep it runs make a reasonable offer I have a good idea want it go’s for so don’t try and low ball me”
This article, and the short two page article that follows it, appeared in the Summer 1974 issue of The Milestone Car periodical. I’d never heard of this publication nor the associated “Milestone Car Society”.
Here are tow ads directed at existing or potential dealers. The first is from Willys-Overland likely in early 1953 and can be found here on eBay. Note the lack of a CJ-3B within the jeep-family that is shown.
This second one (here on eBay) is reported to have been published in 1956, though it lacks the CJ-6 or DJ-3A, so maybe early 1956? What’s curious is that by this time, the new “Willys Motors” organization had refocused on the “Jeep” brand. So, to see the brochure specifically refer to “Willys”, especially as the car brand was abandoned, is especially odd. This kind of has a recycled feel, as if someone in a hurry re-used an early 1950s ad.
UPDATE: Barney provided these pics of the compass from his 1962 leatherette dealer intro book for the J-series dated 1962.
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Maury shared this ebay auction. I wasn’t aware these existed. With 7 days left in the auction, the bidding has already reached $256!
View all the information on eBay
“This is a: NOS 1960’s Jeep Dash Accessory COMPASS ASSEMBLY KIT Factory Part 933536 RARE. This compass is in good, unused condition and appears ready for installation. It shows no signs of ever being mounted or used. The compass is working well, as intended. This kit comes complete with mounting bracket and hardware. The body is green in color which appears to be one of 3 different colors offered, according to the instruction sheet. The paperwork states this to be correct for J-Series applications and is dated 1963. This is a must have for any serious Jeep collector or restorer. This is the first new old stock Jeep compass I’ve come across in my many years of collecting parts. This will make a great addition to your classic restoration project.”
This March 1966 4-page Warn brochure is form number DC-366-25, which I take to mean it was produced in March of 1966.
this appears to have a later-generation bobcat fiberglass body.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/258587787151511/
“New aluminum floors new roll cage all new motor fired one time 215 dirt aluminum heads Crower 675 lift 282 duration solid lifter cam crawler roller rockers crowder rods 11 to one Keith Black pop-up Pistons all the goodies all new 588 Ford 9-in posi rear end all new brakes new gauges ready to go very fast”
As I continue my journey to organize the jeep office, I stumped upon this May 1963 Four Wheeler article about Kent Frost. You can learn more about him here: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/11/11/kent-frost-a-man-of-canyonlands/ and here http://www.ewillys.com/tag/kent-frost/.
This article describes the use of the jeep in the mountain west. There are some interesting notes about salt lick placement requirements, too.
I can’t remember running across the ad. It’s an unusual one. The title is “That’s the Story from Willys-Overland Motors”, but really that is pretty much the end of the story of Willys-Overland Motors, as the company assets were shortly wound into Henry Kaiser’s company. This must have been produced shortly after the introduction of the CJ-3B. The cartoonish M-38A1 is pretty unusual, too.
View all the information on eBay
Here’s another ad I’ve not seen. This was in Motor magazine’s April 1953 issue.
View all the information on eBay
UPDATE: I discovered going through my files that there were at least two version of the Jamaica brochure. The top brochure has Form number 5CM-SWC2-451-GG, suggesting this was produced in April, while the bottom one is Form number 2CM-SWC2-2-551-GG, which suggests the second one was produced in May.
The interior pageThe back page seems to be the only difference.
The interior seems the same:
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Original posted June 20, 2023: This Willys Wagon brochure highlights Willys Overland station wagon’s Jamaica color-choice styling. The brochure includes a cutout of the wagon that swings to the left. That got me thinking … did Willys-Overland ever produce a similar cutout brochure for the Grand Canyon and Caribbean models?
This is the front of the brochure:
The wagon image is actually a cutout that folds left to reveal the interior of the wagon:
This is the back of the brochure:
This information is consistent with a post I published late last year which showed brochures highlighting the color choices for the Jeepster and Wagon. Below is the wagon brochure:
This 1951 brochure gives a branding name to each color choice: Jamaica, Grand Canyon, and Caribbean. Note that this four-page brochure includes the Willys Makes Sense slogan from the Willys Makes Sense campaign the company implemented across it’s adverting in 1951:
I spent Saturday and part of Sunday working through some fuel system issues. What I thought was a bad fuel pump (I spent a short time on it this spring) seems to have been some kind of blockage in the line. So, I drained the tank (the updated stainless rear tank has a drain at the bottom), blew the line, then refilled with new gas and, viola, it ran. I think it just sat too long at mom and dad’s. I also replaced the old generator (which didn’t work) with one given to me by Joe-in-Mesa during our Feb visit. So far, it seems to be working.
Below is a short video clip. So, that makes 2 of 4 jeeps running! That’s progress!
The downside for me with this jeep is that I don’t fit in it well (too long of legs). it could also use an alignment. Finally, I wish the brakes stopped a little better, but that’s not a priority at the moment.
The body is rust free. You can drive it as is or repaint and restore it. The jeep includes a very rare Allstate window wash spray system and an equally rare Vacuum tank that adds power for operating the windshield wipers (one is missing a blade .. I haven’t needed to use them).
Being a convertible model, it has the original windshield with twist knobs across the top. I have nearly all the convertible top parts that attached to the body. The convertible loop only has the main bar, not the secondary bar that leaned off the back of the main bar. There is not soft top either.
The tow setup includes a towbar (not shown) that connects to a bracket mounted on the front bumper that uses stock holes, so the bumper remains unmolested.
So, if someone wants to buy this from me for $8000, contact me at d @ deilers.com.
I’ll throw in this three axle trailer for another $8000. I bought it along with the FC Tour jeep, but I think this trailer with just be sitting around and not used much. Since we already have a tilt trailer that can handle the FC, I don’t really need this one. I can take more pics or supply more info if anyone is interested. We towed it from Arizona and, once we got the wiring sorted out, it worked great for us.
The author of this review evaluated his time driving in a 2WD wagon.
Looking out over the pasture, I see lots of green, but don’t see all that much cow shit. So, I didn’t think I’d hit all that many piles racing around it. Welp, those tires found plenty of piles and threw it all over me and the jeep.
This was the first time I ran it in 4WD. That worked flawlessly. As for control and driving, I found the racer felt really balanced and smooth, despite the bumps (the pasture isn’t all that even). The steering is a little stiff, but that feels great when going faster.
It seemed like it was missing a bit as I hit higher RPMs; I couldn’t decide if that was caused by the bumps disrupting the gas flow in the carb or by a timing issue. We’ll figure it out.
At the end of the video I realized that the fan wasn’t working (it turned out to be a loose connection), so I was trying to get Ann to open the gate, but she decided she would film me while pretending to not hear me, lol … she is a merry prankster!
UPDATE: Blaine confirms this was Dan’s car previously. It did not reach the reserve, with bids maxing out at $43,000.
Blaine spotted this 1962 Willys convertible Interlagos, which sits as $23,000 with 3 hours left in the Bring-A-Trailer auction.
You can see pics of this car from the post of our visit with Dan back in 2014: http://www.ewillys.com/2014/04/13/day-24-apr-12th-dans-fcs-and-the-scared-romanian/ . He was pretty sure it was the only convertible Interlagos in the US.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1962-willys-overland-interlagos-4/
Over the past couple of days I’ve turn my attention to the disaster that is the ‘jeep’ office. My library of non jeep books and jeep books and jeep toys and other jeep stuff has remained mostly stored for the past two years in this tiny office that’s part of the shop. This is one room that has undergone almost no remodeling … and it shows.
I’ve made some progress (just putting up the books and binders in bookcases has made a difference. One of the side benefits of doing this is finding stuff that I have yet to post, such as the pics and Boyertown Economy Delivery brochure below …
One of the jeep photos appears to have a plate dated 1958, so that’s how I am dating this package.
This photo of Norman’s Amoco gas station and garage in Akron, Ohio, includes three CJ-2As with modified bumpers. However, note the “Norman’s” sign. I think that is a neon sign and I’m wondering if that jeep lit up at night. If so, that would a pretty awesome sign!
Here’s a closeup of the sign:
Here’s a closeup of the middle jeep:
UPDATE: I’ve updated this post with a higher quality scan of this brochure.
This is the early 1954 version of truck brochure with the KW stamp, form SD-203-4. It’s the only example I’ve been able to find. The subsequent version, form W-203-5, with a green theme is more commonly found online.
