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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 one has been parked a while.
https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/1241620130052265
“58 Willys FC150 cab over jeep Has a 350 Buick from a 68 jeep wagoner. Ran when parked in 1990 $5000 obo part trade.”
UPDATE: This was originally published April 22, 2015
Credit for posting this rare magazine cover with a CJ-2A on it goes to: http://national-radiation-instrument-catalog.com/new_page_14.htm
The hunt for Uranium during the late 1940s and into the 1950s in the American West was a big deal. It’s also the last great mineral rush with-in the continental United States. Uranium’s grand paradox, as author Tom Zoellner puts it, is that “[t]he stability of our world rests on a substance that is unstable at the core.”
So large was the hunt for Uranium, the May 23, 1955, issue of Life Magazine noted that more man-hours had been spent hunting for Uranium between 1952 and 1955 than were spent seeking all other metals in history, at least according to the Atomic Energy Commission. Having spent considerable time thumbing through decades of mine related information prior to the 1900s, I find this claim dubious, but maybe someone can explain how this could be?
Still, the uranium boom captivated the imagination of the public. Uranium Fever was written and sung by Eliot Britt in 1955 and included jeep references. This great site shows how the search affected popular magazines of the time. In the Life Magazine article referenced above (pg 26), the author included a list of ultimate gear for prospecting. At the very top of the list was a brand-new four-wheel jeep for only $1,685, along with equipment and a map of the best places to hunt:
Recently I got a great price on 30+ Willys World news letters from 1974-1985. There were a few interesting nuggets in several issues.
One the cover of the March-April 1982 issue appears this Willys-Overland photo, taken February 2, 1950. The pic shows what W-O called a “Herman Panel Delivery Van”. The model-name itself is curious, as Willys had referred to the earlier (and later) versions of this van as a Package, Economy, or Delivery Van.
Herman was a van-body manufacturer, as this brochure shows. Note the dual windows on the door. This is similar to what the company designed for Willys-Overland.
My guess is the Herman Panel Delivery van was a prototype. For some reason, it appears it was never a production model. However, Willys-Overland did work with the Boyertown and Montpelier companies to create a similar version in the late 1950s.
MONTPELIER DELIVERY TRUCK ARTICLE:
UPDATE: Here’s is a postcard from White Springs (data unknown) that highlights the jeep-train-wagons. It appears the train was still being pulled by a 3B, but this color photo shows some black styling was added to the cow, giving it a Holstein look.
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Originally posted Jan 18, 2013: On the evening (2 nights ago) that Craig became a grandpa, instead of doing whatever grandpas should do to celebrate, he was busily scanning stuff for us! It’s clear his Willys Sickness is far more advanced than I thought! However, to his credit, this really is a cool picture. In fact, it’s so cool, that I managed to skip over the part where he said he became a grandpa! It wasn’t until I re-read it tonight that I felt like a total doof.”
This photo comes from the March 1957 issue of Willys News. The jeep wagon train operated at the Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center – White Springs, Florida.
Floridamemory.com has a variety of photos related to the wagons. Below are a few of them.
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/41660
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/73660
This photo looks like the jeep is a CJ-5 rather than a CJ-3B. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/87462
I’ve not documented a Willys-Overland postcard promoting its Planadyne suspension.
View all the information on eBay
I just bought this postcard. It was mis-listed under “Jeeping on the San Juan Islands, Washington”. Now, Mt. Moran is a pretty good sized mountain (for the San Juan Islands), but pales in comparison to the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, where this photo was obviously taken. This is a 4×6 card and I’m hoping I can identify which tour jeep the is once I get the card. Given the red cage and red bar up the center, I’m leaning towards this being mine.
These toys are being sold by Carl, but I “think” someone is helping him sell them. It could be an in home care person. They are all “make offer”. You can contact the seller at 765 418 5751. He will ship for $12.00 (he says that if the shipping value is over that, he will pay the extra).
It’s unclear why this has an image of a jeep puling a boat on it with the phrase Concessionnaire “Jeep” at the bottom. Given the American Motors, I would assume the is post 1970. Douville, St-Hyacinthe is in Quebec, Canada.
View all the information on eBay
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A big thanks to Tom for buying me a Willys Rally shirt while attending the Hueston Woods event, along with a few other swaggy items. He even picked up a set of gardening gloves so Ann wouldn’t feel left out (turns out she needed a set of gloves, so that worked out great!).
It sounds like this year’s Rally was well attended, with more jeeps than ever. Here’s a message from Rick about the event:
“The Willys Jeep Rally for 2023 was a great success. Mike Mee did a splendid job of overseeing the event. Barb and Bill Marshal were well organized and had plenty of help so they could enjoy the show.
Mary Kindburg prepared a delicious picnic on Friday evening with pulled pork and turkey sandwiches and loads of fruits and vegetables. Both trail rides had large numbers, and nobody broke down!
There were more Jeeps than ever involved in the demonstrations, and we even had a plow champion who showed the boys how a professional does the job. All the demonstrations had larger attendances than ever.
The weather all weekend was gorgeous with high heat but low humidity. We had about 10 vendors with the Jeepster Man joining us with large donations of gift certificates and merchandise. The banquet food was delicious as usual. Barney’s presentation was a story of his journey from his first Jeep to where he stands now. I think everyone could share in some of Barney’s insights and memories.
We are already planning for the 2024 Willys Jeep Rally. Hope to see everyone at Hueston Woods next year.”
Andy shared these ads. One is for a General Electric 200 Amp Arc Welder brochure and the other is for the Universal Jeep. Both appear to be from 1945.
“Original brochure kept in protective plastic”
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/279737064408081/
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1356368641606565
It needs some work.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1269337530674990
“This is a replica scaled down army jeep made from wood. It has a 9hp motor with a forward and reverse transmission. Needs some work before it can be driven”
Today, phase one of Ann’s garden is finally complete. I had hoped to have it done by Mother’s Day, but I missed that target date by three weeks. The biggest hurdle was that I had some mystery health issue with fatigue, uneasiness, sleep issues, and tightness in my chest (I really thought I might have a heart issue), yet I never felt sick or had a temp. I had attributed it to accidentally handling some strong fertilizer with my hands. However, over the last three days (which was a day after I went to see the doctor .. and he indicated he thought my heart was fine) everything has dissipated. Unfortunately, today Ann seems to have come down with what I had. So maybe it was type of illness after all??
Anyhow, I can now turn my attention back to the racer, finally. I have an extremely happy wife, which was worth all the work.
As a reminder, here’s what the area looked like when we first bought the place in April of 2021.
In Feb of 2022 we had the willows removed. Then I began tearing stuff down.
One year later, we have the following … And here we have a short video (yes, I do mention horses mooing and I accidentally call a rail a railroad tie … ) 😄
Before and after pics:
Before:
The Willys Rally kicked off yesterday with beautiful, but hot weather, or so I am told. Tom sent me a some pics, followed by Roger Martin, who wore out his camera taking pics, so thanks to you both! So, there’s lots to look at. One highlight captured by both kind gentleman included a four-seat empire tractor, which looks really well done.
For months we wondered if our three breeding cows were pregnant. We were sure about one, but not about the other two. Then, on Wednesday, within the span of 12 hours, all three gave birth to female calves. While we would have preferred steers (for meat), we are well set up with breeding cows for the upcoming years.
Updates delayed until Sat morning.
Ron Fitzpatrick recently revealed two parts GPAs he apparently has acquired, which I imagine he will transform into one? Anyway, I wanted to highlight the green one, as it is one of the oddest modified GPAs I’ve ever seen. The pics are from this post: https://www.facebook.com/ron.fitzpatrick.g503/posts/pfbid0oJdt1qQ8yYYtgsJ1QkETtynEJpbEWQUJvPtd8ncrXvFeZNB3S8czBzdXie8Qqr1Gl
Bill shared this article from Silodome on the Austin Champ. It included the below video.
I am taking the weekend off. I had hoped to take the Tour Jeep up to the Moonshiners race in Glenwood, WA, this weekend to share the FC with folks. However, I am not feeling the best, so I’ve decided to get some rest. Meanwhile, it seems one of our cows is showing signs of giving birth soon (we’d given up, thinking she wasn’t going to have a calf this year), so that’s a surprise!
Have a great weekend!
This Tacoma Webfooters jeep club shirt is a size Large. The Webfooters have been around for a long time.
View all the information on eBay
“Red Tacoma, Washington Webfooters jeep club tshirt-single stitch sleeves and bottom in excellent shape with no flaws and little wear and tear on a Hanes fifty-fifty Tag.
Condition 9/10
Size L 20w x 26H”
I had hoped to have the race jeep all done by now so I could take it to the Moonshiner’s payday in Glenwood, but not this year. The priority shifted to Ann’s garden. She’s been such a big supporter of my jeep craziness over the years, that building her this garden was the least I could do. Now that the weather has cooled back down to normal temps, I should have the trip work around the pagoda and boxes done in the next couple of days.
The other thing that has slowed things down has been some weird health glitches. Hopefully, we have those issues under control and that won’t slow me down (for a while anyway).
Yesterday I finished up the seat mounts and the seat belt mounts on the racer. Next, the overhead dashboard needs finishing, but that is nearly done. After that, the side bars need mounting and the mud flaps setup. After that, the body and hood mounts need to be added. There are a few places that need some cleaning (read grinding) on the chassis, but otherwise it should be ready to clean and paint. So, almost there …
<– Day 14 – Fri. May 17th: Day 1 of the Midwest Willys Reunion | Trip Overview | Day 16 – Sun. May 19th: On the Road to Gettysburg –>
UPDATE: This year is the 10th anniversary of our 8-week, 2013-trip around the east coast. Up to that point, I didn’t really get how the impact this simple website had made. This weekend is the 10th anniversary being given the Toledo Brick award at the Willys Reunion. Here’s a throwback to that Saturday.
Today was another gorgeous, warm, sunny day here in Hudson. The day ended with an honor that caught me by surprise.
L-to-R: Bob Chrisy, Sebastian Logo-Guerrero, and Me.
Today was another gorgeous, warm, sunny day here in Hudson. More jeeps and people rolled in to make the day even better than yesterday. The most difficult thing about today was finding the time to talk with visitors looking at jeeps in the parking lot and having the time to see the presentations on the inside of the hotel. Here are a few photos of people I met:
In the end I only had a chance to attend MD Juan’s presentation, which was very interesting. They discussed the challenges the company has faced trying to perfect vintage Willys bodies so that they properly fit the different models (MB/GPW/2A/3A etc).
CEO Rommel Juan noted that the company’s increasing use of the jeep forums combined with access to original bodies has allowed them to tune the bodies and close in on the original specs.
R to L: Bob Christy with Rommel Juan, CEO of MD Juan, and one of his officer’s whose name I don’t have at the moment.
This is an unusual jeep. It appears to be made of metal. Given the PRODUCTION ENGINEERING label across the windshield, it’s possible this was created by the Production Engineering Corp, out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which specializes in sheet metal projects and other custom works. The company was launched in 1957, so it is possible.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1288581968729325
“Probably used in a factory”
The newest issue of Dispatcher Magazine arrived in my mailbox yesterday. The central article cover the history of the Viasa-Willys. This issue is the 10th anniversary of the launch of the magazine. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I highly recommend it!
https://www.dispatchermagazine.com/
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay. Barney picked up this one.
If you love Ford GPs, you might just love this shirt.
Thanks to Tom for sharing this one. This Baier lighter appears to lack the ashtray trailer. The tires are odd as well. (See a more original setup here)
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3416927958563592
“occupied Germany right after WWII. Made from solid aluminum. Still in very good condition.”
I recently purchased a special equipment binder off ebay. Usually, there are a few interesting brochures inside. This time, it was full of these pink price sheets, like this:
However, thankfully, inside the book there was a second small booklet that did have some brochures, and a few interesting ones.
As an example, I’ve never run across this unusual 4-page McCain Hub Winch brochure.
