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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 ad highlights the Fairchild’s C-119’s ability to provide ‘special delivery’ of fully assembled equipment to remote locations.
View all the information on eBay
Here’s a different version of the ad from 1952 that was for sale back in Dec of 2013.
Goose discovered this wonderful photograph of Frederick Hartt, a professor of history and former officer in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Division of the US Army. He was known as one of the Monuments Men, a group that will have a much higher profile once the new movie comes out February 7 (I already have date night arranged with Ann).
This photograph was published on at Huffington Post, along with a short article about the Monuments Men. Let’s see, hunting lost art with a jeep. I think that might just be my dream job . . .
If you plan on seeing the movie, at least one of the scenes shown in the previews is in a cavern. It looks like there are endless bags of gold/currency/valuables on the floor. A similar real scene was photographed on April 7, 1945.
This article was published in the October 1945 issue of Coronet Magazine. The name of the article, “Jeep of all Trades”, is the same as a 1943 article published in Colliers posted here.
I don’t think it’s a jeep, but it is Marilyn.
I recently rewrote and published an article about APU Navy Jeeps for war jeeps.com. You can check it out here.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Amazing that this survived.
“VINTAGE WILLYS JEEP ADVERTISING MATCHBOOK COVER — MADE IN JAFFREY NEW HAMPSHIRE SOLD IN PERU WRITTEN IN SPANISH –WORLD WAR TWO ERA — STANDARD SIZE -”
UPDATE: Sold on eBay for $3.65.
Here’s a great vintage postcard on eBay.
“Pink Jeep at Waikiki. This auction is for a nice divided postcard showing A Pretty Girl and Pink Jeep, Honolulu, Hawaii – Wonderful 1960 dated card – Published by well known Mike Roberts #C7639”
Here’s an interesting photo Marc forwarded.
“1945- Medical corpsmen administer blood plasma to a wounded U.S. soldier as he is rushed in jeep to a field hospital on Leyte.”
View all the information on eBay
Robin discovered this cool jeep: an electric 1953 M-38A1.
Robin writes, “The owner, Mike Sudik, is an electrician and president of Big Sky Solar Wind out of Missoula, MT. Mike removed the engine several years ago (now owned by Robin) and replaced it with a DC electric motor. The top speed has been 45 mph and goes about 60-90 miles on a charge. The “top” is actually a solar panel used to charge the 12V system for his PA and stereo.
He has detailed his adventure at: http://www.bigskysolar-wind.blogspot.com/. On his website are pictures showing how he accomplished the task. He had the Jeep listed as a CJ-3A but he now knows that it is an M-38A1. In fact, he probably got way more info (from me) than he ever expected. 🙂 He is a really great guy and I thought your readers might like to see what he has done. I have some pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alturusphoto/sets/72157640164517713/
As part of getting my computer up and running again (whew!), I tested out various pieces of hardware (like my scanner), only to discover Apple’s new OS (Mavericks) is more advanced than the drivers. However, with some software gymnastics, I got it working. Here’s the first result (I had to clean this up quite a bit). It’s a Sports Graphic from the 1945 issue of Willys War News. I’ll be doing a full scan of that at some future point.
Joe forwarded this announcement. The Arizona Historic Military Transport Association (AHMTA) Military Vehicle Show is coming up March 1 and 2 in Mesa, Arizona.
A seller on eBay broke up a Product Merchandising Manual and sold it in pieces. I bought this section (Sales Aides), and several others. Unfortunately, I don’t have the resources to buy all of them (and some of them are overpriced in my opinion).
These three pages demonstrate items used by the sales team to sell Willys Vehicles. One of these aides I’ve never run across is the “Civil Defense Brochure” shown on Page 2 under Selective Marketing Booklets.
This Market Research section of the Product Merchandising Manual is very interesting, particularly since it covers Washington State (where I live). Because some of the information is broken down by county, and because varies quite a bit, especially east and west of the Cascade Mountains, it’s likely possible to draw some national conclusions about vehicle ownership percentages, etc.
Mark asked about finding a SEEP in a museum. So, I this post reflects GPAs in museums and around the world. I’m sure there are others. If you know of any more, please email me a link or add it to the comments.
In Bangkok, Thailand, this SEEP is housed with several other jeeps at the Chokchai Museum. This video shows a short walk around. That might be a M-606 next to it.
The Wheatcroft Collection, in Leicester, England, has a great collection of vehicles, including this GPA. Here are many more photos of the collection.
Wheatcroft Collection Ford GPA http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooper-phil/10435948444/sizes/z/in/photostream/
The Moscow, Russia, Victory Park has a GPA stored outside. This website includes a variety of closeups as well.
http://svsm.org/gallery/gpa
Back in 2010 I posted this GPA that’s housed in the South African Military Museum in Johannesburg.
The cover picture of this ebay ad is different than the description and photo within the description.
“This ad is approximately 10 inches wide X 13 inches high.
No Damage, Stains Or Tears.”
View all the information on eBay
Off Limits was a 1953 movie staring Bob Hope and Mickey Rooney. I’ve never seen the movie, but blogger Robby Cress has seen it and likes it. A couple years ago he authored about a chase scene that involved a military police jeep driven by Mickey Rooney that chased a car driven by Bob Hope. Filmed in several Los Angeles Neighborhoods, Cress tracks down some of the old locations, pinpoints them, and compares them to their 2012 counterparts. The photos include shots of the jeep, which is painted in a Constulabary style with a stripe that drapes widely over the cowl, before flowing down and along the side of the jeep to its rear in one large wide stripe. Here are other derivations of the Constulabary paint style.
Here’s the entire post: http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2012/07/off-limits-1953-film-locations.html
These are a few of the jeep related photos taken (I assume) from the video:
Looking at the Culver Hotel from Van Buren Place.
Rooney drives down Culver Blvd, passing the Culver Hotel.
Rooney turns onto Cardiff Ave from Culver Boulevard.
Rooney drives down Hughes Ave towards Washington Blvd.
Rooney drives by the Culver Theatre.
I’ve never seen a photo of a GPA used as an ambulance. But, apparently this one was carrying wounded soldiers from the front.
View all the information on ebay
Deborah spotted this great old photo of the Alaska Canadian (Al-Can) Highway in progress on Facebook. More info on the Al-Can.
3 issues of the Willys World Newsletter from 1987 are for sale on eBay.
“WILLYS WORLD NEWS LETTER
VOLUME 14 NUMBER 1
JANUARY – FEBRUARY 1987
VOLUME 14 NUMBER 2
MARCH – APRIL 1987
VOLUME 14 NUMBER 5
SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 1987
ORIGINAL ISSUE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION
THE WILLYS CLUB IS NOW DEFUNCT”
View all the information on ebay
Here are a few photos. From Volume 14 Number 1:
From Volume 14 Number 2:
From Volume 14 Number 5:
This photo forwarded by Marc shows a large number of M-38s awaiting shipment. The curious item is the date: 1961. Is it possible the photo was from some earlier date, but never published until 1961? Or did someone mean to stamp 1951?
View all the information on ebay
Eric is in the New York area and is looking for an SM420 Transfercase Adapter. Does anyone have a used one they are interested in selling? You can email him at schwartz.eric.b@gmail.com.
Dan spotted this Tonka Surrey at the Little Antique Mall.
Marc and his son were driving in Anderbolt (South Africa) when his son spotted this beautiful truck sitting in a showroom at Boston 4×4 Accessories. If you are in South Africa, check out their store.
He writes, “This truck is their company demo vehicle for the 4×4 accessories and parts they supply under the name of Boston 4×4 Accessories, +27 11 914 3004 or sales@boston4x4.co.za. and are located in Anderbolt, Boksurg, Gauteng, South Africa. I see their web page is down, under construction.
It has a small block V8 (ford) but I didn’t learn the transmission set up. I could not find the data plate for the serial number any where. As noted in the photos, this truck is right hand drive, not a factory mod. Done way after it left the US.”
Paul’s made some progress on his Willys. You can read past posts about his jeep, Knardly Rolls, here: http://www.ewillys.com/tag/paul-m38/
Paul writes, I’m using thin poster board to make patterns for the interior panels on the Willys. Since the reinforcing structure for the top and doors will be visible from the inside and not covered by upholstery I’ve had to make 33 individual paper patterns so far. After adjusting the fit of these patterns I’ll transfer their measurements to 3/4 inch thick high density foam and then it’s time for the upholstery wizards to work their magic. Fourteen yards of fabric are on order so that should be enough to cover everything but the floor. All of the top and side wall panels will be covered with a silver gray fabric and this same fabric will be used on the seats with the exception of blue insert panels covering the center of the seats. That’s the plan right now. I still need to buy some thick upholstery foam so I can begin cutting out the padding for the seats but I wanted to finish with the patterns first.
More pattern pictures. To have enough room to make the patterns and install the upholstery pieces it was necessary to remove the fuel tanks and both front seats. The more work I can do myself the lower the cost will be to get the upholstery done so I don’t mind constantly climbing into and out of the Willys all day long. Things would be a lot easier if the Jeep was just a little bit bigger or I was just a little bit smaller. Oh well, I guess I need to call a Waaaaaaaaaambulance. Paul
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay
Here’s an unusual photo.
“This is an original 5×7 black and white photo. Showing an Army Jeep pulling an anti-aircraft gun behind it in a parade. My guess would be late 1940’s by the looks of the cars in the back ground. Great Vintage photo to look at!
Not sure of the exact time frame or location. The back of the photo is stamped with
Photo by Bill Shoopman, Odessa Texas”
