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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 .
If you want some back issues of Dispatcher Magazine, here are nineteen for sale.
View all the information on eBay
“This listing is for a lot of 19 ‘ The Dispatcher Classic Willys Jeep Magazine’. These magazines are in good condition but may have wear or blemishes, as shown in the actual images of the items. Please message me for additional photos or questions before ordering.”
John spotted these parts for sale. Unclear if these are jeep only or various military vehicles.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1261252374576443
“Old military new/old stock jeep truck parts wire harnesses, lights, carbs,canvas, racks, accessories so much to list come take a look make an offer there is alot”
UPDATE: Matt provides some insightful comments in posted comment at the bottom. Per his comment, I added a small blurb that (I hope) clarifies that the Jeep News issues discussed below were more consumer-oriented, similar to The Willys War News, rather than dealer-oriented periodicals like the WO Sales News and Salesbuilder. Still, it would be interesting to get more WO Sales News issues and compare the content to the Jeep News issues to see if there is any reuse of content, which would suggest some kind of coordination between those two periodicals. That the Jeep News seems to have stopped about the same time the Salesbuilder launched is also curious, but perhaps just a coincidence?
L to R News Periodical Covers –>1945 The Willys War News, 1945 The Willys News, 1946 Fergason’s Jeep News, 1947 WO Sales News, 1947 Milt. Henry’s Jeep News, 1947 Russ Borg’s Jeep News, 1948 WO Sales News, 1948 Salesbuilder, 1948 Cristie’s Jeep News
I sent Barry Thomas the following information the other day. He found it very interesting, so I thought I would republish (and fix the errors, ugh) the info here. If anyone can add to this or correct it, I’d appreciate it!
Here’s a history I’ve assembled about the transition from The Willys War News to Willys-Overland’s Salesbuilder.
July 1945: During WW2 Willys-Overland launched The Willys War News (probably in 1942). The last issue appears to have been July 1945: http://www.ewillys.com/2015/03/20/the-willys-war-news-vers-3-3/
Sept. 1945: As far as I can tell, the next issue was also labeled The Willys War News, but with WAR X’d out in red. It is marked Volume 1, No. 1, suggesting it was the beginning of something else. http://www.ewillys.com/2023/10/13/volume-1-issue-1-of-the-willys-war-news/ (It’s unclear to me how many additional issues of The Willys War News were published.
1946: My best guess is that W-O launched WO Sales News in 1946 as a dealer marketing periodical. I don’t have any 1946 issues, but a 1947 issue (below) claims to be Volume II, which likely makes Volume I published in 1946, though how many issues were produced I don’t know.
1946: A magazine, more consumer facing than the WO Sales News, was launched in 1946 called Ferguson’s Jeep News Volume 1 No. 1, but there’s no information (that I have spotted) in the first issue indicating who was producing the magazine: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/08/28/1946-issue-of-jeep-news/. Given the proper use of apostrophes around the name ‘Jeep’ , there could have been some influence by Willys-Overland behind it, but I can’t say for certain.
Importantly, Matt notes in the comments below that he has a Volume 1 No. Jeep News issue with the name C. Denigers, so there was some kind of marketing program likely used to assigned names to the top of these issues. But, who was overseeing such a program isn’t your et clear.
Jan 1947: Willys Overland publishes WO Sales News Volume II No. I. Printed on the cover of the bottom page is “January 1947”, which suggests to me the intent to publish this as a monthly periodical: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/06/january-1947-willys-overland-sales-news/
1947: Jeep News Volume 1 No. 3 was published, but this time it was Milt. Henry’s name at the top, replacing Ferguson: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/09/1947-jeep-news-vol-1-no-3/ I explain in the post link why I thought this was published in 1947.
1947: The next issue of Jeep News Volume 1 No. 4 has Russ Borg’s name headlining the issue: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/11/year-jeep-news-vol-1-no-4/
Jan 1948: The next issue of WO Sales News that I have is WO Sales News Volume III No.1, published January 1948: http://www.ewillys.com/2022/09/12/jan-1948-willys-overland-sales-news/
July 1948: The first issue of Salesbuilder appears in July of 1947 as Volume 1 No. 1. I don’t yet have this full issue: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/05/28/salesbuilder-magazines/
Why the name change from WO Sales News to Salesbuilder? There was a short blurb on google announcing this change published in the 1948 Volume 22 of “Tide”, a marketing and advertising publication, but I can’t find much more info than the screen shot I grabbed (to get to this link, google “salesbuilder jeep news”, then click on the “books” search tab:
Also, about this time, Willys Overland was undergoing a marketing shift, pushing out the “Willys” brand in favor of “Jeep”, a discussion I have documented on eWillys. The company would reverse this trend in 1951 with the introduction of the Willys car and the Willys Makes Sense marketing campaign, also documented on that link above. Both issues are also discussed as part of the Willys Makes Sense Ad Campaign Post.
1948: The last issue of Jeep News (that i know of) shows Cristie’s as the headliner of Volume 1 No. 6. I believe it appeared in 1948 based on pics of two “Lefty” CJ-2As photos in the issue.
Salesbuilder would run throughout 1953, when Kaiser Purchased Willys-Overland’s Assets. To the best of my knowledge, the name was switched to Kaiser Willys News (Unless there was something else between Salesbuilder and KW News that I haven’t seen). .
The 60 to 70 degree highs the past few days made for some optimal outside work weather, so there was lots of recovering from winter (picking up branches), to restocking with hay for the next month, to spraying fence lines, among other tasks, so there was no time for eWillys. I did get a little work done on the FC, but not much.
Below is a pic showing how the steering column goes from the rack and pinion’s stock connector (2000 Ford Explorer), switching from the Ford V connection on the R&P to the 3/4 DD shaft (not shown is the 1″DD to 3/4″ DD Borgensen joint that will over the joint). A 3/4″ Heim Joint will help keep the shaft in place, but the mount is yet to be built.
The 3/4 DD shaft enters a 3/4″ DD / 3/4: 36-spline U-Joint, which connects to the VDog 90 degree joint. The V-Dog has an aluminum block mount that will bolt to a yet-to-be made mount to the frame. The V-Dog will also bolt to the bottom of the floor access cover.
Here is the pic from a below. Atop the VDog is a temp plate for testing how it will fit. It’s a close fit between the frame and cab, but everything clears with room to spare.
From the top of the V-Dog another 3/4″ DD / 3/4: 36-spline u Joint connects to the column. The column itself is a IDIDIT 28″ tilt column with hazards and turn signals. As it sits, it’s a couple inches higher than stock, but it’s at more of an angle, so it looks in the pic like it is sticking up higher than that.
Before I can mount the column, I need to finalize the pedal. I made a prototype today, but it’s pretty ugly. I hope to have a final version in the next couple of days.
The column is larger around (2″) than a stock column, so I might not use the stock column mount as I’d planned to do.
Again, this is all rough work to make sure things fit.
A big thanks to Barney Goodwin for sending me this original Meyer Snow Plow poster. I doubt there are many of these around anymore.
Well folks, this is the last issue of the big batch of Willys News and Jeep News periodicals that I purchased back in December. From my perspective, it was great to have dependable, easy to produce, interesting content available to post for such a long period. I also am glad to be documenting this type of stuff, as it hasn’t been well-documented (to my knowledge) on the internet to-date. I don’t really have much else in the queue document-wise, but obviously there *should* be ongoing updates about the FC rebuild.
Coinciding with this last issue, the weather here has warmed with highs in the low 60s, which gives me much better weather to work on the FC; it also forces me to juggle that effort with the need to work on the pasture, ready the irrigation systems, and prep the lawn and garden for the growing seasons. Given Ann is still slowly getting better, but still has setbacks physically, this will mostly fall on me. So, updates may slow like they did this time last year.
The eight-page 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 4 announces on page one that KJC would be sponsoring two major golf games. This continues the KJC’s movements into shifting the jeep vehicles away from their utilitarian and agrarian roots, towards family, luxury and fun. That doesn’t mean there was no utilitarian promotion, as page two reported that KJC officials contacted one thousand mosquito abatement administrators to promote the jeeps. Curiously, next to that utilitarian article are three photos of jeeps on the beach with young adults and surfboards.
Page three goes international, with announcements from Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and India. Page four and five provide stories of travel. Page four published a travel piece to Alaska in a Wagoneer by Bill Thomas, who was a travel editor for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Page five showcases a report by Charles R. Meyer, a freelance writer from New York, who took his family on a trip to Nova Scotia in a camper-equipped Gladiator.
Pages six and seven contain a variety of photos and captions, including the announcement of the Rat Patrol series. Page eight highlighted a different show, noting the success of Daktari.
Roberto recently completed this commissioned FC-170 illustration. Here’s his website.
You can view some of his illustrative processes in this accompanying video:
This four-page September 1965 Jeep Service and Parts News includes, on the last page, a list of all models and their Vehicle prefix, which is handy given the scarcity of records for this time period. There’s also a short blurb on page three about how the cross pieces under the hood of a Wagoneer could short out the alternator!
This early jeep pencil has the J logo, which wasn’t corporately used past early 1946, so I’d say this is *likely* from 1945 or 1946.
View all the information on eBay
“WILLYS-CARS, TRUCKS & JEEP/MASSEY-HARRIS *Henry L. Oldham Imp. Co*Blackwell, OK”
This is a rare pencil from early the post WWII era. The printing is slightly faded but well readable being the type of pencil it is.”
Cowboy shared this photo from Scott Ingram, who built a Tiny Trash Truck out of an old DJ-5 (Scott operates a garbage collection firm in Paris, Illinois). I don’t see an obvious seat, so this may only be for show. That’s something I’ve never seen done with a DJ-5.
UPDATE: More information on the goal of Kaiser-Jeep’s 1966 Eastern European Caravan. This article was published on page 7 of the May 14, 1966, issue of International Commerce, a US Department of Commerce Weekly magazine. In it, the Commerce Department’s ostensible goal was as an “imaginative technique to promote U.S. Exports”, as part to the U.S. Government’s continuing effort to promote East-West Trade. It’s possible the trip was underwritten in some form (cash or government favors or both) to encourage Kaiser-Jeep to participate.
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This September 1966 Four Wheeler Magazine article describes the scene when the Kaiser-Jeep sponsored Eastern European Caravan crossed into (then) Czechoslovakia, as a line of restored and refurbed jeeps awaited them. Remember, that no new parts had even available to these die-hard jeep fans since 1946, making their rebuilds even more remarkable. The Prague Jeep Club alone had more than 300 jeeps and 400 members.
The 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 3 has more information.
The eight-page issue of the 1966 Jeep News Volume 12 Number 3 began with the 1966 Caravan of Jeeps organized by Kaiser Jeep to introduce the jeeps to Eastern European countries (See the next post about a story in the September 1966 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine at the surprise awaiting the caravan in Czechoslovakia).
Page two shows a photo that went viral, in today’s slang, of a Harvey Schaible in a V-8 powered jeep that flew into the air at the top of a hill climb that was part of a Play Day weekend with multiple local clubs attending the event. Page three contains various stories, including a good photo of a TWA-branded airport jeep. Pages four and five continue the story of the Eastern European Caravan.
Page six has fascinating story about the use of 2WD DJ-3As and DJ-5s RHD vehicles (the DJ-5 having been launched in 1966), some converted to automatic transmissions, for use as spay vehicles.
Page seven reports on the use of jeeps to travel a portion of the Oregon Trail between Vale and Farewell Bend, Oregon. Some of this area would be passable by I-84 in 1975, but even today some of the original trail traveled in 1966 is still evident (see this map, which shows a partial area between Vale and Farewell Bend).
Page eight has multiple stories, including a photo and short report on Mr. Diamant and his family, who were traveling in a Gladiator Camper. There’s a longer story and a map of their travels here.
This four-page issue of the April 1964 Jeep Service and Parts News includes an exploded view of the T-89 side-shift transmission. It also appears to have a useful side image of how the J-series gas pedal operates, along with how to make adjustments (I’m not familiar with them).
The eight-page Jeep News Volume 12 Number 1 kicked off 1966 with the news that sales increased 23% and, surprising to me, special equipment sales jumped almost 42%. Given the increase in Wagoneers and Gladiator sales, I would think the special equipment numbers would be falling, as I thought a shift was happening away from the notion of utility vehicles in favor of “fun” and family vehicles. I’d be curious to know what was driving those equipment sales.
Page two is mostly dealer news, while page three continues a page-one discussion of the anti-skid, safely and traction capabilities of the Wagoneer and Gladiator jeeps. Page four highlights the use of larger magazine images.
Page five goes international and includes an article about Mrs. Welthy H. Fisher, an 85-year-old literacy advocate, who raised funds for a Wagoneer-turned-traveling-library, which she used to deliver books to folks in India as part of a function of Literacy Village, a program she launched at age 73. From her photo, I’d never guess she was 85.
Page six features Sinclair Oil’s Wagoneer, which traveled with a touring exhibit featuring a flatbed trailer with nine large animatronic dinosaurs. I wonder whatever happened to those dinosaurs. Here is a pic of them floating down the Hudson River circa 1964:
Page seven reported on the unexpected 4WD display at a Florida Airstream gathering of almost 1500 trailers. Mud had forced many of the trailers to be towed into the site via tractor, but the fact that Florida Outdoorsman John Wilhelm had a Wagoneer capable of puling his trailer into the site without issue seems to have spurred interest in his jeep. Page eight highlights the use of jeeps in Detroit Mine, something covered by Jeep News previously and other sources.
A big thanks to Craig Brockhaus for selling me some original FC-170 seats and his last electric wiper conversion unit, along with a few other parts. They arrived on Wednesday. The seats need some recovering and the set frames some blasting, but we planned to recover them in the same material that the bench seats will be covered, so we expect these are a good solution for us.
As for the electric wiper unit, yes the tour jeep is a convertible and we should rarely need wipers, but there have been times where I’ve driven through irrigation or other forms of water around here, so I figure it’s better to have working wipers than non working ones.
My hope is to use the stock bracket to mount the steering wheel, but I won’t know for sure until I can test-mount the tilt-steering wheel based on the seat position and dash. But, just having the stock bracket helps me estimate where to begin with the column mount options.
Meanwhile, I am also moving as much of the wiring and other elements down to the frame so that when I have to pull the cab, it’s as simple as possible. The cab floors and some interior dog house elements could use some blasting, sanding and smoothing. But, that’s not something I want to tackle at this juncture. Mechanics, so it can be safely driven, and a new bed are the priority.
The July 1963 Jeep Service and Parts News page three includes some important tips about towing a jeep vehicle with an automatic transmission. Page four provides an exploded view of a Dana 20 transmission.
On October 28, 1954, Kaiser Willys announced the addition of The Western Duty Snow Plows to the Special Equipment line.
Blaine spotted this thread on Curbsideclassic.com that shows some vintage photos of average folks and their jeeps.
This eight-page holiday issue is the final issue of 1965 (only 6 issues produced). Page one introduces the first luxury Wagoneer, the Jeep Super Wagoneer. Page two highlights the growing demand for contract plowing. Page three continues the luxury wagon discussion, while also noting that parts can make an “attractive store display”; so, when you start hanging parts in the living room, just show your partner this article and how it can be actually attractive (good luck with that, lol).
Pages four and five share more on Gladiator and Wagoneer vehicles. Page six shows off an unusual display in Peru, while the new Kaiser Argentina Model 101 four-door jeep is depicted. Page seven shares news on the Afton Canyon excursion in Southern California, which is the first I’ve heard of this annual trip. It drew 398 vehicles in 1965.
Page eight includes a story on a New Jersey M-38 fire jeep. Also on the page is a photo of Col. Dave Harbour, an outdoor writer who drove his wagon 100,000 miles, being presented with a model jeep, but I can’t tell what kind of model it is.
This four-page issue of the January 1963 Jeep Service and Parts News focuses on the J-Series vehicles.
This eight-page issue of the 1965 Jeep News volume 11 Number 4 begins with the Vigilante engine billboards, along with a strange story of a hardware merchant using pennies and dollars to buy a jeep only for the jeep dealer to return the favor and buy a washer and dryer from said merchant using pennies, but this time ones bathed in syrup and oil!
Page two contains various pics, while page three includes the story of a Jeepster that looked like new despite having been driven 332,800 miles! His rigorous attention to maintenance was key to his Jeepster’s great condition; it may not surprise you to learn that he worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I wonder what happened to that Kentucky-based jeep.
Page four showcases some international stories, while page five contains another story about Kent Frost and his southern Utah tours out of Monticello, Utah. Page six includes an article about the use of f-head engines in Miller’s Trailblazer welders, while page seven highlights Allen and Phyllis Ellis, who travelled extensively in Mexico in their 1959 CJ-5 (which may have been nicknamed El Osito, which apparently translates to ‘the bear’). Page eight highlights the use of Wagoneers at the 1964-1965 New York City World’s Fair.
My poor wife has been down with neck and shoulder spasms for the past two weeks, so time with the FC has been limited. She’s finally feeling a little better, though still unable to drive and do a variety of tasks. At least she has less pain.
In the meantime, I’ve been gathering/making what I have needed to assembling the dual-mc brake setup. The goal was to move the MC back between the brackets so that it is completely hidden under the dash using as many stock components as I could. I mostly followed Steve’s design, but mine is an 1/8inch wider to accommodate the nylon washers.
To the setup I’ve also added Chev brake light switch (left over from disassembly). I happened to have a leftover spring bolt with a zerk fitting that will allow me to apply grease to the brake pedal pivot if necessary (I am waiting to trim down the bolt in case I the end for smoother purpose, such as an extra anchor point of the steering column. To each side of the pedal pivot I’ve added two thin nylon washers which should reduce metal wear between the pivot and the brackets.
I am unsure what direction I want the MC fluid tops to point. The reservoirs will likely hang on the firewall, but that’s TBD.
This year ending December 1962 Jeep Service and Parts News includes an index page of 1962 topics. A short blurb on page two highlights the desire of some folks to switch their column shift DJ-3A to cane shift. The column shift as a novelty is neat, but it’s not something to be forced. It feels delicate (to me) when shifting. If I were driving the DJ on a regular basis, I would change it a cane shifter.
Barney Goodwin shared pics of this Koenig-branded knife he bought off of eBay. If you visit his shop in Ohio, you can see this plus other rare items in his shop’s display case.
Branden scored on this rare, early 1945 print of a Parts List for the Universal Four Wheel Drive booklet. The use of the “J” logo so prominently is unusual. You can view my discussion of the “J” logo’s short history here.
