UPDATE: Maury pointed out that a porcelain sign of this badge sold in 2017 (see bottom).

In the April of 1946 issue of the Saturday Evening Post (same month in Colliers, too), Willys-Overland introduced a new advertising badge for the Willys engine.

As you can see in the introduction ad (A New Chapter), it was matched with the announcement of the Willys-Overland Jeep Station Wagon, though the ad hides the wagon in anticipation of its summer of 1946 launch.

The badge made a second appearance within the release-announcement of the station wagon in the August 18, 1946, issue of the Saturday Evening Post.

The next month, in September of 1946, the badge appears for a third time, again associated with the wagon.

As quickly as the badge appeared, it disappeared with the same speed. For the October 1946 ad, which included a wagon in it, the Saturday Evening Post seemingly replaced the engine badge with a smaller badge, one with a “W” over the “O”. It’s the earliest jeep ad I can find with that badge (if anyone knows of another, earlier ad, please let me know).

At some point, there was a porcelain version of the sign. One sold on eBay in 2017:

Below is an aggregation of Saturday Evening Post Ads for the period January 1946 – December 1947.

As mentioned in the post above, there was an engine badge that appeared briefly. Another curiosity is the shift in March 1947 to black and white ads for the CJ-2A. Perhaps that was done to further differentiate them from the wagon and truck ads?

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $100.

Might interest someone.

“Front axle from a 1957 Willys CJ5, has the original Dualmatic locking hubs manufactured in Longmont, CO.”