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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 .
Here’s a rarely seen WW2 poster with a jeep that Alex shared.
Craig managed to snag some vintage concept Commuter FC photos off of eBay recently. He’s organized and posted them at http://thefcconnection.com/the_commuter.htm along with a brief history. The quality of these photos are excellent and could provide clues to recreating one of these, should someone have the money, time, and energy to tackle the project. The whereabouts of the three concept vehicles produced are unclear.
Here’s an image of one of prototype #2:
Sebastian has been busily exploring Pennsylvania in his CJ-3B. Last Sunday morning he had breakfast with his wife and a friend in a park. I was reminded of George Seurat’s famous painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Inspired, I attempted to create a version of that using Sebastian’s photo, but I believe it was a failure as you can see below. You can view the real version of this photo and more at his website.
He writes, “We did a breakfast picnic in a park last sunday with my wife Ana and a friend. During the picnic I realized that this was getting very close to a part of your book when you had breakfast in a park with “Virginia”, and you were even wearing an orange shirt!, haha, I hope that is were the similarities end. Anyway, it was a great day, and beautiful to take the willys out for this.”
Dexter spotted this 1949 issue of Popular Science at a local swap meet the other day. A reader of the magazine sent in an idea for waterproofing a jeep for only $.75. Not a bad price. Probably wouldn’t cost much more today. Note that it was in 1949 that the CJ-3A came out with a mini gutter to distribute water similar to the role the weather stripping hint accomplishes. I still have one of those gutters if anyone needs it.
And some other neat hints that aren’t jeep related
Alex spotted an article about eMBs. The Electric MB is supposed to be made to order and cost 755.000 PhP, which is about $18,500. I did not see the electric jeep listed at MD Juan’s website, though I didn’t do an exhaustive search.
According to this excerpt from the article, “the [electric] Willy’s MB which will be powered by a 4-kilowatt, 48-volt electric motor deriving energy from eight units 6-volt batteries. Its manufacturer – MD Juan Enterprises – calls it the eMB.
The new model of the vintage MacArthur jeep, the latest product of MD Juan Enterprises and PhUV, Inc., made it debut last week at the Philippine Die and Mould Association exhibit at the World Trade Center. The body of the electric MB was made using locally-made dies and moulds and manufactured in MD Juan’s stamping plant.”
Here’s the official press release from MD Juan.
Sebastian spotted the cover of this 1975 Johnny Cash Album. That red jeep looks very similar to the one in the pictures from last month.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
The price is a bit steep at $50, but this might an unusual look at WWII.
“LOVE, WAR, AND HATE
by Davis, Washington M.
Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company, (1976.)
First edition.
Fine first in fine dust jacket with illustration of black soldiers riding in jeep waving at a German girl.
Octavo. Black author not only relates battle stories, but also relates affair with German girl that resulted in her almost being murdered by white American soldiers. Shocking reading. 85pp., photographs.”
This is interesting. Has anyone seen the film ‘Making Dollars and Sense’ that accompanied this training manual (see bottom of page marked ‘opening remarks’)? There are several additional pages shown on eBay besides what I show below.
“original Part Color Catalog , 8.5 x 11 , 20 Pages , Slightly Soiled , 3 File Holes At Left Edge , Meeting Guide , #7 , “Willys Makes Dollars And Sense”.”
View all the info and pics on eBay
The price seems a bit steep, but I’ve not seen another of these.
“THIS IS FOR SALE A VERY RARE CHILDREN BOOK ABOUT A LITTLE JEEP THAT WANTED TO BE A BIG TRUCK OR TANK IN THE WAR. BUT AFTER THE WAR IT PROVES TO BE A BIG HELP TO THE FARMERS WHILE THE BIG TANKS RUST AWAY IN THE SCRAPYARD.
FIRST PRINTING ORIGINAL 1946 ISSUE.
HARDCOVER. DAMAGED BINDING ON THE EDGE BUT THE RST IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. A REAL COLLECTORS ITEM.”
View all the information on eBay
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Someone from California might find this rare book interesting.
“Inyo Mono Jeep Trails by Robert Mitchell
La Siesta Press; 1991 reprint.
Softcover booklet; stapled wraps; 36 pages. Measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches.
The cover is in fair condition, the interior are very good.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2000.
(04/30/2012) I tried to uncover more information about the use of Willys engines in Holt Forklifts, but I found nothing.
However, regarding forklifts, I found that Mercury forklifts were stamped ‘JEEP’ prior to the development of the jeep:
Otis Elevator and Baker Electric Truck combined to produce the first Lift Truck in
1907. It had a nickel iron battery and it had a chain lift. The company was know as Otis-Baker. Baker manufactured the Baker Electric Car but then switched to industrial tow tractors and pushers. They had tiller steering. Otis Elavator was the preeminent expert in all things lift so the marriage was perfect.
Mercury electric trucks were competition for the Baker and they eventually became Pettibone-Mercury. Mercury had nothing to do with the Ford Motor Company and their use of the name pre-dates Ford’s. Mercury was the first company to use the word “jeep” on it’s forklifts. The use of the name pre-dated the famous Willys Jeep. Forklifts to this day are still called Jeeps and occasionally in an old industrial scap heap you may still see a counter weight for an original Jeep.
Read more: What year was the first forklift made? | Answerbag http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2136154#ixzz1tXwQxWfI
I tried to locate the year in which Mercury forklifts were first called jeeps, but have yet to find it. Instead, I found this brochure on ebay that clearly labels the forklift as JEEP as early as 1950.
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Below we have the Holt Forklift that is for sale:
“holt forklift don’t know what year it is. the motor is a flathead 4cyl willys manual shift 4×4 drive.right now it needs electric fuel pump to run. asking 2000.00 obo call manny 760-250-9975 after 5pm or leaeve message before then.”
http://imperial.craigslist.org/cto/3118683325.html
David forwarded these images. He wrote, “Found some of my dads photos he took while stationed in Korea ……note the soldier standing outside the flatfender has a rifle pointed at the cameraman”
I especially like the photo of the kids leaning on the jeep. I can relate to doing that as a kid.
Alex forwarded me a variety of Joe Dope posters from WWII. I posted a couple several years ago, but didn’t realize how many others there were.
Mark from sellajeep.com took a variety of pictures and a couple great videos from last month’s Great Willys Picnic. If you’ve never seen a working saw driven by a PTO, then check out his page:
http://sellajeep.com/ShowsEvents/gwp2012/gwp2012.html
Here’s a line up of some of the jeeps:
This truck has an neat paint job:
This is a picture of the pto driven saw:
This is a rare CJ-5 factory compressor:
Jon forwarded this unusual brochure that I haven’t seen before. This is a Swedish brochure and not a Norwegian brochure.
This past weekend Gustavo and his CJ-3A participated in a vintage car show in Costa Rica. He took some pics for us.
He writes, “Last weekend I was invited by the Costa Rican Antique Car Club to an Expo they organized and I wanted to share some pictures with you guys. There were around a hundred different cars, from Fords Model T up to a DeLorean, and obviously Jeeps where there, including my 1949 CJ-3A. It was a great Jeep weekend. The 1932 Hot Rod was Meguiars Car of the Year (at Costa Rica) and they are taking it to SEMA.”
These first pics are of the jeeps. More pics of the car show are on the next page. Gustavo’s is the blue CJ-3A.
Jon forwarded me some ads I hadn’t run across. Here’s an interesting one for the wagon rescue trucks.
Link to Part 1: http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehicles/154-1208-the-old-man-and-the-jeep-part-1/
Link to Part 2: http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehicles/154-1209-the-old-man-and-the-jeep-part-2/
You’ll definitely want to pick up the August 2012 issue of JP Magazine, along with the subsequent issue, if you like jeep history (I have yet to see the story online). It features 94 year old Don Prine, who has been driving jeeps since the very beginning of the jeep. Don Prine was a test driver of the prototype Willys, Ford and Bantam jeeps. Seventy-Two years later he is still involved with jeeps and, at age 94, still goes into his shop daily in Lakewood, Wa.
According to the article, a recording of Don describing the day pictured in the photo below in early 1941 at the US Capital is supposed to be here: http://www.jpmagazine.com/prine, but I couldn’t make the link work. Also, according to the article in JP, he was driving up the steps in the below picture. However, according to this link, it is Senator Meade of NY driving the jeep and Representative Thomas, of NJ, in the passenger seat at the time of this photo. I can only guess that in the photo Don is seated in the rear?
Don has long been a fixture in jeeping and racing in the Northwest. In 2008 I called Don and had a very nice conversation with him, which you can read about here, about Stainless Steel Parts. For those that belong to the PNW4WDA, Marty has posted a few pics of the visit with Don, Herm Tilford, and Christian at their forum.
This is a neat advertisement Jon sent me.
Roberto forwarded this to me the other day. My french is rusty, so feel free to translate.
From totophotos.org comes photos of these two jeeps that suffered through tornadoes almost fifty years apart. The flattie got the worst of it. There are a few other jeep photos at the site, too.
Jeep damaged by tornado. Udall, Kansas, May 25, 1955. Credit: Department of Agriculture. Weather Bureau. Central Regional Weather Bureau Office. (ca. 1935 – 1965). Kansas City Regional Office: Decimal File, 1938 – 1965. Collection: National Archives. http://www.totophotos.org/photos/search.asp?word=jeep&page=2#87
College Park, MD, September 25, 2001 – This Jeep was torn apart by the tornado that killed two people and left more than $16.5 million in damages. Credit: Jocelyn Augustino. Collection: FEMA http://www.totophotos.org/photos/search.asp?word=jeep&page=2#87
This ad was produced in 1947. Was that big bumper part of a service package of some kind? I’m surprised to see it appear in an ad.
View all the information on eBay
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay
” This beauty has been completely re-painted in hunter green exterior with green & black interior. 4 wheel drive, pump. Perfect for campground security or fire prevention. Purchased from local fire department & converted for private fire prevention. Runs good, lights & siren. We are selling for another party. Runs & drives good. Has many upgrades. Will answer questions to best of ability. Unit sold complete with fire pump & 75 gallon water tank, hose & one nozzle.”
Here’s a nice shot of a CJ-2A with a nice top. This is a late ’46 or ’47 jeep.
“Photo size is 4.5×3″ inches”
Here are two different ads that are listed on eBay.
This 1951 ad shows two pictures of trucks and two pictures of a farm jeep in action.
This 1957 Ad shows an FC and a CJ-5
