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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 .
Blaine spotted this unusual item. This appears to be some kind of 100 year celebration of the Philipines. How the Coke/Jeepney tribute add to this celebration is unclear to me.
I happened upon some Getty Images, so thought I’d do a search on Getty’s website. They have some cool images, though a variety I have seen in other places. Note that some of the descriptions and/or dates aren’t quite right. For example, the “date created” for the Willys MA image below is Jan 1, 1941. However, the Willys MA wasn’t delivered until April of 1941.
Click here to see all the Getty Images with the Search Term of “Willys”
1. This is a Willys MA
Getty Image #50470924 — Two soldiers sitting in Willys jeep parked on grass, fr. take on state the army just before US joined WWII, w. hangar-type bldgs. in bkgrd. (no caps). (Photo by Robert Yarnall Richie//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images).
2. Here’s another Willys MA
Getty Image #104406783 — FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 16: The jeep WILLYS can help the fisherman because it is semi-amphibious. Picture taken on September 16th, 1945. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
3. Here are snow skiers in France
Getty Image #104422238 — UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 01: Patrol Of Skiers With A Jeep Willys Circa 1940 (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
4. This is a color image from the D-day Preperations in England.
Getty Image #106893455 — High angle view of American troops and Ford GPWs (light utility vehicles very similar to Willys MB, both of which are commonly refered to as jeeps) aboard an unidentified landing craft, England, early June, 1944. The vessel is loaded as part of the preparations for invasion of France, the Normandy Landings, which began on June 6, 1944. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
5. A Rare Farm Jeep Photo (note the hood and windshield are inscribed with Jeep rather than Willys). This original photo is of the CJ-2 X26, identified by Fred Coldwell on page 165 of his book PreProduction Civilian Jeeps. He notes that for advertising purposes, a 2nd version of this photo was created, with the grille of the CJ-2 airbrushed to look like a standard CJ-2A grille (the mb grille and brush guard are wiped away).
Getty Image #104422239 — UNSPECIFIED – DECEMBER 16: The Jeep Willys Has Been Constructed For Works In The Usa In 1945. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Perhaps some of you have heard of this album, or at least the song, but it is new to me. It seems appropriate for the season!
I wanted to thank everyone for the kind notes that wandered my direction in my hours of need. Fortunately, I was not so ill that I feared for my life; no, it was just a cold that I hoped I could sleep away (and am better today). None-the-less, Gerald took it upon himself to search the internet for a few pics that might cheer me up. Without going into his slightly twisted approach to this task, I will share the below pic.
I must say, I will never be well enough to lick chocolate off of a Jeep. Never …. hmmm … unless it is 60% Belgian Dark Chocolate. Only then will I even consider it.
I don’t know the history of the “lick off”, but I haven’t seen that much tongue action in years.
Roberto got a change to take Altona out and play in the snow in Spain. I too got out and drove in the snow in Biscuit, but I don’t have a top … it was really cold! In fact, at one point a truck drove by me at about 40mph and launched slushy snow/water onto the hood, into the windshield and over the windshield into my lap! Fortunately, I had my snow bibs on and was dressed warm, so no damaged done …
Here’s some pics from Roberto:
Brendan, from the This Old Jeep, found some great old images and history from the New York Conservation Department. Check out the ‘bumper card’ mod! Anyone know anything about this particular mod?
Jim recently purchased this nice looking CJ-2A.
He writes, “Here are a few pictures of my 1947 Willys CJ2A. It has had a ground up restoration several years ago. I bought it out of Kansas and now it is in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains where I use it at our cabin.
The Willys has a new tub body but original hood and tail gate. It has all the original plaques and auto numbers. All other parts reflect the period except a roll bar and a steering stabilizer. The engine runs like a sewing machine.
I am still working on it to make it better and original. The paint job also reflects the year. If I could find a restored flat fender with the original body and in this good of shape I might jump ship. Meanwhile I enjoy driving this vehicle where everything works like it did 63 years ago, which by the way is my age!”
Congrats Jim. It looks like fun 🙂
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the National Archives of Canada the other day, discovering a variety of WWII Jeep images related to Canadian forces.
2. Troopers of the Three Rivers Regiment in a jeep, England, 22 July 1942.
Here are some more pics from the same source as yesterday’s pics (crated Jeeps and Seeps). These all show the assembly of jeeps at different stages in the process. Note this first image is backwards (the transfercases are all extending to the left rather than the right, unlike the second image).
Gerald found an old email with some great links. Here are a few of some crated Willys. I don’t have any background or ownership information on them.
I’d hoped to develop some sort of Thanksgiving themed post to celebrate Thanksgiving, but as it turns out there really aren’t many images of jeeps dressed as turkeys … go figure.
Instead, I happened upon this NY Times story of a guy named Harry Allen and his dad’s truck. To get right to the point, Harry restored it ($40k) and it’s a beautiful restoration. There’s also a slide show that accompanies the story.
A reader named Andy contacted me the other day about a flatfender that he purchased. He was told it was a former airport Jeep. Anyone recognize some of these mods? How about them rims!
Andy writes, “No data tags inside the body, but need to check the firewall tomorrow. The guy I bought the jeep from says that he saw another one with the same wheels on it at the hunting camp where he got this jeep …. There is some use of aluminum in this body, goes hand in hand with the airport shop mod theory …. It appears that the patches in the floors and sides were not really needed at the time they were done.. the body was still very sound in those areas. Looking in the wheel wells, you can see the original not rusted body covered by a layer of metal from the top. I think you may be right on the combination of manuf. top with some airport shop ‘extras’. Those doors sure are unique, I have not seen such before ..”
I found this image on the web at a fake webpage (on of those pages that aggregates a bunch of misc stuff in hopes of getting click throughs). It looks like a pretty cool build. Anyone ever seen it or know any history?
After seeing yesterday’s post, Mitch forwarded this image a fried of his spotted at Walmart.
With winter descending on Alaska, the time has come for Paul to direct his focus back on his beloved, shiny, stainless steel M-38. One exciting difference between this year and the previous 24 years is that he is almost done — But no pressure Paul! Click on the pic to see the original post and followups.
Last spring, Paul reported that after some investigation, he discovered a M-151 radiator would fit perfectly into his engine compartment. Recently, he took over an auto parts store (ok, maybe just a hose booklet in the store) to figure out a hose solution. With that problem solved (it took 2 different hoses and a tube to link them), he now must figure out a fan solution.
With that background, take it away Paul …..
The Fan and Shroud
Paul writes, “After talking with the folks at Spal concerning their electric fans I ordered a 13 inch puller fan with straight blades along with a fan relay/installation kit. The crazy part about this deal is when the Spal people wouldn’t sell me a fan over the phone, I would have to hang up and order on the internet and best of all I would pay over $50 dollars more for the fan and temp sensor/wiring kit than a Spal dealer in California was charging for the exact same items. For some unknown reason The Fan Man (California dealer) sells lots of these fans at quite a discount and these are brand new fans. No factory seconds, returns, or rebuilt units.
Anyway, the fan arrived last night undamaged and it looks great. Thank you Fan Man! The total fan thickness is slightly under two and a half inches and I have a little over three inches between the aft side of the radiator and the waterpump shaft. Sweet!
The shroud on the M151 radiator has a 16 inch diameter circle for the fan so I bought a ten dollar piece of thin sheet steel, cut out a 16 inch diameter circle and tack welded this piece to the shroud. After finishing with the tack welds I rough cut a 12 inch diameter slightly offset circle to allow for the correct placement of the new fan. I didn’t have a compass large enough to layout a 12 inch diameter circle so I used a stir stick for paint and drilled a pivot hole in one end and another hole 6 inches away and large enough to hold the tip of a sharpie marker. It worked slick. Tomorrow I’ll finish welding the insert to the shroud, clean up the welds and trim the inner circle for a more precise fit to the fan assembly before I attach the fan to the shroud.
Things are looking good. I really didn’t need the relay kit since I’d wired in a fan relay in the electrical box behind the passenger seat but it was cheaper to get the kit with the temp sensor and I could doublecheck the Willys wiring against the Spal wiring so I could identify any potential problems before mean old Mr. Electricity messes something up.
The Fuel Line
Today I received a 25 foot coil of copper/nickel 5/16th fuel line along with the needed fittings to attach the fuel line to the carb. This is the same tubing I used on the brake and clutch systems (just a different size) and it’s a pleasure to work with. The 3/16th tubing is flexible enough to be bent back to back 180 degree bends (with a one inch bend diameter so the tube now looks like the letter S) with no kinking, flattening or any defects at all. Jeeze, I really like working with this stuff. Check out the fedhillusa.com website, it’s amazing. This latest batch of tubing should be more than enough to do all the fuel delivery and return lines with enough left over to cover any mistakes I might make along the way.
Modifying the Skid Plates
The local metal fabrication shop cut and bent an eighth inch thick skidplate for the V6 oil pan. After drilling a one inch diameter hole for the drain plug (that’s the only size hole saw I have) I hand filed the hole to one and a half inch diameter before welding the skid plate to the pan.
I had to do a little work on the transmission/transfercase skid plate also. When I welded up the exhaust assembly I included a joint below the tranny so the right exhaust pipe could be removed without touching the left side or the rest of the exhaust system. What I forgot to figure in was the thickness of the clamp holding the exhaust pipes together at this joint so the skid plate had to be slotted to allow the clamp to protrude slightly. To prevent rock damage (like I’m going to go bashing this thing thru boulders) I welded up a small deflector from eighth inch steel and welded this to the skid plate over the slot. Just another little OOPSIE which needed to be worked around.
I have to say, I’m really enjoying my DVR. It used to be that I would just channel surf during commericals just to see what is play. Now, being the sophisticated DVRer that I am, I can channel surf forward in time (which exponentially increases the time I can waste channel surfing) and then record shows that I might want to watch.
One of the shows I found, and recorded, was the original Ocean’s Eleven, which played recently on the Turner Classic Movie Channel. I have to say that I thought it was a pretty good movie; it was also a great look at the Vegas of the 1950s.
Near the end of the movie, I spotted the Police CJ-3B shown below. Unfortunately, the CJ-3B was a background piece, so there weren’t any really good shots of it. I tried to figure out what the wording was along the hood — I don’t think it says “Las Vegas Police Force”.
No doubt most of you have seen the people of Walmart series: inexplicable photos of Walmart Customers in all kinds of dress that leave you wondering what people are thinking.
Well, the other day I was visiting my local Walmart in Garden City. I walked by this vehicle, stopped, did a double take, and muttered something like “seriously?”
Then, I came to my senses; Because, really, what do you do when the cardboard separating your bumper from your headlights no longer provides adequate support? Of course, the natural solution is to slip a crescent wrench into the space. After all, how much damage could a crescent wrench do if it were to get loose and bounce into the car next to you or behind you ….
Roberto has created some special cards for the holiday season (post cards and christmas cards). Click on the card below to order them.
So, technically this isn’t a Jeep, but it is kinda of SEEP-like and the folks over at Jalopnik called it a Jeep, so I figured I’d post a couple pics of it. Also, I checked out the website www.boatcar.net and that site has several different SEEP-like vehicles.
As part of his CJ-3A restoration Nate left his unique mark on his build with a variety of creative solutions. You’ll enjoy these.
1. “I mounted my body with hockey pucks and valve springs. I did this to my offroad beater too, and they seem to work quite well.”
2. “I made some doors on my harrison heater to get some more heat to the driver’s side.”
3. “I made a removable jerry can holder that bolts to the rear draw bar. This works really well. I carry about 3 gallons in it, and haven’t had any problems.”
4. “To put turn signals in the 3A grille, I made 8 of these spacers (4 per side) to space out the lens to fit the bigger bulb.”
5. “Instead of having a switch on the dash to turn the reverse light on, I made this bracket with a push switch (one that doesn’t click and locks in the “on” position) to turn it on. The plunger is what activates it. This is a really handy mod.”
It is winter time and that means only one thing: time for the Wandering Willys Jeep Club to complete their annual Winter run over the Naches Trail in search of Fish & Chips (You might remember their 2009 trip report here). The restaurant of choice was a local favorite called Gold Creek Station Restaurant.
I’ve snagged a few pics from their website. You can see pics of the entire trip here.
Of course, you gotta have the initial line up …
UPDATE: I did a little more research and finally found this photo at the CJ-3B Page. There is a complete discussion of the history of the CJ-3B, including a note that the CJ-3B has a custom body extension and a Sears top was purchased that was also custom extended. It’s a good story to read.
I’m not sure where this image might have originated, but I spotted it at expeditionportal.com.
When I last heard from Egon in early 2010, he was considering mounting a flat fender body onto his CJ-5. However, during the intervening months he had the opportunity to purchase a mostly restored CJ-3A, which was originally brought to Europe for the Swiss Army.
The body on this flattie was replaced about 12 years ago, while the transmission and engine are original to the Jeep. He spent time this year finishing the project, adding a roll bar, new rims and new tires. He plans to use his new toy to hunt and explore in and around his Liechtenstein countryside.
I’ve also included a couple pics Egon sent me about a recent hunting trip to Russia where he spent time with some friends. In his email about the trip, he mentions the All-Wheel-Drive Niva, about which I was unfamiliar; So, I researched the Niva, which lead to this post. He notes that the Niva functions well on the Russian terrain of Kirov, however it is a little small for a hunter and all his gear.
After Restoration
As part of the ongoing series on jeeps tipped on their sides for repair, a reader named Warren reports that the first episode, season 1, 14:51 minutes into the show of the Rat Patrol features a brief view of one of the characters working on a Jeep on its side. I don’t have a copy of the video, but here is a snapshot courtesy of Warren.
I’m not quite sure how, but I stumbled upon this pink wagon from the Haxadecimal.com site which was listed on ebay in 2006. This is one of a wide variety of unusual vehicles you can find at that site.
