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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 .
UPDATE: Steve found a 2nd patent for an alternative Dually system. I’ve moved both Dually patent information to the New Dually Page.
In early April of 2010, Kurtis found a solid looking, stock 1950 CJ-3A named Ike that he plans to restore to off-the-dealer-floor condition. He’s built a website (http://kurtisfranklin.com/blog/) to chronicle his restoration adventures and recently provided some good details on a V-Cell Radiator.
Good luck on your restoration Kurtis; I think it will turn out well! Here’s a pic of Ike:
I ran across JeepGod’s website today. There’s a variety of interesting tidbits on the site, including an inexpensive solution for an air compressor, a nicely drawn out map for navigating Uwharrie National Forest in North Carolina, and the below list of Jeep Manufacturers, which provides some details into the specific companies that manufactured the vehicles we generally describe as Jeep or Willys. I hadn’t thought of organizing a list quite like this, so I thought I’d highlight it for readers. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, as there’s no FC-170 listed, but that’s a minor quibble I think.
Who knows why I search for the things I do sometimes, but for some reason I had the urge to search for Jeep Cakes. Now, I rarely eat cakes of any kind; however, I thought this might provide some interesting search results and pictures. So, below are a few of my results. If this list isn’t long enough, search here for more.
First, I’ll start off with a cake I was presented with on my birthday back in 2003 — my 2nd ex-wife (yes, I might need a scorecard to start tracking my relationships) and her mother transferred one of my favorite images onto a birthday cake.
Here’s one with a roll cage from CarriesCakes.com
Here’s a cake with a ‘jeep’ on a hill:
This cake ‘rocks’:
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This is called the Jeep Adventure Cake:
According to the description, this cake is “an army jeep cake, fondant covered with gum paste accessories. the hill is another layer of cake as well, buttercream-covered with cookie crumbs on top”
Here’s a $195 cake from Oksuguar.com:
This driver and his faithful dog appear headed into the waves:
From dreamcakesjc.com we have another ‘flattie’:
And finally, from the UK courtesy of Sara Cakes, we have this army jeep (categorized as a grand dad cake no less ..hmmm). It even has tools on the sides!
Late last year Mark took the plunge and bought himself a Jeepster project. After about 6 months, he has completed phase 1 of the project, has learned his Willys isn’t 100% Willys, and, as you can see, is enjoying his efforts now that Spring is fully here. Thanks for sharing!
Mark writes, “I completed phase one last night when I closed the gaping hole in the firewall caused by an incomplete Chevy V8 conversion long long ago, so now my Jeepster may be eligible to be honored on your site. I was going to name her “Cheapster Jeepster” due to my desire to spend less money than a new vehicle, but after falling in love with my Willys I christened it “Her Royal Highness” and I’ve still only got $4200 bucks invested so far. I got her up to 60mph and drove 75 miles straight with no problems.
Purchased her on Halloween Day 2009 and quickly found out she wasn’t all Willys. She’s a ’48 Jeepster body set on a ’49 4wd Station Wagon chassis & floorboard. It has got a 1956 Chevy 265 V8, Lockheed hydraulic clutch, 1955 Ford F-100 rear brakes and MC, John Deere tractor fuel pump and a Caterpillar temp gauge. The gauge cluster is from a M38 and the gas tank, mounted behind the back seat, is from a 1958 Dodge pickup. And those are just the parts I’ve been able to identify so far.
Phase 1 seemed like a simple task: Start, Stop and roll down the road without leaking out all its fluids, make her safe and legal and do all this without knowing jack about restoring a 60 year old automobile. It’s been a lot of fun and a real stress reliever for me.
-new complete brake system
-new complete suspension front & back
-new fuel line setup
-new wireing harness and firewall rebuild
-clean & paint interior
-fluid change and tuneup
Oh, and of course phase 1 couldn’t be complete without…….cup holders.
Much thanks to your site, I get lot’s of great ideas looking at all the other builds you profile and just knowing I’m not the only crazy, insane Willys addict gives me great comfort. Although I’ve seen other Jeepster 4wd conversions on your site I haven’t seen one that used another Willys to make the jump. I’ll keep you posted on Phase II (Body/interior & drive train improvements).”
This has nothing to do with willys, jeeps, 4x4s. Actually, it has little to do with anything …..
Regular readers will likely remember my post (perhaps memorial is a better term) about C.W.McCall’s Wolf Creek Pass. After re-reading that post, it seems my prose zig-zagged across topics so far and so wide, that to call it a cohesive post would be a kind and generous gift from readers; However, I would never let a lack of cohesiveness stop my good intentions nor keep me from attempting, because to say I attempt is fair, but to say I always succeed would be too generous, to entertain readers!
So, where am I going with this? It seems nowhere fast, so let’s get to it already! In the aforementioned post, one of the topics I cover was my own audiophile history, or the lack thereof, particularly my first experience with my cousin’s Walkman II. While I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the Walkman II, I knew very little about the history of the original Walkman until I ran across a fabulous post, Quiet Revolution, at the Rhapsody blog.
Now, as readers are already painfully aware, I am no audiophile, but I am certainly a history buff. And in the Rhapsody post Quiet Revolution, Tim Quirk constructs a fascinating slice of audio history and tells a strongly argued story of how the Walkman was the real game changer for how most of us listen to music.
Some highlights:
1) The original Sony Walkman, launched in 1979, came with an orange button and two headphone connections. Why? Because, of course, no one would want to listen to music by themselves! And the orange button lowered the music with a simple click so that you could communicate with a friend (see images from the ad campaign below and contrast that with the solitary, almost non human, solitary dancers from today’s ipod ads)!
2) The stereobelt was invented in 1972 by Andreas Pavel, but was rejected by electronic companies because executives at the electronic companies argued that people would not want to run around with headphones.
3) Almost 40% of Guns N’ Roses fans also listen to Tim McGraw. Nearly as many listen to Kenny Chesney or Garth Brooks. How many radio stations play all four? That’s the essence of the choice these devices have provided.
Some of the Walkman’s original ads …
Ipod Ads:
Here’s are some jeep photographs, and they are labeled as photographs, I ran across on Flickr created/photographed by Kris Kros. They are certainly heavily ‘enhanced’ and unusual!
This is the 1973 Mistubishi Prototype “Pajero”. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found the photos. Next to the wagon, is what I call the CJ-3B Wagon, but what Mistubishi called the CJ3B-J11, created in 1956. You can see a full version of it below. Click here to see the Mitsubishi virtual museum.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $15,000.
Mark spotted this unusual find when it was still available early on Sunday. However, it sold during the course of the day for $15,000. I’d love to know where it lands as it is something very unusual and rather fantastical.
“In 1962, the Army tested a machine known as The Overland Train at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. It was designed to carry equipment and supplies over both on- and off-road terrains. The train consisted of the control car, ten self tracking cargo cars, and two power generating cars. It was 565 feet long and could haul 150 tons of cargo. The control car also contained living quarters for a crew of six, complete with sleeping, eating and sanitation facilities.
The enclosed pictures are of a sister unit here in Alaska. It’s important to note this is one of the last existing units of this type anywhere. This unit consists of the control car and 3 trailers (mostly aluminum). All the units have tires and we also have a large amount of extra tires & wheels. This unit does not run and is not operable however according to Le Tourneau, the manufacturer most if not all parts are still available and or re-buildable. Would also make a terrific static display for museum. This unit is for sale as is FOB North Pole, Alaska, to the highest bidder above the reserve set by the estate.”
A shed of dreams? I came across the phrase while, as usual, searching for something else.
As best as I can put together, the shed was located in Greece and was full of old MBs, GPWs, Parts, and more. The Jeep Draw website has a large number of images showing rows of old jeeps. One pic shows at least 20 jeeps sitting 3 rows high.
According to Thomas Jacobson’s jeep website (which has some good jeep info), the shed of dreams existed as late as 2001, as that is when Thomas visited the shed and took a whole bunch of pictures.
According to a discussion thread on the Steel Soldier’s website, the shed no longer exists as the jeeps have been sold.
Here is an example of one of Thomas’s images:
Dan forgot to forward these pics of his progress on the rear of his grandpa’s CJ-5. Once again, Dan’s done some nice work! View more installments of Dan’s build here.
This truck was headed towards a crusher until Carl saved it. He’s not sure what he’s going to do with it, but he felt there was too much value to have it crushed. Note the custom wheel creation.
“Here are the pictures of the 55 Willys as I found it in a scrape metal collectors yard, it has its original running Super Hurricane engine 4 wheel drive components, head lights, park lights and dash all in tack, 20″ wheels were welded to the original 16’s and it spent the last few years hauling fire wood in rural Newfoundland. It had been abandoned and was set to go to the crusher when I found it and hauled it home. Not sure at this point what I will do with it, it’s safe for now.”
Leave it to Popular Science Magazine to publish a brief reference about using a Jeep to mix cement. This article (or retro-article) was issued in the Feb 1974 edition.
I’ll let Mark set the stage for these pics. I don’t see the pic of the hungry dog though …. 🙂
Mark writes, “On the tough east side of Houston well behind a blighted salvage yard the old guy said “there’s some Willys behind that fence”. As a newby seeing one pass on the highway is a rarity so when I saw this I just about leaked transfer case oil. 12 in all, the Dirty Dozen. Sorry about the quality of the pics, there was this mean looking dog, and he looked hungry.”
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I can’t say I’ve been in a Willys Wagon for 400 miles at a time, but I do imagine that what the woman is trying to say is that it seemed more like 1400 miles than 400 miles ….
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
The auction expired before it reached its reserve. Bidding hit a high of $50,300.
“This truck was built for the 343 fire fighters that lost their lives on the tragic day of 9/11. This truck has been used in shows so we would never forget that day. I can’t list all the shows this truck has won 1st place in, however, here’s some of them: Concours Delegance, Good Guys, Grand Nationals Roadster Show, Coastline Car Classic, and many, many more. I’ll take a photo of all the trophies if you like (enough to fill up an entire room). The firetruck came from Cooperstown, New York as a mini-pumper firetruck. It was recreated as a woody. This truck has been such a blessing, it puts a smile on all the people’s faces. The truck has 13,000 original miles on all the original running gear. The motor, transmission, front end, and rear end has never been taken apart. It’s been professionally cleaned and repainted. It has 1,500 miles on the brakes, wheel cylinder, master cylinder, tires, hoses, and seals. The wiring harness is all original and is in excellent condition. It’s been changed over to 12 Volts. Everything works but the fuel gauge (needs a diode). The reason I’m selling this truck is because it needs to be seen and not stored. This would make a very nice museum piece that people could appreciate. A part of the proceeds from this auction will go to the Rolling Memorial for Fallen Firefighters and a percentage will be automatically donated.”
So, you have an extra $100,000 and 3000 hours. What do you with yourself? Randy Grubb decided he’d build a Hot Rod out of a long haul truck. Popular Science magazine highlights Randy’s efforts. Though it has nothing to do with jeeps, I thought it was worth mentioning.
What I really liked was the before and after pics. In the before pic, you can see how he arranged the parts so he could visualize what he was building. Any of us who have done projects like this where there aren’t specific instructions/directions can relate. I can’t tell you how many times I put on and took off the jeep body to make sure it fit in the right spot, not too far forward, not too far back, not to high, was it straight — then stand back and ponder and take a few pics and adjust and ponder …. details, details, details. It’s all part of the fun :-).
Despite it’s fun design, this wasn’t just some show vehicle. When Randy was finished, he drag raced it at 100 mph. Now that’s a HOT Rod!
I’ve included the before pic (taken by Randy’s wife). You can see the after pic result and read all about the transformation at Popsci.com.
An article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette on November 18, 1962, warned readers not to be surprised if they were flagged down at a Green Bay & Western (GBW) railroad crossing by a jeep. The article goes on to describe that GBW bought 2 1962 FCs for use on their railroad, some of the Jeep’s features, and how they would be used. The history of these FCs (shown below) and the GBW in general can be found at the Green Bay & Western Lines website.
One image below appears to be a rough scan showing the two FC-170s at the time of purchase. I’ve added a link to the 2nd photo which shows the FC awaiting restoration as of 2005 (a note under the image asked that it not be reproduced without permission).
From the Sunday News (and Duke University’s Digital Collection Archives) comes this October 7, 1945, contest advertisement. What I find very interesting is the color scheme. I do not recollect seeing any jeeps with this color scheme. Does anyone know if this was a custom color scheme of some kind for Pepsodent or simply an artist’s creative license?
I was doing some research on GBW’s FC 170s when stumbled upon several Jeepster prototypes listed at the American Jeepster Club along with some other Jeepster specific information. Below I reference 3 prototypes found on the history page. Please visit the American Jeepster Club’s ‘Willys-Overland Jeepster History’ page to learn more. The fourth image is a 1979 Jeepster Prototype press release I found at offroaders.com — it seems to me it was a good idea NOT to develop this one.
1949 Jeepster Coupe Prototype
1962 Brazilian Jeepster Prototype
Concept drawing of a Safari Jeepster
There are some new Bantam and MB testing photos at Life Magazine. There are some great closeups of the Bantam. Note the first pic — I believe that is the first ‘jeep’ ever stuck in the mud; it surely wasn’t the last! All six of these photos were taken by David E. Scherman in 1940.
Bruce forwarded me links to two images of Surreys he has posted.
The first one is from the Virgin Islands in 1958 and shows a DJ-3A in the center of the picture and a DJ-3A Surrey at the lower left. The second image shows 5 or more Surreys sitting at rental lot Hawaii, the surrey in center front
is a 1963 with 13″ tires and babymoon hubcaps.
Paul forwarded a link to me regarding ‘justacarguy’s’ website. Specifically, Paul pointed out a page of old rail cars — literally automobiles on wheels. There were a couple pics of jeeps and many more of cool old cars. Check out all the pics here.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $800
It’s $800 and runs .. what do you want?
“Willys jeep four wheel drive with low and high range. Runs good 4 speed tranny any quests”
I have to say I’m a fan of Canada and Canadians. Growing up in Seattle, Canada was only a 3 hour drive away, so I’ve crossed the border many times. On the other hand, the Canadians keep sending me back … I don’t know what that’s about …
When I was 20, I had an opportunity to work in the San Juan Islands for a couple years, at the north part of San Juan Island itself at Roche Harbor (map). Many Canadians boated over to enjoy Roche’s hospitality, perhaps as many as half the tourists were Canadian. Because I had friends with boats, I had the opportunity to boat across Haro Strait and visit Victoria, BC, Canada.
There are four things I know about Victoria from personal experience: 1) The Royal BC Museum was a great place to visit; 2) There used to be a great knife store downtown that gave good discounts to chefs (I still have a couple of those knives); 3) There are places to drink in Victoria (which for a newly minted 21 year old was pretty fun); and 4) There were some very nice strips clubs downtown (which for a newly minted 21 year old … well, you get the picture).
I’ve also spent time in Vancouver. During one memorable, well mostly memorable, experience, I attended the 1986 World Expo (and it turns out countries still hold world expos — the 2010 Expo is in Shanghai, China), which took place at the downtown facilities which held the recent Winter Olympic Games. Me and 2 of my friends trekked up to the ’86 expo, without hotel reservations of course; instead, we spent two nights camped out in Vancouver. The first night was on some land being developed right near downtown. We just set up the tent, and jumped in (and a whole lot of traffic woke us up early the next morning). The second night we found a walking trail a little farther out of downtown and jumped in the tent. Oh, to be young again ….
With these thoughts in mind, I decided to do a search of flatties and Canada and happened across the antiquewillys.com website. After some looking around, I found a photo gallery, where I came across this image, posted by “waggone”. I personally love to see those desert dogs reaching for the sky!
