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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 .
John found this 1953 version of the Yakima Jeep Rodeo, pronounced by the British narrator as “Row-day-Oh”.
This April 03, 1946, photo from the Spokesman Review shows Dave Zimmerman and his band/radio show ensemble stuffed into a jeep. With a Detroit transit strike raging, a borrowed jeep was the only way to get everyone to their radio show gig.
According to this page, Dave Zimmerman was a long time announcer at WWJ in Detroit. He hosted a popular radio program called Coffee Club and was on the air for Detroit’s first television broadcast from the 47th floor of the Penobscot Building.
In May of 1964 newspapers across the country shared the news of the Army testing out an idea where v-shaped flexible wings were attached to vehicles such as jeeps, allowing them to be pulled behind aircraft and flying to their destinations.
I tried to find photos of the jeeps with V-wings, but I had no luck. There is this example of the Army testing the v-wing concept they called a “Fleep”, which may use a similar flexible v-wing.
Ryan RV-8 Fleep Final Report 1964 US Army; Rogallo Wing Aircraft from Jeff Quitney on Vimeo.
This first article appeared in the May 10, 1964, issue of the Press Democrat out of Santa Rosa, California: 
This second article was published in the May 12, 1964, issue of the South Bend Tribune, out of South Bend, Indiana:
This is a real X-ray of a real jeep developed as a life-size image. Life Magazine, March 25, 1946.
In 1946 the wiz kids at the University of Rochester, NY, and Eastman Kodak built the world’s largest radiograph, one that could create an X-Ray photo of a large machine, say a jeep, which is precisely how they tested it. In the jeep’s case, the team used the million-volt x-ray machine to create a radiograph 12′ 1″ long by 4′ 1″ tall, or large enough to contain a life size jeep. The larger goal was create the ability to X-Ray large machinery.
The February 8th, 1946, issue of Rochester Democrat Chronicle shared the story:
The next month, Life Magazine also ran the story, this time with a copy of the X-ray photo (seen at top):
The jeep’s hood number is 20200556
This story doesn’t relate much to jeeps, but theOldMotor website published a piece of Robert Cunningham about that tells the story of Bantam’s effort to participate in the cola wars. However, their effort to patent a carton-shaped truck capable of carrying six packs of beverages was interrupted in the summer of 1940 by a shift in priorities towards the new BRC recon vehicle (aka the jeep), along with the advent of WWII.
Ted’s got these dimpled Warn summer hubs for sale. The dimpled versions are the second gen summer hubs; the first were the waffle style. The OEM green container is particularly rare.
View all the information on eBay
“Willys Jeep CJ2A CJ3A Early Column Shift CJ3B CJ5 Warn Summer Hub Universal Jeep. Condition is “Used”.
This is a very nice set of Willys Jeep Warn brand Summer Hubs with original carrying case.These Summer Hubs were a very popular aftermarket item introduced by the Warn manufacturing company and used to help eliminate uneven tire wear,wear and tear on front axle joints,differential gear bearings, Pinion and front drive shaft.
Basically, these Summer Hubs made the Willys Jeep Two Wheel Drive when Four Wheel Drive wasn’t needed for long lengths of time. They would be installed very easily be removing front drive flanges and mounting hubs.They would also give the jeep better gas mileage.
UPDATE: Still Available. Buy-it-now price is $99.99.
(01/05/2021) Maury shared these super cool FC-150 narrow track cuff links. They are priced at $99.
View all the information on eBay
“Very Rare Vintage late 1950’s / early 1960’s Silver Willys FC-150 Cufflinks in Tarnished but Very Good Used Condition. Stamped “NB” and “STERLING” on the inside surface of both backings.
The Jeep Forward Control is a truck that was produced by Willys Motors, later named Kaiser Jeep, from 1956 to 1965. It was also assembled in other international markets. The layout featured a cab over (forward control) design.
The Forward Control models were primarily marketed as work vehicles for corporate, municipal, military, as well as civilian use. Regular pickup box beds were standard, but customers were offered a large number of “Jeep approved” specialized bodies from outside suppliers. These ranged from simple flatbeds to complete tow trucks, dump trucks, and fire trucks. The vehicles were also manufactured under license in India and Spain.
My Father obtained these cufflinks while working in fleet sales for Willys in the Caribbean and Central & South America in the 50’s and early 60’s.”
TJ shared this rare offload VW-based Brazil vehicle with 4WD that’s up for auction. It’s located in Brazil, but shipping is available to Europe. There are ton of pics of the Jeg that’s up for auction along with pics of related brochures.
https://getyourclassic.com/item/jeg-brasilian-vw-jeep/ (or read this Samba ad)
“In the 70s, VW Brasil tried to join the Brazilian army with the VW VEMP. Two prototypes were created (one 4X4 and one 4X2), the car was created entirely in straight and simple lines for easier maintenance.
The engine would be 1600 already used by cars of other VW models. After the project was rejected for political reasons (cars with a rear engine would no longer be accepted by the army) the two prototypes ended up being used internally by the factory.
I missed out on this fascinating document yesterday on eBay. My high bid of $52.50 wasn’t quite enough, but at least we have pics of the entire document.
It’s not clear to me who the audience was for this document. The fact that it mentions the upcoming trucks suggests to me it was published in early 1947, prior to the introduction of the trucks in the summer of 1947. Maybe the document was for shareholders? Maybe it was for dealers (or prospective dealers)?
Titled “A NEW CONCEPT OF AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION“, the document makes the argument that prior to WWII the automobile was a luxury item for most folks. As such, bigger, longer, and faster, along with yearly innovations, were necessary to attract consumers with disposable income.
However, after the war, argued Willys-Overland in the document, the automobile would become a critical part of everyone’s everyday life. As such, offering consumers an affordable vehicle, one that didn’t change dramatically every year and one that cost less to maintain, was a the vision that Willys-Overland planned to follow. This meant simple vehicles that responded to customer needs, along with lesser tweaks to each model to insure the company could keep costs down (don’t have to redesign dies, fewer factory shutdowns for model changes, etc).
So, the company’s production ideas meant simple designs catered to consumer needs rather than the latest streamlined designs. That makes sense as a strategy; but, in regards to the DISTRIBUTION portion of the document’s title, I could find nothing stating how the company’s strategy would change the distribution side of things. This document probably would have been more accurately titled, “A NEW CONCEPT OF AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION”.
Gayland shard this photo posted on the Navy Seabee Museum site that features Seabees working on a jeep and some other vehicles. The Navy’s Seabee website has done a good job of organizing its digital collections based on multiple factors (time period and location in most cases).
If you haven’t ever visited the museum, it’s located in Port Hueneme. We had a chance to visit back in 2014 while it was undergoing updates. I’m sure it’s even better now.
Maury spotted this jeep-family ad from Kaiser-Willys of Canada.
View all the information on eBay
“1956 Canadian Kaiser Willys print ad Jeep Universal, Wagon, & Pickup. Original magazine advertisement measures 7 X 9.5 inches (approx.).”
UPDATE II: Somehow I missed this second version of the Senators with Charles Payne driving down he steps on May 20, 1941:
PHOTO CREDIT: Florida State University’s Digital Repository https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A154424
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Published March 28, 2021: Here’s another, earlier jeep photo, including a dedication by Charles Payne, related to Senator Claude Pepper in a Bantam BRC-40. According to the Florida State University Digital Archives, Senator Robert Reynolds is driving the jeep, Senator Claude Pepper is in the passenger seat, and Charles Payne and Harold Crist are seated in the back. The photo is dated May 1941.
https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A117598
Also, according to a June 02, 1968, column by Larry King in the Miami Herald, there was a video taken of Senator Pepper riding up the steps and it was to be shown on TV on June 30, 1968. I was unable to find the video on the internet.
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ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 09, 2012: This pictures tells the tale of Senator Claude Pepper‘s bid for re-election as a Senator from Florida in the 1950 race. Like his jeep, Senator Pepper’s campaign crashed that year as well.
PHOTO CREDIT: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/36090 CAPTION: Addressed to George Smathers from his friend Carl L. Hahn, an accompanying note says, “Here’s what is left of the Pepper machine in Palm Beach County – Souvenir of your successful 1950 campaign.”
The accident led to a lawsuit against the driver and Senator Claude Pepper. The appeared in the August 04, 1950, issue of the Palm Beach Post:
This unusual ad appeared in the December 18, 1945, issue of the Poughkeepsie Journal. I guess marketers figured adding the “jeep” name to most anything was a good bet for increasing sales?
This pledge for Jeep-O club drivers was published in the July 07, 1943, issue of the Leaf Chronicle out of Clarksville, Tennessee. This pledge appears to have been unique to the Clarksville area.
In April of 1943, the Kiawanis Club of Anniston, Alabama, started the Jeep-O Club, an effort to alleviate the transportation problem facing soldiers by pledging to give rides in their vehicles to soldiers who needed one. It was an early Uber system, only with volunteer drivers.
It’s possible the Kiwanis Jeep-O movement got is name from the previous November’s Jeep-O gram movement in Texas.
This photo shows an actual Jeep-O stop. It appeared in the April 15, 1943, issue of the Huntsville Times:
By May, the Jeep-O club idea had already spread to 22 states:
A couple months later, in the July 07, 1943, issue of the Leaf Chronicle out of Clarksville, Tennessee, the paper reported how a Jeep-O club was staring up there: Continue reading
UPDATE: The other day I realized that the jeep in this photo from a collection of early jeep information published in 2014 looks very similar to an illustrated jeep that appeared in a 1947 newspaper ad. Here’s the image and it’s associated testimonial:
Here’s the advertisement from the June 3, 1947, ad published in the Sullivan Daily Times, out of Sullivan, Indiana, that highlights the ability of the jeep to be an efficient, low-cost option as a road-service vehicle.
Jerry shared this 2015 story published in AutoRevolution about a 1941 Willys MB that is “Almost 100% original. Some stuff has been removed but very little has been replaced. A couple of needed mods have been made, but nothing substantial”. Hmm … challenge accepted.
Upon inspection, the jeep fails the “almost 100%” original claim. For example, the spring hangers are not original, but as I looked closer at the frame I realized that when someone put a newer CJ chassis underneath the jeep, they never removed the frame-mounted CJ-shock mount (visible just in front of the rear tire on the frame). In addition, the rims and rear axle are incorrect. My guess is that this body is sitting on a newer chassis and powertrain of some type.
Given the drain holes are blocked, I blew up the photo to check out the back and it sure seems like there’s tailgate lip sticking up along the rear. Yet, this does have the cutout in the body for the vertical shock mount, so this may be an original WWII body that’s had a tailgate added? I just can’t tell either way for sure. .
Derek published this story on the CJ-3B Page about three Brazilian Boy Scouts (Gabriel Paula Fonseca Jr., Everardo de Mello Nogueira, and Paulo Pinheiro de Andrade) who traveled the world, calling themselves the Baden-Powell AfricaEuropeAmerica Expedition.
Leaving in 1957, just after Hugo Vidal and his friend returned from their Operation Pineapple adventure, the Baden-Powell party used a CJ-5 that was styled and outfitted in a way similar to the Operation Pineapple CJ-3B jeep.Their goal was to attend the 9th Annual Boy Scouts Jamboree, one that also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Scout’s founding and the Centennial of Robert Baden-Powell, the Boy Scouts’ founder.
In 2018, a story was published in English called: 1957: From Cape Town to the Nordkap on a Jeep – Three Brazilians youngsters set out to discovery the world. I just purchased it ($6.50) for the kindle, so will be reading it as I can.
In 2017 a story was published about the trip on this site, but it appears you have to log in to access it. Some pics from this story can be seen on the internet. Based on these pics, the trio may have used the same “built with Brazilian” parts that Operation Pineapple used to fund the expedition:
Anyone ever seen this documentary? It apparently includes a discussion of the early days of Willys-Overland.
View all the information on eBay
“This is “TOLEDO STORIES: WHEELS,” a previously-owned video-cassette (VHS) with all original artwork (shows very little wear). It was issued by WGTE and plays beautifully (double-checked).
“Wheels” shares the story that the automotive industry has played in Toledo, Ohio’s history. For 150 years, Toledo’s economy has been interwoven with the manufacture of all kinds of vehicles. The film covers the Jeep Corporation’s early beginnings as Willys-Overland, the dozens of 19th century carriage and wagonmakers in the area, and eight major bicycle manufacturers.”
Ann found a great price on a china hutch for the new house, so that consumed my Tuesday. So, no updates Wednesday.
But, here is an Operation Market Garden video that compares WWII locations with their current look:
This image capture shows the only flat fender that I saw while fast forwarding through the episode. Naturally, some folks blocked a clear view of it.
On March 11, 1978, an episode of Kojak aired that featured the Clark County Jeep Posse. No doubt some of you are wondering who Kojak is, but for those old enough to remember the detective series, this was the second to the last episode of the series (episode 21 of the 22 shows that year), as that show was cancelled in 1978. The show feels pretty dated in a variety of ways.
LIonel Hall, a son to one of the Jeep Posse members that appears in the episode, alerted me to the presence of the group in the show. By 1978, there weren’t a lot of jeeps left in the Posse, and only one vintage flat fender that I could spot, but it’s still pretty neat to see the jeeps appear in the episode.
The episode can be viewed, with commercial breaks, at Daily Motion, which for some reason has the show reversed (all the text is backwards and the drivers are all on the right side of the vehicles). the name of the episode is 60 Miles to Hell:
Thanks go to Joe-in-Mesa for sending me one of the Willys Rally Essential Workers T-Shirt. I think this t-shirt is a pretty clever way to marry the pandemic with the old Willys workhorses (you can order one here).
This year’s Willys Rally is currently scheduled for May 14-16, 2021, in Moab, Utah. You can learn more at the Willys Rally website.
I snagged this small “Jeep Owners Club of New Zealand” hat pin from eBay for cheap. Having biked around the South Island of New Zealand when I was 20 years old, I’ve always had a soft spot for the country. I lived off New Zealand meat pies and banana chocolate chip ice cream while there … Boy did they have great ice cream!
UPDATE: I found an inexpensive issue of the February 2, 1946 Collier’s Magazine, so I scanned the cover. It has the Welcome Home Johnny sign celebrating’s soldiers homecoming as a farmer races his jeep down the road. I found no jeep related stuff on the inside.
This full page article with photos shows a group that called themselves the “Jeepological Survey” exploring the Panamint Range Canyons. This was published in the November 13, 1953, issue of the Valley Times out of San Fernando, California.
I bought one of this seller’s Morrison brochure. It’s in very good condition. It is unclear how many of these he has. I suspect it’s from the late 1940s, given it only features CJ-2As.
View all the information on ebay
“You are buying or bidding on a rare vintage early 1950’s “The Morrison-Built Rogers Sno-Dozer For Jeeps” brochure. This was originally sold as a plow and scraper and was from the late 40’s. They were later produced by the Morrison Railway Supply Corp. Buffalo, New York. This is 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ opens twice to a 11″ x 8 1/2″. This is in excellent condition.(see pics)”
