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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 .
This 1942 Americar Brochure includes a page that shows the Willys MA. I dropped out of the bidding at $30. I’ll keep my eye open for a cheaper version of this brochure.
Here’s the page with the MAs on it.
The following images might show the entire brochure in the correct order. Note the page showing the Americar’s “Willys Chassis” … anyone know how similar this was in size to the wagon chassis?
The author of this non-jeep Jalopnik post tells the story of how a dealership intimidated his mother into signing paperwork she didn’t want to sign and how she successfully sued the dealership in return. Thankfully, she had read and understood the contract she had signed.
This story hit home with Ann and I as she bought herself a Red 2017 GMC truck the other day and we both left feeling like those folks had no interest in having us actually read what she was signing, though we did quickly skim the contract to the annoyance of the paperwork guy.
https://jalopnik.com/my-mom-has-her-own-terrible-detained-at-the-dealership-1846348696
Between 1947 and 1960, Judy (do we ever learn her last name?) dated A LOT. Every couple of months, Judy was on another date, hence the title “A Date with Judy”. During date #22, she hooked up with a feller who owned a jeep (who may have been her main squeeze named Oogie?), at least the jeep appears on the cover (I don’t know if the jeep plays a role in one of the stories inside the comic book).
As you may have guessed by now, I really don’t have any idea what I’m talking about regarding this comic book series! Anyway, here’s the cover.
Prior to the Comic book, there was a radio series by the same name.
UPDATE: The two post cards at the bottom of this post were on eBay several years ago. I recently came across some newspaper clippings that give background about the Winter Park Villager tram’s purpose. The service began November 28, 1966, but I could not find an end-date.
This first article discusses the jeep tram’s beginnings:
Article dated November 13, 1966, from the Orlando Sentinel
This next article notes that Monday, November 28th, as the launch date for the jeep tram service.
Article dated December 1, 1966, from the Orlando Evening Star
This short article from March of 1967 describes some of the tram’s stops:
March 03, 1967, in the Orlando Evening Star
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This Winter Park Villager shows a DJ-3A Surrey pulling a matching trailer in Winter Park, Florida. One of these postcards is currently on eBay.
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Here’s another view of the same combo. One of these postcards is currently on eBay
This sold yesterday on eBay for $51 +shipping. I gave up bidding on it, because I couldn’t tell how many pages there were. I was concerned there were only four and didn’t want to get into a bidding war over it (I got another cool brochure instead).
This undated Siebert Willys Ambulance brochure was probably produced in 1954-or 1955, based on the grille design on page 4. There is no form number on it. Within the brochure the company describes three different ambulance options.
Derek provides more information on the Siebert Ambulances and has additional pics on the CJ-3B page.
This June 25, 1960, article the Los Angeles Times shares the news that the jeep train would be expanded to two trams, rather than just one. Based on other articles, it appears the one-tram jeep train was started sometime around 1955.
Maury forwarded this “JEEP” pin that’s available on eBay. Does anyone have any history on the slogan “Joint Effort Extra Pay”? It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this was some kind of Willys-Overland or Willys-Motors factory worker incentive program, but I’d want more evidence before concluding that.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage, JEEP FACTORY PIN (Joint-Effort-Extra-Pay) 1-1/2 x 3/4 Inches”
A web search yielded a second item with the same logo, except this time on an ashtray with the an accompanying “A W” logo.
I recently obtained from eBay a copy of the first version (which is my designation, to separate it from an expanded 2019 version of the same name) of Monica Baan and Rob Van Meel’s British Airborne Jeeps (3rd Printing, printed in 1998). It’s loaded with detail drawing and diagrams of the modifications made for the airborne jeeps. This first version is just under 50 pages. I’ll post a few example pages at the bottom of the post:
After I received the book, I did some more research and learned that in 2019 Rob updated the book with photographs and much more. Now the book is three-times as large, with 154 pages. The new version is available for purchase for £29.99: https://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/products/author/Van%20Meel,%20Rob.
Either book would be useful for the person who wants to recreate a British Airborne Jeep. Here is a sneak peak at some pages from the booklet I have:
As discussed on this page, which shares the English version of this brochure, given the “hockey stick” style of the 2WD wagon and the one-piece wagon and truck windshields sometimes shown, this could have been a 1960 brochure. And, it may have been European focused given the French and Enlightenment versions.
Here is the French version fo the brochure:
Over at Jalopnik, David Tracy reported on his plans to turn a derelict FC-170 from Camano Island into an electric off-road vehicle. He provides plenty of pics of the neglected FC, one that will require a full rebuild. It will be interesting to follow this project.
https://jalopnik.com/im-converting-this-1958-jeep-fc-170-into-an-electric-of-1846322974
This jeep has some of the stranger fenders I’ve seen on WWII jeeps. They seem like they are slowly absorbing the jeep
https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/volvoices%3A3434
“Marshall “Grandpa” Jones and Roy Joe Baxter pose with Roy Joe’s stream-lined Jeep in Munich, Germany, 1945. The Jeep was named “the Hunk.” After the war Jones attained fame as a musician on the Grand Ole Opry. At the age of 32 he was already called “Grandpa”– he got his nickname ten years prior due to his grouchy moods on his morning radio show. The Jeep was most likely a government contracted passenger model made by Ford or Willys. There were over 500,000 of these cars produced during the War.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Universi ty of Tennessee, Knoxville https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/volvoices%3A3434
Hunter is hoping to find a wagon that his father sold about five or six years ago. He sold it to a woman named Heather Berry, who finished the build, then resold it to someone in the southern US. He thinks it was a “1958, 350 SBC with turbo 350 trans, ford 9 inch in the rear and I believe a dana 44 up front. Split window, possibly missing the trim but it could have been replaced.”
If anyone recognizes it, comment below or email me at d @ dealers.com. Here’s a pic of it:
As I was packing, I pulled this issue of Motor Trend aside. When I leafed through it, I realized there was a jeep-related article I missed. So, here the “Unique Cars for Sportsmen” by Jim Earp. All the vehicles herein are interesting. The first page has a pic at the bottom of Vic Hickey’s famous jeep.
The June 13, 1942, issue of the News-Journal out of Mansfield, Ohio, happily reported on the unexpected amount of bond sales at the city’s previous day’s “Jeep Day”. The committee had hoped to sell $10,000 worth of bonds, but topped $25,000 instead. I’m sure it was all due to the jeeps!
Gallup’s local Willys dealer organized a trip to Manuelito Canyon, according to an article int he October 14, 1953, issues of the Albuquerque Journal. Some local Gallup area residents had hoped at the time that the canyon would become a national park. Instead, in 1964, it was named a National Historic District. There is (was?) a visitor’s center, but it is temporarily closed (and was so as of January of 2020, which predated the pandemic).
I like this photo with the line up of wagons. I’d love to find the original or reprint of this.
Here’s a rare Jeepster Al-Toy for sale.
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tag/d/butler-1949-promo-car-willys-jeepster/7256548112.html
“1949 Promo Car Willys Jeepster Cast Toledo Bronze Co Al-toys RARE 15″ Unrestored told they only made about 350 of these! guess costs were too high to produce & sell, were never sold retail, were made for dealer promo’s pretty rare piece!! a must for the serious collector! have only seen a couple of them for sale at 3000-3500 heres a nice unrestored example!
have some other high end toys listed!”
Thanks to Andy for taking photos of his oversize truck brochures. These are framed and behind glass, so he had an understandably difficult time getting good photos. The first two are domestic brochures. The third is a French version of this Willys truck brochure.
UPDATE: Here’s an updated version of the post that separates the 1950-1952 oversize truck brochure from the sedan delivery wagon brochures with similar designs.
Originally Published Feb 26, 2021: I was inspired to purchase and learn more about the brochures below after realizing that a poster I saw during a visit at Dave Antram’s place in 2013. Here’s a photo of it:
While I originally thought these brochures were all printed in early 1950, I’m now less certain, as Colin pointed out that #1 (4WD Willys Truck) mentions “Key Starting”, which appeared in 1952. In addition, one of the truck brochures has “1951” printed on the subheading. I suspect we’ll never get firm evidence on the publish dates of these:
You can view the original scans using the following links:
And now the trucks from the same period. I don’ have full scans of the bottom two trucks:
Then there is this oddball Willys Delivery Sedan brochure that has the same front as the brochure above, but unfolds differently, is black and white, and has content arranged differently on the interior pages:
**SOLD** Scottie has laid claims to these books …
These five books were published for the military services in May of 1944 and have courses on various aspects of Auto Mechanics. I bought these hoping to find some jeep info, but found none. Still, this may be of interest to some WWII buffs (mostly non-military automobile mechanicals).
1. C0URSE 1-THE ENGINE – BOOK IS MISSING BACK COVER AND FRONT IS SOILED. NO TORN OR MISSING PAGES.
2. COURSE 2-COOLING, LUBRICATION, AND FUEL SYSTEMS. SOME WATER DAMAGE ON PAGES. BUT COVERS ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. NO TEARS OR MISSING PAGES.
3. COURSE 3-AUTOMATIC ELECTRICITY-WATER DAMAGE AND CREASES ON FRONT AND BACK COVERS-NO TEARS OR MISSING PAGES. BACK COVER HAS A SMALL TEAR.
4. COURSE 4-THE POWER FLOW. MISSING FRONT AND BACK COVERS BUT NO TORN PAGES OR MISSING PAGES.
5. COURSE 5-CHASSIS UNITS. FRONT AND BACK COVERS ARE SOILED BUT NO MISSING OR TORN PAGES.”
The War Production Board produced several different “Father’s Day” posters (other posters at the gov archives), including this one with an illustration of a Bantam BRC-60. It also included a letter, though it’s not clear to me how the letter and poster would have been displayed (newspaper? magazine?). Father’s Day fell on June 21st in 1942.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165318061
PHOTO CREDIT: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165318061
Mike shared this photo that was floating around Facebook. It’s possible that this was a Minnesota dealership, as a few research nibbles seemed to send me there, but I couldn’t confirm anything. I imagine this was taken between 1963-1965, given he models shown.
The photo seems to have been first posted on Facebook here.
This May 18, 1944, article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram describes the upcoming “WAC Jeep Day”. The Fort Worth recruiting team would offer free jeep rides to those women who fit the WAC’s specifications. I’m guessing the women had to be “U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 and 45 with no dependents, be at least five feet tall, and weigh 100 pounds or more.”
Instead of qualifying for the WACs, it might have been easier to wait two years and drive a jeep with no strings attached! This ad published in the May 29, 1946, issue of the Knoxville News for the Sam Horne Company shows a woman test driving a jeep.
There’s not specific date for this photo of a CJ-2 sporting a large compressor that’s powering a jack-hammer. This photo is housed at the National Museum of American History.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1814581
Gelatin silver print, civilian uses for a Jeep – pneumatic tools, 1945-1946. 2013.0327.1256.
