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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 .
The August 1949 issue of Mechanix Illustrated included detailed plans for constructing a battery powered, remote-control toy wagon.
Scott just discovered eWillys and is having fun digging through 59,000+ posts. He also shared the pic below and a story about it.
“This is a picture of my grandfather, Norman Len, in his Jeep. The picture was taken probably in 1945 at NAS Barbers Point, HI where my grandfather was in “Carrier Aircraft Service Unit TWO” (CASU-2).
The interesting backstory is that my grandfather, before going in the Navy in 1944, worked for the Willys Overland Aircraft Division in Toledo manufacturing center wing sections for the Corsair fighter. He used those skills in the Navy as an Aviation Machinists Mate working on a variety of carrier based aircraft.
Also, it’s likely that the jeep he is sitting in was partially assembled by family members – my Great Grandfather (Nickolas Len) and his brother (William “Bill” Len) both worked for Willy’s/Kaiser/Jeep from the late 30’s to the 1960’s.”
I suppose the jeep is included in this press photo for size reference purposes?
View all the information on eBay
“1946 Press Photo T28 Army Tank and Military Jeep in Aberdeen, Maryland. This is an original press photo. 100-Ton Tank Unveiled by Army – Aberdeen, Maryland – Jeep is dwarfed by new superheavy T28 tank, one of the new Army weapons showed for the first time at the 28th annual meeting of the Army Ordnance Association before 6,000 industrialists. The tank, said to be the biggest vehicle ever built for the Army, weighs nearly 100-tons and carries a 105mm gun.Photo measures 7 x 10inches. Photo is dated 10-03-1946.”
This November 25, 1946, article in the Salt Lake Tribune highlighted the first big test for the Sheriff Office’s new CJ-2A. Lacking today’s causeway to Antelope Island, the trip required often navigating over or through water. I can imagine such a drive was a big unnerving, unless a route was marked by marker-sticks. Today, the southern portion of the island is owned by the State of Utah. Bison, Sheep, and Antelope roam the island, as do bikers, hikers, and tourists.
UPDATE: Barney Goodwin wanted to note that jeeps get stuck in duck ponds, too…
He writes, “While in the Navy in Stockton, I bought this 43 GPW from a farmer up in Anderson CA. After a paint using the local USMS detachment’s supply, we did a mechanical refresh, rollbar, and some stuff and took it our to test it at the base duck pond which I managed.
Got stuck in the marsh near it and had to pull it out with a friend’s M151. Fun times! Happy New Year!”
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Yep, apparently this soldier learned the hard way that jeeps can get stuck in sand.
View all the information on eBay
“ORIGINAL WWII PHOTO – ORIGINAL TO THE TIME – NOT A COPY, SCAN, OR REPRO
QUANTITY: 1 – See the other original WWI & WWII photos that I have listed.
ITEM: Original WWII photo of US Army JEEP in DESERT SAND at Ordnance Desert Proving Ground, Camp Seeley, California, 1942. Photo was taken by GI named D. W. Bonachevski who was stationed at Camp Seeley.
SORRY. I WILL NOT SELL OR SHIP THIS ITEM TO RUSSIA, AFRICA, OR SOUTH AMERICA DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH POSTAL SYSTEMS.
DATE: WWII – photo does not glow under a black light.
SIZE: 3.75″ x 4.75″
CONDITION: Very Good; see scans.
BACK: Has descriptive note written in pencil; See last scan..
SOURCE: From the archives of the World War History & Art Museum (WWHAM) in Alliance, Ohio. WWHAM designs and delivers WWI and WWII exhibits to other museums. Our traveling exhibits include Brushes With War, a world class collection of 325 original paintings and drawings by soldiers of WWI, and Iron Fist, an HO scale model of the German 2nd Panzer Division in 1944 with 4,000 vehicles and 15,000 men.”
Maury sent me this link to the earlyCJ5.com page showing several different Warn hub dash stickers. Here are the three shown from that page:
That got me thinking that a post Special Equipment and other standard vintage dash stickers might be useful (such as hub, transfer-case, transmission, snow plow, overdrive, etc). By far, Warn seems to have been the most prolific producer of dash stickers, followed by Dualmatic.
However, during my searches, I ran into two issues. One is that I have no idea if or when transfer case stickers appeared on dashes (did the factory apply them ever or were they from dealers or from a third party)?
Secondly, I am sure I have seen stickers that I can no longer find, such a dash sticker for a Husky Overdrive. There are likely some I haven’t seen. So, I figured I’d ask readers if they have anything interesting.
So, if you have unusual stickers or decals on your jeep’s dash (or have pics to that effect), please send them to me at d@deilers.com. I’ll put together some kind of post based on them.
I’ll likely do something similar later on with data plates (rather than club or event related plates), as there are a range of them (gov plates, original data plates, remanufactured plates, etc).
A half-cab tow-equipped CJ-2A at Bauman’s Service Station appears in two different photos on eBay. Both pics show the #4 on the doors.
The last photo shows a CJ-3A with the #9 painted onto the side. “DORR & SECOR” was painted on all the Bauman vehicles.
This article about an older woman named “MA” appeared in the August 08, 1944, issue of the Austin American. I just thought it was a neat story only tangentially related to jeeps.
And, in a big detour here, the author mentions the “Friend’s” ambulance unit, suggesting that most or all of the unit were Quakers. My grandmother grew up a Quaker in Hopewell, Virginia, where the Branson clan (her maiden name) were longtime Quakers, first arriving in Frederick County, Virginia, in 1776 (in NJ before that).
The family attended the Hopewell Friends Meeting House (where my grandmother and non-Quaker grandfather would marry in 1939). Abolitionists, the family’s “Branson House” was part of the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, the family found themselves serving food to one side or the other, depending on who had control of the area. Based on the stories, both sides took what they wanted and demanded to be fed.
One family story from the War describes the day a cannon ball blasted through the house unexpectedly.
Another tale tells how a Union spy traveling with the Confederates, as a Confederate Officer, left a gold dollar under a plate after he ate. The family found the dollar when cleaning up after the soldiers had left. They only learned the officer was a spy following the war, because years later he returned and explained what he’d done during the war and that it was he who had left the golden dollar under the plate. As of the late 1980s, according to my great aunt in a letter to my sister, someone in the Branson clan was reported to still have that gold dollar.
I’m not sure if this is more Jeep Rod or Crawler.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/753721632024238
“’67 Jeepster. Clean title in hand. Also available without the Coyote engine for $28,000.”
While looking for something else, I was pleasantly surprised with this video of Bruce Agan’s former 1964 DJ-3A Surrey. The video was posted in 2012, prior to his passing. He was the guru of Surreys and Galas for a time and his restoration (including all the interior fabric) is a testament to that fact. There are various photos of his Surrey, Surrey advertising, and other jeeps on Flickr.
Brian spotted this photo showing 4 Bantam BRC-60s rolling down a hill. This was posted to the Butlers Standard Eight Facebook Group. The text on the photo reads: “Bantam BRC 40s” Four of the 70 prototypes produced between September 1940 and December 1940. Despite what the text indicates, we know those as Bantam BRC-60s, not 40s.
UPDATE: Bruce Agan assembled these clips of DJ-3A scenes from the movie, “When the Girls Take Over”.
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Original Post May 10, 2018:
Maury spotted this rare poster for the movie “When the Girls Takeover“. The full movie is on Youtube and the jeep appears in multiple scenes.
“THIS AUCTION IS FOR ONE Original Vintage 1962 MOVIE POSTER FOR THE MOVIE “WHEN THE GIRLS TAKE OVER”.
THE POSTER IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND THE COLORS ARE GOOD AND CLEAR BUT THE WHITE BACKGROUND HAS SLIGHT DISCOLOR DUE TO ITS AGE. THE EDGES SHOW SLIGHT WEAR BUT WILL LOOK GOOD WHEN FRAMED.
THE POSTERS MAIN IMAGE IS OF A WILLYS JEEP “PINK SURRY”!
THE MOVIE FEATURED ROBERT LOWERY, MARVIN MILLER, JACKIE COOGAN, AND JIMMY ELLISON. IT MEASURES 22X28 INCHES.”
Clip from the beginning showing several Surreys in a row.
And the full movie:
UPDATE: Bill shared David Tracy’s updated to this commercial. Apparently, there’s a disagreement on the history of the truck between the former owner and jeep. While an interesting story, I still think it’s a big issue over nothing.
https://jalopnik.com/jeep-bought-his-awesome-1963-gladiator-and-then-crushed-1845936078
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Originally Posted Feb 2, 2019:
Several folks have emailed about the controversy over the new Gladiator Jeep ad. The new ad shows an old Jeep Gladiator being crushed from which the new Gladiator emerges. Some folks resent the fact that the old Gladiator was crushed, as it appears to be in restorable shape. Given there were over 100,000 of them produced, I don’t think crushing one will cause the world to end. There are also plenty of cheap ones available. I found these two on my very first search:
2 for $3000: https://olympic.craigslist.org/cto/d/bremerton-rare-jeep-gladiator/6799254554.html
1 for $1100: https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/d/gig-harbor-1971-jeep-j2000-gladiator/6804750817.html
The actual crushing aside, my problem with the commercial is this: If the point of creating a new Gladiator was to benefit from the nostalgia of the original Gladiator, crushing the life out of an old Gladiator doesn’t do that. Nostalgia should be about reliving happy memories not, literally, crushing old memories.
For fun, here’s an old Jeep Gladiator commercial (the first 30 seconds is an introduction, but the remainder of the video is a commercial or 2 separate commercials):
On a side note, there’s already a Jeep Gladiator Forum ready for the new Gladiator.
Roger Martin spotted this newly made wooden jeep.
View all the information on ebay
“CUSTOM HAND MADE CRAFTED WOOD WILLY’S JEEP CJ WRANGLER TOY W TRAILER vintage”
This seller has three rubber FC-150 toys at $30 each or make offer.
View all the information on ebay
“Offered for auction is a vintage Auburn Willys Jeep FC-150 4X4 truck, which measures approximately five inches in length. It is made of a red rubber-like material. It has images of passengers in the side windows, and the cab details are highlighted with silver paint. It sports black tires, and the front axle is out of line. The toy is in used condition with some warping, which is present in most of these old rubber toys. There is some dark staining on the surface from age. This toy is suitable for display or just plain play.
This Jeep FC-150 truck will make a great addition to a Jeep and/or forward control truck collection.”
UPDATE: As JoeB points out (and I missed), the van is an Economy 2WD Deliver Chassis with a Montpelier body conversion (vs. the Boyer version).
http://www.ewillys.com/2013/12/02/economy-delivery-van-image-comparison/#more-150114
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Several folks shared this photo with me. It was published by Paul Swanson on Facebook. HIs family used to own the dealership. The fourth vehicle in the row looks to be an unusual model of the economy/package/delivery van. You’ll note it lacks front hubs, suggesting it was 2WD. Some were 2WD and some 4WD vans: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/07/06/photo-of-an-unusual-boyerstown-built-2wd-delivery-van/
Paul dates the photo to 1957, but to me the FC-150 on the left and the first FC-150 in the row of jeeps look like they are not narrow tracks, which would put the photo later than 1957. Moreover, I cannot find any ads for Park Jeep earlier than the summer of 1958.
Paul indicated that he will post better images of the van.
From the February 02, 1960, issue of the Minneapolis Star. Strangely, I could not locate any ads earlier than the summer of 1958. So, it’s unclear to me when the dealership opened. You’ll note this ad mentions an Economy van; maybe the one in the pic above never sold.
This photo was published in the November 21, 1942, issue of the Los Angeles Times. It shows the convoy of a Russian antitank outfit.
I haven’t listed these QSL cards in a while. Here’s a couple ones I hadn’t seen.
2. This QSL Card is from Earl Clark, Jr:
“Vintage QSL Radio Card.
“KBN-7286 Earl Clark Jr”.
Inkster, Michigan.
Vintage Jeep and camping scene.”
Steve shared this video of MuddOxRacing using a trencher for the first time. There are some good closeups of how the machine works.
This is a fun article about a former decorator turned jeep jockey named Pvt. Hurshal (Peewee) Wilson in New Guinea ‘captured’ 17 prisoners. It appeared in the Medford Mail Tribune (Medford,Oregon). His jeep was named “Helen” after his girlfriend.
Hurshal would survive WWII and leave the Army a Tech 5, but his relationship to Helen did not. Instead, he married Deedra R (Harman) Wilson. He passed away in 1991, his wife passing later in 2006, with both buried at Riverside National Cemetery. There is no evidence they had children.
After finding the article, a search on eBay led to this photo of Hurshal:
Here’s the article:
Mike shared an interesting document. This January 5, 1958, Service Bulletin discusses a wagon side-panel heater installation.
Mike shared these Parkway Conversion documents from March of 1958. This first sheet contains text and an image that is separated and shown below:
Sheet 1
Sheet 1 Text
Sheet 1 image
Sheet 2:
This is supposed to be an original document.
View all the information on ebay
“1950 Original Willys Four Universal CJ-3A Tune Up chart by AEA, (Not a Reproduction). Both sides are shown in the photographs. The photos are of the exact item you will receive Measures 8.5 x 11 inches, two-sided single sheet.”
These photos appeared on Facebook, though some have made the rounds over the years. The pics that really caught my eye were the wooden test body pics. Kaiser Willys has some history and more pics on these wood-bodied test jeeps: https://blog.kaiserwillys.com/the-wooden-willys-jeep-test.
The remainder of the wrecked jeeps:
Note the jeep in the front. It looks like the front clip is sitting sideways. Maybe these were pulled because they didn’t work? Contrary to what the caption indicates, the water doesn’t look too deep for the jeeps.
View all the information on on ebay
This photo appeared in the January 31, 1945, issue of the Evening Sun out of Baltimore, Maryland. It was accompanied by a jeep-train photo also.
