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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 May 1951 AD differs slightly from the April 1951 ad on the CJ-3A page here. So, I’d guess there were at least two version of this ad. The differences are primarily related to minor changes in font sizes and styles, along with a shadow and different tilt of the “Milestones” box on the upper left.
1959 marked the 11th annual Hemet to Borrego via De Anza trail Cavalcade. That year over 400 vehicles joined the adventure. The author and photographer of the below article, Del Schrader, was transported over the trail via two German DKWs. The article was published in the March 22, 1959, issue of the Los Angeles Times.
Cool photos. I would guess these were Personnel Carriers converted into fire trucks. However, they may also have been a cab-only chassis as well. The serial numbers would tell us more. You can see a few more photos at the bottom of this CJ-3B page.
“St George Fire Brigade Car 1, July 1962. St George Fire Brigade’s Car 1 converted from a Willys Jeep Truck. The Queensland Government supplied these units to small rural towns in 1961. The chassis were built by Willys Motors Australia Pty in Brisbane and the bodies by Enoggera Motor Body Works.”
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.alamy.com/st-george-fire-brigade-car-1-july-1962-st-george-fire-brigades-car-1-converted-from-a-willys-jeep-truck-the-queensland-government-supplied-these-units-to-small-rural-towns-in-1961-the-chassis-were-built-by-willys-motors-australia-pty-in-brisbane-and-the-bodies-by-enoggera-motor-body-works-image188710782.html? .. It can also be found on Flickr.
This example calls Mattaburra, Australia, home:
Here’s another example. The pic is small.
I thought I’d posted this graphic a while ago, but I cannot find it. So, here are four examples of the different large four-speedometer clusters used from 1955-1957 (and later). The transition dates are approximate (I haven’t studied them too closely).
Each of these four appeared in CJ-5s, CJ-6s, and DJ-3As (as documented here https://www.cj3b.info/Siblings/DJDetails/DJ3ASpeedometer.html). According to the CJ-3B page, only the latter two speedometers (the KS 0-9 and the SW 0-9) appeared CJ-3Bs.
The first three were manufactured by King-Seeley, while the last and most common one with the orange coloring was made by Steward Warner. I have seen a 0-9 with an orange needle, but I don’t know if that was a custom styling or not.
The first speedometer shown sits in my early 1956 DJ-3A “Patterson”. The second one was in my 1956 DJ-3A Rusty that I sold last year (only 200 units later than Patterson). The third speedometer was a replacement I bought. The fourth is from an image on the CJ-3B page.
Probably a rare postcard of a French Delahaye 4×4. It might be a VLR model, but I don’t know these well enough.
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“Attention : Collage réalisé il y a +- 15 ans
à partir d’une photo d’un d’article issu d’un Magazine
collé sur un dos de carte postale
8.7 x 14cm”
This first four-page brochure blends pages two and three into a single, poster like image. It could make for a good poster.
This is a four-page brochure:
This is a single sheet, two-sided brochure for Meyer’s Offset Angledozer showing flat fender jeeps:
This photo from the March 05, 1945, issue of Life Magazine shows a jeep being used as a guinea pig for a superglue test.
This approximately 5″ x 7″ ad is a pretty reasonable price given it’s shipped from France.
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“REAL ADVERTISING
FROM A PERIOD MAGAZINE
format 13x18cm approximately”
Bill’s got this sign for sale. It’s got some damage.
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“VINTAGE JEEP WILLY DEALERSHIP ADVERTISING SIGN Kaiser AMC PARTS SERVICE. Condition is Used.
Check out this great dealership sign salvaged from an old garage. The sign is 18” x 24” and would have been part of a lighted sign in a metal frame of some sort. This auction includes (1) plastic printed Jeep sign as shown.
See the pics. The sign is cracked and has some pieces missing from the top left corner. While damaged, it does not detract from the coolness of this piece. The color is vibrant, and the graphics are bold.
Build a frame/box for it, and put some LED strip lights behind it and hang it on your wall for a cool effect.”
UPDATE: A new seller has over 10 issues of Vagabond: Adventures in 4-Wheel Drive issue #1 for sale. I purchased a copy and will post once I receive it. I’ve only documented two issues of this magazine; Here’s issue #2.
This is issue #1 Volume 1. Note the great article on the rare CJ-5 camper.
“Original factory magazine , 5.5 x 8.5 , 32 pages . Includes interesting articles showing Jeep Gladiator Camper , CJ5 Universal Camper , Wagoneer in Redwood National Park , many other interesting articles . This magazine was printed by Jeep and sent to the dealers and customers .”
Bob Ames, the author of this September 1961 article in Motor Trend, described his time in a CJ-5 as a “rump” ride.
Given the page number of “78”, I’d guess this ad was in a magazine of some kind. I’m not sure if it was a pre-Berg-catalog ad or just part of its advertising strategy.
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Blaine share this auction of a series of Ride-the-ducks DUKWs (and DUKW-like vehicles) to be auctioned in July. As the video below demonstrates, Ride-the-Ducks was a huge tourist attraction until 2015 when one of the DUKWs suffered a mechanical failure, careened across aurora bridge traffic into bus, then teetered on the edge of the bridge (hanging over a spot is pretty close to my aunt’s houseboat on Lake Union). The accident and the resulting litigation doomed the company, resulting in it declaring bankruptcy in April of 2020.
https://www.murphyauction.com/Auction/Details/8254
Here’s one of the vehicles that’s being auctioned:
Two articles in the Austin American shared the news, both with a photo,that a calvacade of jeeps would be visiting Austin, Texas, Calvacades were also planned around the world for 1954, with jeeps visit 25 countries outside the United States.
This first article appeared in the April 21, 1954, issue of the Austin American-Statesman and featured a CJ-3B fire jeep:
This second article appeared in the April 22, 1954, issue of the Austin American-Statesman and featured a CJ-3B climbing a vertical wall:
This was a surprising find. Bulletin 256 by Koenig touted add-ons for the DJ-3A. I can’t imagine many DJ-3A owners purchased a winch. I can’t think of any DJ-3As that I’ve seen with a body extension either.
The website carver.wicklocal.com did a post about Jeep Funny cars, referencing the ‘godfather’ of jeep funny cars Ed Length, from Long Beach California (a name unknown to me, but then I haven’t followed the jeep funny car circuit).
The writer manages to dodge a reader’s question about what company made the first jeep (my nod is to American Bantam of course); instead the author references the first consumer jeep.
The “Secret Weapon” built by Ed Length and driven by Bob Wolford.
Another ad that includes the “billions of miles of service” phrase. This ad appeared in the December 1959 issue of Successful Farming.
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This February 1947 ad promises the farmers can use Hydraulic-LIft Implement with the Universal ‘Jeep’.
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“THIS IS A LARGE ORIGINAL 1947 ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE UNIVERSAL JEEP THAT YOU CAN USE ON HYDRAULIC LIFT IMPLEMENTS, MANUFACTURED BY WILLYS-OVERLAND MOTORS IN TOLEDO, OHIO. AD IS IN GREAT CONDITION AND HAS EXCELLENT GRAPHICS. AD MEASURES 12 7/8″ X 10″.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $125.
Tom spotted this toy for sale on Craiglsist. Another of these toys and box sold for $118 (plus an 18% buyers premium). A different version of this toy came with a search light (and sold in 2018 for $92).
“Made for Marx Buddy Charlie, GI Joe, and other 1/6 scale figures.
Jeep is in extremely good condition. Box in very good condition with cardboard inserts. Only real box damage is on a end flap. Tear on corner.
$125 firm.”
In the January 14, 1952, Newsweek put out an article about the jeep’s versatility. There are some interesting tidbits, such as the Chinese’s nickname for the jeep was “the vehicle of 10,000 capabilities”. The jeep was used to spear barracudas in the Virgin islands, play tag in Yakima, ski via jeep-joring in New England and Ontario, Canada,, and in Burma it was claimed that a jeep was once used to pull an elephant’s tooth.
This photo and caption was also included in a seemingly random area of the magazine, despite the fact that the same image appeared within the article.
UPDATE: More articles and better images have been added.
Originally published in November of 2014: Winter time means snow and ice for many folks. For people with jeeps, it means time to break out the skis, tow-rope and jeeps for some jeep-joring. Just mount yourself on some skis, tie the rope to the jeep, give a driver thumbs up and you’ll be jeep-joring behind a jeep like several generations before you. After all, how dangerous could it be?? **disclaimer: if you decide to do this and get hurt, this was not my idea. I’m only reporting it ….
Ski-Joring has been around for hundreds of years, though whether it started in Asia or in Europe is less clear.
When did jeep-joring begin? There’s evidence it was occurring as early as the winter of 1946-1947, in Ontario. These three articles suggest that the sport continued for at least seven years. The Violet Grafton image below made the rounds in a large number of papers.
Most of the Violet Grafton images were long and narrow, but this one was cropped differently:
January 29, 1948, issue of the Chicago Tribune. Violet Grafton from Greenwich, Connecticut, is pictured.
This two-page ad was published in the August 1954 issue of Fortune Magazine. It’s titled, “How Willys Versatile Vehicles Help Your Management Cut Costs”.
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This 48 page VEEPSTER Builders Guide & Assembly Manual was listed on eBay the other day. It’s a detailed document on how to build a VEEPSTER with the kit supplied by Sun Valley Autotech. There’s no date on it. Learn more about VEEPS, Scamps, VEEPSTERs and eVEEPSTERs here.
UPDATE: This is an a rewrite of a couple different brochures to document the snow plow and scraper relationship between the Glenn M. Rogers Company, the Morrison Railway Supply Company, and the Newgren Company.
I believe Morrison manufactured the Snowplow and Scraper based on a Rogers design and the completed item was marketed through the Newgren Company. As I’m no expert on these plows, or the relationship between these companies, this is all conjecture based on the brochures.
Here are several different brochures through the years and a couple Sno-Dozer data plates at the very bottom. This first brochure shows the Glenn M. Rogers company marketing the snow plow. This 1948 brochure does not mention the Morrison company.
In this brochure, also from 1948, it appears Newgren is offering a Roger’s plow setup that’s been combined with Monroe hydraulics (with three different hydraulic options no less).
There’s no date on this brochure, but in it Morrison is now credited with the manufacturing of the Rogers design, with Newgren still marketing the package. There’s no mention of the hydraulic options. I am leaning towards this being a circa 1949 – 1951 brochure. This brochure may have introduced the “Sno-Dozer” brand name.
