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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 .
Scott directed me to an article in the October 1976 issue of South Africa’s CAR Magazine. It highlighted the jeeps that Volkswagen, having secured a license from AMC, was building in South Africa. Below is a copy from the article. CAR Magazine still exists; you can find it on Facebook and on the Web.
I thought this a neat looking ad. I haven’t seen one quite like this done domestically.
View all the information on eBay
“JEEP WILLYS CARS OLD ADVERSITING MEXICAN PAPER AD, MEASURES: 10X12.5 INCHES, PLEASE SEE IN THE PHOTOS,”
These three ads were all featured in Australia’s Power Farming and Better Farming Digest magazine in 1960. Each one is 18cm x 24cm (7in x 9.5in). I wish the pics were better.
These three ads are each listed separately on eBay. Two of the ads are from 1947 and one is from 1948. All three are the same size, approximately: 13.5 x 18.5 cm (5.31 x 7.28 inches).
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This ad was published in an Australian farming magazine.
“Australian Jeep Original Advertisement removed from a 1958 Australian Farming Magazine and in good condition for age having some marks and creases and age yellowing of the paper. Size is 18 cms x 24 cms. It would look good framed on your wall or displayed with your vehicle at a car show.”
This ad came to me from eBay and has “KW 258” printed in the lower right, which I am interpreting as February 1958 (but I could be wrong). It is more of a “use your jeeps on the farm” type of ad, which Willys Motors seemed to be going away from in the US by this time.
The price seems good. Interesting that it was just shipped two the US last month.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/562283174470016/
“Here is Japanese Jeep that was built under license from Kaiser Jeep Corp. This was originally used by the Japanese Military. This is a 1973 Jeep with 44K miles. Very nice condition inside and out. Just shipped from Japan last month Just neat clean fun. Be the first in your neighborhood. Very similar US Jeep from the 50’s & 60’s. This has a 4 cylinder over head valve Mitsubishi engine. Starts easily and runs well.”
On Monday I received an unexpected and wonderful letter and gift that brightened my day.
A reader named Kerry sent me a box. Inside the box was a letter, some postcards, and a CJ-3B ‘yipao’ toy from Colombia. The letter explained that Kerry, who lives in Wisconsin, had visited Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia. While there he discovered some garages that only serviced jeeps; so he began taking photos to share with all of us (sadly, the photos were later lost).
A local man approached Kerry and asked him what he was doing. Kerry responded, telling him that he was taking pics for eWillys. Upon hearing that, the Colombian smiled. He said he reads eWillys every day.
Realizing they had eWillys in common, the Colombian gave Kerry a tour of the area. At the end of it, the Colombian asked Kerry to transport the toy jeep to the US and mail it to me.
So who was this mysterious Colombian? He said he did not want to be named or photographed, which only adds to the mystery of the tale.
A big thanks to Kerry for everything and to my unknown Colombia benefactor; I home I can repay the kindness some day!
In the meantime Kerry, you should watch for a thank you package….
The three postcards:
This first postcard contains several images of the market and plaza in Santurario, Risaralda, Colombia. I most definitely want to visit Colombia, but I’m not sure if I would enjoy the jeeps, the coffee, the people or the markets the most!
Lest you think there are only CJ-3Bs in Colombia, check out these round-fendered jeeps from what I believe is the same square as shown above. They look to be either CJ-6s or a variant of them:
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.
Probably a rare postcard of a French Delahaye 4×4. It might be a VLR model, but I don’t know these well enough.
View all the information on eBay
“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 approximately 5″ x 7″ ad is a pretty reasonable price given it’s shipped from France.
View all the information on eBay
“REAL ADVERTISING
FROM A PERIOD MAGAZINE
format 13x18cm approximately”
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/yippe-la-nueva-montana-rusa-del-parque-del-cafe-197272
An article about the impact of the Coronavirus on Colombian theme parks led me to this recently opened jeep-themed roller coast at the Parque Del Cafe (which translates into the Coffee Park). It underscores how nuts Colombian’s are about jeeps!
The park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Colombia. In 2017 it attracted more than one million visitors. The name of this particular roller coast is the Yippe, likely a play off of the Yipao bean/jeep culture. It opened in late 2018 as best as I can tell.
I imagine this video was created during the testing/building phase:
Here are some pics:
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.mylifeisajourney.com/lifestyle/national-coffee-park-parque-nacional-del-cafe-quindio-colombia
Maury spotted this rare ad for wagons that was published in Switzerland.
View all the information on eBay
“Willys Jeep station wagen : an old German advertising, Switzerland, 50’s. cs.
size: 31 cm x 13 cm ( 12.4″ x 5″ )
Condition: in a good condition, cut out from a magazine.”
Jordan spotted this one. This pretty stock jeep is in rough shape, but includes an overdrive. The serial number indicates it was built in 1966 and the “C16” in the middle of the serial number prefix and suffix indicates it is a Canadian-built left-handed jeep with a factory V-6.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3293163754051083/
UPDATE: Petr took part in the celebration. He recorded some of his experience below.
Our roving correspondent Dallas Durham was able to attend the 2019 Liberation Celebration from Pilsner, Czech Republic. He shared a few pics he took there. (I didn’t realize our correspondent budget was that good … I need to take advantage of an international trip .. hopefully, soon).
There is also a 40 minute video now available about the event. I’ll post the video first.
Here are Dallas’ pics:
Maury shared this 1975 Brochure from VAM, a company that produced jeeps, among other products, in Mexico. The photos show the short nose CJ-5, some of which had inline 6 (199 AMC) starting in 1966. One of the pics includes a Surrey DJ-5.
This was shared yesterday on Facebook by a woman visiting Cartagena, Colombia. Now I want some coffee.
UPDATE II: Some additional photos of the Esslingen, Germany, recondition facility posted to Facebook. The first one is similar to the final photo in this post, but the details show it’s a different photo (probably earlier given these have soft tops and military markings.
UPDATE: This was originally published in 2013.
The Bechtel-McCone Remanufacturing Process rebuilt from an article in issue #122 of the Army Motors Magazine Winter ’08 by Lloyd White
One topic that appears in my new book is the 1941 attack on Russia by Hitler. Called operation Barbarossa and named for the medieval Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa it was the largest invasion in the history of warfare. It included three million soldiers, 600,000 vehicles, and 750,000 horses. For comparison, the D-Day invasion force was approximately 150,000 men. Even a month later, only a million men had landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Supporting these huge numbers required plenty of logistics. For example, the German military had 250 companies of veterinarians that, at the height of the war, were capable of servicing almost 100,000 horses a day. Near the end of the war, horses became vital for the Germans on the Eastern front, as the terrain was often too inhospitable for vehicles, if they had any running vehicles at all.
What does this have to do with jeeps? Well, despite their disposable nature, many people don’t know that the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Department created special facilities to rebuild jeeps (and other vehicles). Facilities were located both in the U.S. and abroad. Here’s some information about the US divisions.
I spent time last night, probably too much, gathering and organizing some information about these programs. The idea and much of this information came from Maury Hurt’s efforts to gather and document reconditioning programs. There are a variety of threads about these at G503. However, what I didn’t see was a place that gathered the information together as I have below. I expect to add to this post over time with more information about the international programs.
Steam cleaning jeeps at Bechtel-McCone’s remanufacturing facility in Birmingham, Alabama.
UNITED STATES REMANUFACTURING:
The following companies remanufactured a total of 16,176 jeeps in the United States according to Charlie Weaver via Jim Allen’s book “Jeep”. There are examples of the data plates applied to the dash of jeeps by the companies below. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find examples for all the companies. Next to the companies are the number of jeeps each is credited with rebuilding.
1. Bechtel McCone 4,986
2. Allison Steel Manufacturing Company Plate 2,865
3. Moore Equipment Co plate and a second one and a third one. 2,443
4. Higgins Plastic Corp 1,850
5. Stewart & Stevenson 1,750
6. W.A. Bechtel plate 1,555
7. Bishop McCormick & Bishop (no examples found) 343
8. International Diesel (no examples found) 267
9. Vancura Motor Company (no examples found) 66
10. A.M. Meyerstein (no examples found) 49
I found these plates in several locations (documented in the links above) and then organized them as you see. I thought it would help people who run into plates, but don’t know what they have.
UPDATE II: This brochure is reminiscent of the Argentina jeep pickup, though this one looks much more CJ-5ish. This is currently on eBay.
UPDATE: Maury found a couple related photos. That top looks kind of similar to one of the DJ-3A tops I’ve seen in pics. Nice half doors, too.
———————————
(Original Post 02/02/2015) This is a single page unfolding brochure.
“original part color folder , 9.5 x 3.5 folded , 9.5 x 11.5 unfolded , Spanish text. Produced by Kaiser, Argentina .”
Roger shared this story. A group of Costa Rican Jeep friends took their vintage jeeps out for an 2019 adventure to the beach, where they camped at least one night. This is their second ‘Willys Adventure’ together. You can see more pics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Willys-Pasión-Costa-Rica-1726644670912768/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2254856788091551 . Looks like fun!
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $11,300.
(01/14/2019) TJ shared this Dutch-assembled M-38A1 jeep.
“1956 Jeep Nekaf M38A1 4WD Niederlandische Papiere
The Nekad M38 is actually a Willy’s M38 and was produced in the Netherlands under license.
The M38 is a military version of the CJ-3A.
The condition of this Nekaf is good, he has as few traces of wear here and there but it matches the condition of the militairy vehicle.
The engine of the Nekaf runs excellent and it drives very nice.”
Here’s an unusual brochure that folds out to a 16″ x 19″ poster. Price would have to drop for me to consider it.
View all the information on eBay
“Original part color folder , 8 x 9.5 folded , 16 x 19 unfolded , opens to a poster .”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $10,000.
Not many of these in the US.
“Spanish jeep viasa CJ3B. Perkins diesel 4-108 engine. Everything works perfectly and runs strong. Just had everything lubed, flushed,checked and even replaced the gas tank. Brought this beauty from Spain w me and it is a ton of fun to drive around. There are a few rips in the seats as you can see in the pics but it is strictly cosmetic.”
Ulf’s selling this MB. The jeep is located in Sweden.
https://www.blocket.se/alvsborg/Jeep_Willys_MB_2_a_Varldskrigsbil___43_79585821.htm?ca=16&w=1&last=1
John pointed out that In a couple days the town of Pilsen in the Czech Republic will be celebrating its “Liberation Festival”. There’s a great photo on the front page from a previous year’s parade.
Read all about it here. http://slavnostisvobody.cz/en/
Here’s some footage from 1945 of Pilsen:
And a few more links thanks to John:
