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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 newest issue of Dispatcher Magazine arrived in my mailbox yesterday. The central article cover the history of the Viasa-Willys. This issue is the 10th anniversary of the launch of the magazine. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I highly recommend it!
https://www.dispatchermagazine.com/
UPDATE: This post was originally published 12/26/2018:
This article about exploring southern Utah in a jeep was published in the October 1958 issue of Sunset Magazine. You’ll see a nod to Kent Frost’s guide company and a photo of the front of one of his CJ-5s.
UPDATE: Originally Posted July 26, 2014. There is currently an issue for $7 on eBay.
The December 1945 Issue of Outdoor Life Magazine contained an article titled “A Jeep Will Get You There”. It is filled with photos of a VEC CJ-2A used for a fishing trip. The photos aren’t the best, but still an interesting article. Outdoor Life also featured the story on the front cover.
This article popped up in a Fall 1942 issue of College Humor. I was able to find a copy on eBAY. As you can see, this features a Ford GP. We’ve seen a few of these pics in other magazines.
UPDATE: Zac shared a Parmley that he inherited along with a document that shows some pricing and states it was designed for the 81″ chassis.
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Originally posted in 2013, with some pic updates over the years:
As many of you know, I am very curious about the fiberglass aftermarket bodies made for the jeep. While I’ve seen most models for sale over the years, I have yet to run across Parmley Engineering’s fiberglass body, one of the more unique ones ever created.
After wrecking his CJ-5 in the early 1970s, Californian Tom Parmley, a machinist by trade, decided to build himself a better body for his still-good chassis. He wanted the body to legally accommodate wider tires, a dash box with more room, a hood that was lower, and other features. So, he built and tested his dream body with great success. Along the way, he received so much positive feedback that he created a kit so others could easily install a Parmley body on their CJ-5 Chassis.
So far, I have only located two resources that document this body. One is the February 1974 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine, which featured a multi-page article about the new body. Additionally, at least two issues of Four Wheeler Magazine also have ads for the Parmley body kit. The other resource is a June 1975 Popular Mechanics article. The Pop-Mech article also shows off the fiberglass top he invented (at least I assume it is fiberglass).
Here are a couple publicity photos taken by Tom Parley and published in the Feb 1974 issue of Four Wheeler:
This image shows the Parmley with a top and is from Popular Mechanics. Note the top example sports Desert Dogs …
Here is a Parmley-bodied jeep on the cover of a the May 1978 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine.
This Parmley Engineering ad appeared on the back of January 1974 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine:
Bob Christy wasn’t sure what this vehicle was when he photographed it in 2008, but now we know.
This Parmely sold in 2015 and included a rare top:
This one sold in 2022:
I received the latest issue of Dispatcher Magazine yesterday. In it, John Gunnel discusses Howard Tibbal, his huge circus model, and circus jeeps, while Barry Thomas shares how Henry Ford saved the jeep.
UPDATE: This post originally appeared April 2, 2016
The February 1959 of Man’s Magazine contained photos and short report from the annual Jeep Rodeo in Yakima, Washington. Unfortunately, most of the pics aren’t a whole lot different from the March 1959 issue of Modern Man Magazine, featured in 2013.
Man’s magazine turned out to be a lot less risqué than the cover image and headlines might suggest. There was even an opinion article expressing concern over how American college football was fast becoming too professionalized.
UPDATE: Originally posted Feb 1, 2018:
The May 1951 issue of Motor Trend captured the 3rd Annual DeAnza Trail Jeep Cavalcade. The author, Ernest Reshovsky, titled the article “Jeep Gymkhana”, possibly attempting to reference timed automobile or equestrian contents designed to test driving skill, though to my knowledge the Cavalcade was not a timed event.
Bill shared this article that includes several claims I hadn’t encountered. So, I figured I’d shared this to see what others thought:
Anyway, check out the article for other claims.
The newest edition of the Dispatcher Magazine arrived in my mailbox yesterday. One article in particular caught my eye: Dan’s gauge restoration. I could have used this a few years ago! Thanks for that writeup Dan!
Also, note the classified ad at the end of the magazine: the San Juan Scenic Jeep Tour business is for sale (and has been for at least a little while).
Finally, another Salesbuilder landed on eBay. This one is from January 1950. One of the interesting things to me was the 12-postcard campaign shown on page 17; I’ve only documented a handful of the postcards.
Here’s another wonderful early Sales News document saved and shared by Jan. Many thanks to him for these early pieces.
The initial article on the Station Sedan provides some additional history about it’s release and it’s position in Willys-Overland history (first six cal sold since 1932).
Page 7 shows a photo from the Paris auto show with a CJ-2A sporting a unique hardtop. Page 8 includes highlights the aluminum and steel hardtops from Worman. Page 10 introduced the City and City campaign and highlights W-O’s impact in the station wagon market. Page 16 has a photo in the lower-left corner that shows what may be a Woodie Top in action.
Thanks again to Jan for sharing another early Jeep News magazine. This one is titled Milt. Henry’s ‘Jeep’ News. There is a reference to a jeep bought in early 1947, so my guess is that this was published sometime in mid 1947. The jeep-related company advertised on the back of this issue is Lincoln St. Garage, 7 Lincoln St., West Medway, Massachusetts.
Thanks to Jan for sharing this rare sixteen-page January 1947 issue of Willys-Overland Sales News!
I’m not very familiar with these nor do I know how many issues were released, but I assume this style of magazine was discontinued once the Salesbuilder magazines were created in mid-1948.
Barry Thomas’ photo of this farm working CJ-5 landed on the cover of this month’s Farm Collector Magazine. Congrats to Barry! (it is great photo).
If you have a subscription to Farm Collector Magazine, you should be able to read Barry’s article, too.
I ran across this magazine on eBay. Given the cover, I couldn’t resist buying it, though there was no other jeep pics or illustrations within it.
UPDATE: This post was published on eWillys November 15, 2014. I don’t normally post whole articles, but there is a great deal of interesting information within it. I’m reposting this today because there is some additional information about Mr. Clement Miniger and his Auto-Lite company leading a syndicate to buyout John North Willys’ stock in 1929 (Learn more about Miniger And Willys Light here).
A variety of pre August 1946 CJ-2As in different colors waiting to be shipped from Willys-Overland’s Toledo plant.
This fascinating article was published in the August 1946 issue of Fortune magazine. It’s a LONG article that covers the history of Willys Overland Corporation from it’s bankruptcy in the early 1930s to it’s post-war market positioning. There is not much information specifically about jeeps, nor many jeeps photos. But, if you want to understand how the corporate structure evolved, it’s a good article.
One particular chart published in the article was Willys’ research on paved roads. The company felt that jeeps would be very popular in outer countries, due both to the brand and the lack of paved roads. To meet that demand, Willys planned to export 25% of all jeeps.
THIS JEEP-RIDING AUTO INDEPENDENT IS TAKING NEW LEASES ON LIFE AND ITS OWN REAL ESTATE • THE BOYS IN THE BACK ROOM ARE DOING FINE
ln the years between the depression and the second world war, the once great Willys-Overland Co. clung by its nails to a niche in the U.S. automobile market. Gamely, it tried to sell the public a mousy little car, with a tough, four-cylinder engine, which was the cheapest thing on the road to run. Itself battered into receivership and reorganization by the depression, Willys had the patently sensible idea that such a car, guaranteed to get people from here to there at a minimum expenditure for fuel and upkeep, would be a blessing to a hard-pressed public that had not been similarly served since the demise of the models T and A Ford. But the public was proud, if poor, and more conscious of the millinery than the engineering of a car. When it had to buy cheaply it found the used-car market much more tempting. During most of those years Willys’ production ranged below the break-even point. bln 1940, a mere 27,000 cars were built. Now Willys-Uverland is coming up for the postwar round with a product line still topped by a light passenger car-with a four or a six-cylinder engine, buyer’s choice. It will probably be as cheap to buy, give or take a few dollars, as any 1947 car on the market, and possibly less expensive to operate and support than any of its competitors. And though it will be considerably more stylish, inside and out, than the prewar Willys, it will have, at most, simple good looks rather than breath-taking beauty. If that were the whole story, one might wonder why some people think Willys-Overland is an exciting proposition among the auto independents today, and why some mighty big boys in the automobile industry appear to be sparring for position in the peculiar, complicated Willys-Overland hierarchy.
Unquestionably Willys has fresh charms. To name four:
1) The tough, four-cylinder motor that was the bread-and-butter item in the prewar Willys is the same motor that powered the Army Jeep, which became an international byword during the war. As the largest producer, by far, of the Jeep, Willys-Overland became the beneficiary of this enormous, war-born prestige (and also added a tidy sum to its treasury). Ten days after V-J day, Willys was in production on its civilian or Universal Jeep, of which it had sold around 28,000 by June 1, despite plant shutdowns totaling eighty-three days owing to strikes in suppliers’ plants.
2) Under way at its giant Toledo plant is a Jeep-inspired line of Willys utility vehicles including (a) an all-steel, all-purpose station wagon, (b) a sedan delivery truck, and (c) a low-weight, medium-duty truck with a combination four and two-wheel drive. All are powered by an improved four-cylinder Jeep engine and feature the Jeep snub nose and square fenders. All will be produced in 1946, and can be run through the same assembly line if necessary.
3) Because the rugged, lightweight vehicles in the Willys line are peculiarly suited to the exigencies of foreign motoring, in which the paucity of paved roads and the steep price of gasoline are forbidding factors, the company has decided to throw 25 per cent of its production into export. The development of a foreign market of such proportions is steadying to the seasonal economy of an automobile company. And Willys’ new top management is richly experienced in the export field.
4) Finally, many an economist, foreseeing an era of inflation, high taxes, and high gasoline costs, will agree that the hour in the oiiing is ripe for an automobile that places operating economy above fashion appeal. Willys is confident that its traditional economy car is, at last, accurately attuned to the times, and that its 1947 passenger model can bite into a solid and sustained market, both here and abroad.
UPDATE: Will Corbett shared this 1959 ‘Jeep’ Cavalcade “Rush to the Rockies” Centennial event brochure with Gone-Gpn on Facebook. It is a tri-fold brochure that opens up with a full-page on the back. I’ve pieced together the back page from two separate pages, so it isn’t quite a perfect example.
This is the front of the brochure:
This is the back of the brochure:
This image shows the back of the brochure when fully opened:
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Originally Posted October 18, 2018:
This information covers the 1959 Jeep Cavalcade “Rush to the Rockies” Centennial. The 1959 Cavalcade was part of the 100th anniversary of the John Gregory’s Central City May 1859 strike, which led to a wave of hopeful miners descending upon what would become the Denver area. The Centennial was celebrate throughout Colorado through a variety of celebrations and merchandise (like these bottles and this Centential booklet).
A subsequent ‘Jeep’ Cavalcade was organized for 1960, as shown in this brochure.
Photo from the Denver Post. Both Life Magazine and the Denver Post covered the event. Note the white wagon above. It appears in a couple of the color photos below.
Some folks attached these flags to their rigs.
Here are photos of the 1959 Jeep Calvacade that appeared in the December 28, 1959, issue of Life Magazine (the one below).
This unusual build appeared in the November 1964 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine. The build has two radiators, built in-line. I figured you all would enjoy this oddity.
This May 1962 article in Four Wheeler magazine highlighted a few things. First, it’s a really clean build. I wish the pics were in color, as it’s deserving of some great photos.
Second, if I understand correctly, the rear bumper is actually a gas tank. I’m not sure I like that plan so much.
Third, given this jeep is near Colorado Springs, it probably has the Thor Electro-matic hubs, which allow a push button engaging of the front hubs. And, because they are short hubs, the front wheel covers can be placed over them.
Fourth, this has an early vacuum brake assist. Herm carries a newer version of this.
Fifth, the White top on this jeep is beautifully styled in my opinion.
The January 1952 issue of National Geographic included an expansive article on the King Ranch in Texas, which at the time was America’s largest ranch. One of the photos included in the article showed a CJ-3A (in black) and a CJ-2A (in green) towing farm implements.
PHOTO CREDIT: Justin Locke using Kodachrome.
UPDATE: Many folks probably haven’t seen this older post …
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UPDATED January 20, 2014: Here’s a jeep trip in 1955 that was undertaken after one of the trip’s members read the below article in National Geographic.
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Originally Posted October 23, 2013:
This spot is now a couple hundred feet under water. Learn more about the Crossing of the Fathers here: http://www.onlineutah.com/crossinghistory.shtml
In 1949 a joint expedition between the National Geographic Society and New York Explorers Club decided to be the first explorers, by vehicle, to enter the Escalante area of Utah. Accompanying the explorers were two jeeps and, fortunately for us, cameras. Their story, “The First Motor Sortie into Escalante Land”, appeared in the September 1949 issue (pages 169-204).
You can find a variety of inexpensive issues of the September 1949 National Geographic Magazine on eBay. If you are a fan of Southern Utah, this is a neat article.
For the first part of the trip, which began in Cannonville, Utah, the explorers traveled along part of the Cottonwood Road route we drove this past March. Their first big find was the arch we now know as the Grovesnor Arch, which the explorers officially named after the President of the National Geographic Society. What surprised me was that there are pictures showing the group on top of the arch with flags as if they’d conquered the moon. To be fair, I imagine it was a pretty challenging climb.
Note the explorers at the top of the Grosvenor arch.
From there, the party headed south as far as the Colorado River to an area now flooded by Lake Powell. So, some of the areas in the photos are no longer possible to see.
Below are only the photos that include the red and yellow CJ-2As that accompanied the explorers:
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
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 ad with women sipping tea while soldiers push through thick mud just expired on eBay, but will likely be relisted. It seems a bit unfair to women, as if they didn’t know a war was going on. I would imagine that most women likely were the main food shoppers and had to deal with shortages beyond just rubber.
View all the information on eBay
“Condition: Near Mint
Size (approximate): 10″ X 12″
Source: Magazine
Miscellaneous: One page print advertisement”
