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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. This section used to be split into jeeps, parts and other categories, but recent changes to eBay will require this information to be recoded.
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 .
I saw this one Facebook. I didn’t realize that the Sam Warner Military Museum in Tennessee had such an extensive collection of jeeps, including some airborne prototypes. I will make it a point to visit there during my May trip.
Roving eWillys correspondent Tim Evans braved Hurricane Irma to file this report.
He wrote, “I arrived in Orlando, Florida, last Wednesday (9/6) to attend a conference, but found out late Thursday that it was canceled. That gave me time to visit the Museum of Military History where I found a M38 and a M151 jeep. Then I began a long slow drive home to Kentucky Friday morning, arriving late on Saturday.”
Always good to see people taking their unpaid, completely volunteer, unheralded work as eWillys correspondents seriously. I may have to upgrade his title to Chief Hurricane Correspondent!
UPDATE: We had a busy, long weekend, Normal updates resume on Tuesday morning. In the meantime, here’s a rerun from 2010.
Eureka, Utah is a very small town. I imagine it was even smaller when Frank Zamboni was born in 1901. From those humble beginnings, Frank grew up to create one of the most iconic service vehicles ever: The Zamboni® Ice Resurfacer. I’m not sure why they have entered the public’s imagination in the way they have, but if you say Zamboni®, people know what the vehicle does.
In fact, the Frank J. Zamboni company is legitimately concerned about the name Zamboni® passing from being a description of an Ice Surfacer into a noun, which can spell death for a Trademark. You’ll note on the website that Zamboni® is quickly followed by Ice Surfacer for that specific reason. In addition, there’s an extensive discussion of the Zamboni® trademark here.
By now, you are probably asking yourself what all this has to do with jeeps? For about 7 years, from 1942 through 1949, Frank Zamboni attempted a variety of experiments to create a good ice resurfacer, mostly using different Jeep models. Below is a summary of the Zamboni® history from the company’s website coupled with pics I’ve found all over the web. The CJ-3B Page also has some information.
2. Model B introduced the jeep to ice surfacing. In 1950, apparently Frank decided he needed something more portable, so he came up with Model B, which used a War Surplus Jeep (I’m assuming MB?). If you look closely below, you can see Frank connected a U joint to the steering column and then added another steering rod so that you could steer from behind the jeep. According to the Frank J. Zamboni Corp:
In 1950, Olympic skating star Sonja Henie’s traveling ice show was practicing at Paramount Iceland, and she saw the Model A in action. She had to have one and asked Frank if he could build one in time for an upcoming Chicago performance. The deadline was tough, but Frank worked day and night, then loaded all of the resurfacer parts into a U-Haul® trailer. He towed the trailer to Chicago behind the Jeep he would install the parts on and assembled the Model B there.
UPDATE: Thanks to Leigh for sharing some photos from his visit to the Australian War Memorial:
Original Post (03/19/.2011) Greg’s found these image at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia. A little more research yielded a few stories and additional pics at the Australians-at-War website. You can see other Jeeps on rails used in Australia at G503.com.
Leigh shared some pics and information from his visit to the Gippsland Vehicle Collection in Maffra, Victoria, Australia, which is about an hour or so east of Melbourne.
He writes, “The first photo shows a 1956 (this could be earlier due to shipping/conversion times) Willys 6-226 Truck. Fifteen vehicles with this configuration were introduced into the Country Fire Authority (Victoria) that year. The 6-226 was fitted with a BSA 17 LP Pump and 180 gallon (800 lit) tank.
At the time, the Willys was the only small four wheel drive truck capable of carrying a water tank of this size, however even with an output of 105 hp (70 kw) it struggled in steep country with its relatively high first gear. On loan from the Fire Services Museum of Victoria http://fsmv.net.au/
Next is a 1943 Ford GPW depicting a vehicle from the 234th Medical Co. of the 4th marine Div. that served in the Pacific during WW2.
This is a Ford GPA with Australian Army Markings.
UPDATE: Roger called me to provide a little additional info. First, the “young lady” with whom Jim is shaking hands is actually the Prime Minister of Defense for the Netherlands. Apparently, there were numerous other dignitaries and security was tight.
I’m taking a break for the night, but don’t worry. Roger Martin and his father Jim “Pee Wee” Martin have been busy in the Netherlands. Roger’s father was invited over to participate in some WWII events and visit numerous museums. I can’t say exactly which photos go with which musuem, but they are still interesting to look at. Thanks for all the photos Roger!
Roper Marting (left) and his father Jim Martin (right).
John dropped by the new showroom at Hanksters Hot Rods‘ in Daytona Beach, Florida, and took a few pics of their jeep. Admission is free and all donations go to the local YMCA.
Gayland visited the First Cavalry Division Museum in Fort Hood, Texas. He saw a variety of jeeps and other military vehicles. Here are some of the photos. I can’t believe the museum spelled “Willys” incorrectly.
Tim & Cathy’s rental jeep
Tim and his wife Cathy rented a jeep in San Antonio and explored the city. Tim wrote, “We rented a Jeep (again) wrangler and visited many area attractions, including the River Walk, and the LBJ Ranch. At the Army Medical Department AMEDD Museum at Fort Sam Houston we found Jeeps in medical service, including an M-718, M-170, and a 1942 Willys.”
1942 MB Slat Grille
M-170
M-718
Early Ambulance
<– Day 14 – Tuesday March 22nd: Wind & Range | Beginning | Day 16 & 17 – March 24-25th: Homeward Bound –>
Lost as usual.
Today’s goal was to drive from Albuquerque to Pueblo, Colorado (See yesterday’s post here). Mother Nature had a different idea.
Today we drove from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Cortez, Colorado
We awoke on Wendesday morning to learn that Mother Nature had decided to spoil the Coloradoans early spring by sending a wintery blizzard through the Denver area. Winds accompanied the snow (it remained very windy in Albquequerque as well), causing a snow plow to tip over at the Denver airport. We didn’t have to read much of the news to decide that we were ready to save Colorado for another day. So, we altered our plan to drive up the eastern slope of the Rockies in favor of driving the short route home through Utah.
However, another issue appeared when we made that decision; it seemed that we only had a narrow window through which we could get over Oregon’s Blue Mountains (on I-84) between storms. This meant we couldn’t mess around too much on the way home. We had to get going. But, first we wanted to stop by The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History’s gift shop (Ann wanted some bomb shaped shot glasses) and then visit the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum, aka the Albuquerque Balloon Museum, before heading for Cortez, Colorado.
We visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History during our trip last year. They had some cool gifts, including a set of shot glasses and wanted to buy. When we walked into the gift shop, look what we found! 1956 CJ-5 (serial number 10006) purchased by the federal government, complete with a data plate. One of the more interesting mods was the RPM gauge on the grille and a custom bump on the hood. When I saw those mods I got very curious about what was under the hood, so I pulled the “I run a large vintage jeep website” card. Of course, they had no clue who I was, but they let me open the hood anyway. It was all stock, except for the mice droppings; someone hadn’t cleaned under the hood in a while. I concluded the gauge and hood were likely not original to the jeep, hence they were painted black.
