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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 .
A March 30, 1947, article in the Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News introduced the Forest Service’s ten new CJ-2As to California readers. These vehicles were equipped with two-way radios to aid fire control.
The article notes that a Weasel was being tested, along with the development of a four-wheel-drive vehicle that would be better for forest fire fighting, but I could find no references on the internet to an offload vehicle designed by Ira Funk.
The July 19, 1956, issue of the Auburn Journal reported on the Auburn Chamber of Commerce’s sixth annual jeep trip to Lake Tahoe.
This cautionary sign about speed was placed atop this wrecked jeep.
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“Original WW2 photo (3.3 x 2.25 inches), slightly curled from age. No writing on the back. The sign reads “Here lies the body of G.I. Joe – He broke his neck while on the go – His nickname was ‘Speedy’ his last name Burney – He’s had it, brothers – His Sentimental Journey”.”
This June 03,1942, photo shows some men taking a ‘peep’ at the Will Rogers theatre to see if it suited their needs for a show. Whether the writer of the cutesy headline was aware that some folks were calling jeeps ‘peeps’ isn’t clear.
June 03, 1942, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
This image appeared in the July 31, 1951, issue of the Wilmington Daily Journal. It shows a soldier checking US Army markings on the jeeps so he can determine from whom they were captured.
This LARC-15 was the first amphibious vehicle to cross Lake Michigan. It’s a pretty good accomplishment given the number of wrecks of larger vessels (estimates put the number of ship wrecked ships in Lake Michigan at approximately 1500).
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“1960 Press Photo Jeep unloads from United States Army LARC-15 amphibious vehicle. This is an original press photo. Amphibians – United States. A jeep unloads a rubber rolling liquid transporter off the ramp of a LARC-15, the Army’s newest amphibian which was produced by the Ingersol-Kalamazoo Division of Borg-Warner Corporation in conjunction with the United States Army Transportation Research Command. The LARC crossed Lake Michigan June 22 and became the first wheeled amphibian in history to accomplish such a voyage.Photo measures 10.25 x 8inches. Photo is dated 6-24-1960.
These two photos show various aspects of Mighty Mite testing.
1) The first photo was taken in March of 1953 and shows a soldier escaping injury from an overturned Mighty Mite.
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“1953 Press Photo Captain CN Raper, “Mighty Mite” test run accident, Quantico, VA. This is an original press photo. Trucks – United States (Mighty Mite – Jeep type). Quantico, Virginia. At a demonstration today of the new “Mighty Mite” jeep, described as truck, utility, 1/4 ton, 4×4, the sandbag load shifted while the jeep was on an inclined bank, the vehicle overturned, but the driver, Captain C.N. Raper of Clearwater, Florida, was uninjured. Photo measures 9.25 x 7.25 inches. Photo is dated 3-20-1953.”
2) The second photo was taken in May of 1953 and shows another might might (3 units later than the first one pictured above), successfully navigating the Potomac.
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“1953 Press Photo Mighty Mite truck water test, Marine base, Quantico, Virginia. This is an original press photo. Trucks – United States (Mighty Mite). The “Mighty Mite,” modern version of the World War II jeep, splashes through the Potomac river at the Quantico, Virginia, Marine base on water tests. Kept afloat by four inflated tubes, the “Mite” is propelled by the oversized serration on the tire treads. It was developed by the Marines for delivery by airlift to terrain not accessible to combat vehicles. Photo measures 9.5 x 7.75 inches. Photo is dated 5-20-1953.”
The driver sure looks young.
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“1944 Press Photo Installing Telephone Wires during Texas Field Practice. This is an original press photo. Another use to which the versatile jeep has been put in that of laying telephone wire as in the scene, during Texas Field Practice. Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches. Photo is dated 01-21-1944.
This photo was taken May 07, 1942, as confirmed by The Times newspaper out of Munster, Indiana, dated May 08, 1942. It shows actress Helen Hayes MacArthur sitting in the passenger seat of a jeep, surrounded by servicemen.
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“Press Photo Helen Hayes visits soldiers at Army base camp, Washington D.C. This is an original press photo. World War II – United States (Helen Hayes at Camp*. Washington D.C. Major William R. Fisher, Base Special Services officer is shown instructing miss Helen Hayes of stage and screen fame in the art of handling the army “Jeep” Lieutenant Robert Kuhne of Philadelphia is at the controls while Lieutenant Benet F. Cain prepares for the start. Photo measures 8.5 x 6.75 inches. Photo is dated 5-7-None.”
Here’s the newspaper image:
May 08, 1942, The Times newspaper out of Munster, Indiana.
I imagine the dancing and the beer would have been popular, but I’m less sure about the hardtack?
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“1943 Press Photo Attu Island, World War II. This is an original press photo. Attu Island. This sign on Attu Island points out the Japanese capital is closer to the strategic island than is San Francisco. Jeep riders also are warned that this is their last chance for “Dancing beer and hardtack”. This is one of the first pictures of the rugged island since the days when American forces wiped out the Japanese there. Photo measures 8.5 x 6.75 inches. Photo is dated 9-30-1943.”
Nice historical photo of crated jeeps.
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“1943 Press Photo crates of Jeep parts are lifted onto an assembly line, England. This is an original press photo. Somewhere in England — A heavy maintenance company of U.S. Army Ordnance obviously had America’s ability for automotive production in mind when it decided to set up a Jeep assembly line at a depot in England. On a trial order from Army Ordnance Chiefs for the assembling of 2,000 Jeeps they established something of a record within a fortnight — with Jeeps rolling off the assembly line at the rate of one every 3 minutes. Following pictures show how it’s done. Crates of partly assembled Jeeps, just received from the US are being lifted onto the start of the assembly line.Photo measures 9 x 7.25inches. Photo is dated 10-28-1943.
This image graced the pages of the July 07, 1949, issue of the Los Angles Times. A young Janice Snow rides on a jeep carnival ride while Poki the Penguin accompanied her.
These ladies were helping raise money for European reconstruction by giving nickel jeep rides.
Wakde Island is in Indonesia (At first I thought it was Wake Island misspelled).
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“Size is 7.25″ x 8.5” We always combine shipping. Please wait for our invoice before paying. The photographs are Originals taken from file archives used by different news/media agencies. They are not perfect or reprints, if they are printed at a later time we labeled them “2nd Generation Restrike” or “Vtg 2nd Gen Restrike” The photographs are in various conditions, some cut to different sizes. Some may have dates and/or descriptions written/typed/stamped on the back or the front. They could have bent corners, tears or light stains.”
In the autumn of 1962, the Sun Carnival organization in El Paso, Texas, decided to add the Sun Carnival Jeep Derby, one of only four derby’s held in the US, to it’s late December events calendar (the other ‘derbies’ were held in Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences, and Denver). The grand prize was a brand new 1963 CJ-5 donated by the Willys Manufacturing Company (I think they meant Willys Motors).
September 12, 1962, El Paso Times
Before being presented to the race winner, Carnival manage Bruce Brooks planned to use it by carnival staff to carry tickets between the four branch offices.
December 25, 1962, El Paso Herald-Post
Ted C. Brewer of Roswell, New Mexico, went on to win the Inaugural Sun Carnival Jeep Derby.
January 01, 1963, El Paso Times
The next year, the Sun Carnival volunteers put together another course.
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That is one loaded jeep!
“Offered for bid is a portrait sized original US wartime photograph (see scan), printed on large wartime photopaper that measures to be approximately 5″ x 4″ inches in size. Guaranteed original wartime lot; No reproductions or postwar copies!”
Steve forwarded this photo found on Flickr and posted to the Just a Car Guy website. It features a CJ-3A parked (?) in front of a rickety bridge. Now, whether is a bridge or more of a pier-like platform for dumping stuff isn’t clear to me.
UPDATE: here’s another version of the Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Rough Rider jeep press photo that is now on eBay:
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Originally Published June 26, 2016: This 1943 article shares news about Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and his jeep “Rough Rider”. A year after this article, at age 56, Roosevelt became the oldest service member to land on D-Day, winning the Medal of Honor for his efforts. He was later portrayed by Henry Fonda in the Longest Day. It is also claimed that Roosevelt was a part of the only father-son duo to land on D-Day, as his son Quentin II landed on June 6th also. Here’s a synopsis of his life. He died from a heart attack a few months after D-Day.
Here is a photo from an eBay listing:
“This is an original press photo. Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, son of the famous “Rough Rider” rests on the bumper of his jeep, dubbed “Rough Rider,” and reads his mail. Brig. Gen. Roosevelt is director of Liaison to the Cef.Photo measures 8.5 x 6.75inches. Photo is dated 1-18-1944.”
There’s no pic of the back of this press photo nor any credit for the agency/company that shot it. It appears to have dealer plates. Free shipping and the seller will consider offers.
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This first article about the Phoenix Jeep Club was published on February 04, 1965, in the Arizona Daily Star. It gave some background information on the club, it’s family friendly attitude, and shared some of the good works the club performed.
This second article was published six months later on August 15, 1965, in the Arizona Republic. It discusses the work the club was doing to help fight the screw worm.
Buss Walker, the author of this July 28, 1959, article published in the Chattanooga Daily Times, learned an important lesson on his first attempt to jeep onto Walden’s Ridge: never jeep without tools. The lesson was learned and our intrepid travelers were more successful on their second attempt.
Tremaine told me he recently visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters and Kentuk Knob homes. At one of the gift shops there was book of Wright’s car collection, as he owned roughly 85 different cars over his life time. The book noted that at he owned three different jeeps over the years: a 1946 CJ-2A, a 1948 CJ-2A ‘Lefty’, and a wagon. While I was unable to locate a pic of the wagon, there is a photo on a Barrett Jackson page showing Wright’s two CJ-2As amongst some Crosleys.
CREDIT: https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Media/Home/Reader/an-architects-love-of-automobiles-frank-lloyd-wrights-passion-for-cars-took-many-forms/ It appears the jeep in the foreground is a 1948 CJ-2A “Lefty”, which makes the jeep in the background the 1946 CJ-2A.
Steve shared this WWII photo.
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“This is an original WW2 photo showing 3 soldiers in a jeep.
The jeep is named / painted on the side: Baby Oh!
This photo measures approx. 4 1/2″ x 2 3/4”
This photo is undated, so it’s unclear whether this is an original from the time period or a reprint. Still, it’s got some good details in it. The front fender suggests this may have been a CJ-4MA.
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“Estate sale find of a vintage photograph of what appears to be a 1954 or 1955 M170 Frontline Ambulance Jeep being used in a medical emergency exercise, with several “patients” on stretchers inside the vehicle and one helmeted stretcher-bearer carrying one. Original period photo, not a modern copy or reproduction. Approximately 10 inches wide, 8 1/8″ tall. “Plate#79″ handwritten on the back.”
Here’s an interestingly modified Flattie for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
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“Original slide. Watermark is not on the slide. Raw image. Has been dusted but not cleaned. See pics for damage.”
