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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 July 28, 1973, article in the Longview Daily News shares information on the rising number of jeep clubs in the Longview area. I figured the text would be easier to read if I posted it separately at bottom. The CJ-5 on the upper left is running the recently introduced Desert Dogs.
This June 29, 1946, photo in the Daily Advertiser shows off an early MB conversion into a Louisiana Forestry Jeep. Developed by the Louisiana Foresty Commission, the state purchased five of these rigs.
The Weekly Town Talk out of Alexandria, Louisiana, also ran the photo on the same day, but with a different caption:
Cruising through some online photos yesterday, I stumbled upon a Kaiser Jeep prototype called the Sport Low Investment” (XLI) vehicle. Apparently, employees dubbed it the Flintstonemobile. Figuring Derek likely did a write up on this vehicle, I went over to the 3B page and sure enough, he’s got an informative write up on it: https://cj3b.info/Factory/FactoryXport.html
PHOTO CREDIT: Toledo Lucas County Public Library https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll33/id/134419
PHOTO CREDIT: Toledo Lucas County Public Library https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll33/id/134408
I’m a big confused by the ‘Jeep’ image stamped onto the side of the crate. In 1951, Willys-Overland was downplaying the use of jeep as a brand. This photo looks to be more like a post 1953-Kaiser-purchase photo. I tried to find a 1951 time-frame photo of a boxed jeep, but couldn’t find any I could compare to this one. Any thoughts on this?
It’s possible, given the photo was published as part of a 1987 article, that someone just guessed on the time-frame of this photo. Also, the fact that Thailand remained active in South Korea until March of 1955 might also provide an explanation for why these boxed jeeps were heading to Thailand.
View all the information on eBay
The Shreveport Times reported on a forest fires on august 12, 1947, and included a photo of a forestry commission jeep.
Speaking of Forestry Jeeps, this photo of a Forest Service CJ-3A with a Fire pump was taken August 15, 1953. The image resides in the Black Hills National Forest Historical Collection.
https://explore.digitalsd.org/digital/collection/BHNF/id/6549
PHOTO CREDIT: Black Hills National Forest Historical Collection, August 15, 1953.
UPDATE: Thanks to Mark for forwarding this additional info about Leb’s: http://sites.gsu.edu/historyofourstreets/category/lebs-restaurant/
This May 25, 1955, photo shows a CJ-3B with a Worman hardtop that’s splashed with Leb’s advertising. I can’t tell what the hood advertising states. The photo was taken outside the Bell Telephone Company in Atlanta, Georgia.
https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/digital/collection/lane/id/1427
PHOTO CREDIT: Georgia State University Digital Collections 05/25/1955, Lane Brothers Photography.
This article shows FDR in jeeps. It was published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune February 02, 1943.
This may have been a CJ-3A. It lost a battle to a Kansas Tornado. The photo was taken on May 25, 1955, and is a part of the National Archives of Kansas.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/283888 National Archives of Kansas 05/25/1955
Gayland shared this photo of a Seabee MB NCB 6 (later changed to an MCB in 1949). He added, “I don’t know the location but suspect it is Guadalcanal. MCB6 was the first Seabee unit in combat when it joined the Marines on that island. Seabee equipment, at least in the Pacific theater, was painted the same color Marine equipment. Haze Gray shows up a little too well in the jungle.”
The good looking MB in this photo has a nice top. What kind of structure is that? A Cabin?
The Swedish translates to English as: “Staff trip to Storvallen 1948. From left: Uno Branden, Britta, Ingrid Hellström, Einar Montén and Astrid Walster.”
https://jlm.kulturhotell.se/items/show/143324
This April 03, 1942, photo shows Corporal Joseph Vober and Cecelia Marchio ‘demonstrating’ the new wacky-talkie that is installed in a jeep.
I didn’t learn much about either person pictured in the photo. Cecelia married, becoming Cecelia Maselic (Ceclia’s brother Daniel was a Marine in WWII and Korea). I believe Joseph Vober would go on to marry Evelyn Lau.
As best as I can translate, the Swedes in this CJ-2A are celebrating National (or World) Children’s Day. Maybe the signs provide more information.
This photo captures three friends traveling from Hawaii to the midwest via Minnesota. Akira Tanaka, sitting in the driver’s seat, helped establish the military intelligence company that was part of Camp Savage in Minnesota.This was published in the September 16, 1946, issue of The Minneapolis Star.
I tried to learn more about these three, but didn’t have much luck. There was an Akira Tanaka that went to work for General Motors and built himself a home that was featured in a 1955 article in the Detroit Press. So, it’s possible that he graduated from College in Michigan, then went to work for GM. If that’s the case, he developed several automotive patents for the company.
A side photo of Smiley, John Henkels ‘new’ Ford GP.
The January 30, 1944, Sunday issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune made John Henkels and his son front page news for the purchase of their 1941 Ford GP from Wilensky’s auto parts. What a cold drive back to Fulda, Minnesota, that must have been!
This ad appeared within the classified ad section of the October 04, 1946, issue of the Minneapolis Star. It was posted by American Motor Sales, which was located at 1220 West Broadway. Whether the company actually had Ford GPs for sale isn’t clear; most likely, it was just standard MBs or GPWs.
A few days later, the Downtown Chevrolet Company advertised in the October 09, 1946, issue of the Minneapolis Star that they had 100 surplus jeeps available for customers:
Subsequently, an ad was placed by Twin City Motors, which also claimed to have jeeps (either GPWs or FORD GPs or both):
So, how did these companies obtain the jeeps? As we saw yesterday, there were some bidding opportunities that allowed Hyman Berg and others the opportunity to purchase multiple prototype jeeps. So, perhaps these Minneapolis-based companies also scored some prototypes that way?
What we do know is that the government was selling jeeps to veterans (previous stories highlight sale in Hawaii and California). And, those jeeps sold pretty quickly.
For example, in late 1945, the government’s War Asset group put 10,000 jeeps up for purchase by veterans. Those 10,000 jeeps were promptly sold (November 30, 1945, the Star Tribune):
A month later, an article from the Dec 08, 1945, issue of the Minneapolis Star, announced that another batch of 10,000 jeeps had been made available as of December 1945:
Continue reading
UPDATE: The press photo at bottom appeared in the January 24, 1944, issue of the Minneapolis Morning Tribune (seen below). It seems that Harvey Wilensky must have also won a bid for jeeps about the same time as Hyman Berg did.
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Originally Posted November 16, 2013: This photo shows a lineup of surplus Ford GPs for sale. The selling price: $750 at Wilensky Auto Parts in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The article shares information on why the GI’s had to use jeeps on the tracks and the dangers they faced. The photo is from a later newspaper.
January 31, 1945, in the Evening Sun, Baltimore, Maryland.
From the Tucson Daily Citizen, October 23, 1944:
This photo shows jeep driver Angelo Temesta sleeping on the hood of his jeep.
View all the information on ebay
“For sale is an Original WW2 US Army Press Photograph of a named Solider Sleeping on Jeep Willys in St. Lo France, dated July, 1944. Measures 5″ x 7″. There is wear and a creases in the middle. Other edge wear and minor creases. Please see all photos.”
These two 1947 photos can be found as part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway digital archives.
CREDIT: Indianapolis Motor Speedway: https://ulib.iupuidigital.org/digital/collection/IMS/id/1153
CREDIT: Indianapolis Motor Speedway: https://ulib.iupuidigital.org/digital/collection/IMS/id/1048
These two photos from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Digital Archives includes these two photos from a June 1949 trip though Southeastern Utah, specifically the Glen Canyon area. It’s unclear who these folks were or whether this was an official survey party or just an jeep adventure.
CREDIT: Denver Museum of Nature and Science; https://dmns.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/DMNSDMS~4~4~161797~112775:Glen-Canyon-scenery?qvq=q:jeep&mi=10&trs=13
CREDIT: Denver Museum of Nature and Science; https://dmns.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/DMNSDMS~4~4~161798~112809
The Tribune newspaper out of Coshocton, Ohio, shared this photo and caption on the May 24, 1953. It shows three-year-old Terry Schley driving a model Jeepster his father built for him. It includes a feature that auto braked when the foot is lifted from the accelerator.
UPDATE: 2 more photos of DJ-3A Hardtops with side glass (note also the use of the modified hardtop with glass on the Jeep Creep jeep above). The first is a different 1956 DJ-3A with the same type of hardtop (side windows and small rear window) was posted to Facebook.
So, does this mean Willys Motors had planned on selling DJ-3As with side windows, but for some reason changed its strategy? Or, did they only intend these tops for commercial/governmental use?
Caption: August 27, 1956. New Police Equipment: This new jeep, recently acquired by the City of Ann Arbor – Police Department, is being used to service parking meters throughout the city. The small vehicle has proven ideal for swinging into small spaces while meters are emptied. Patrolman John Biederman drives the jeep and is assisted in the meter collection by George Kaercher.
This second is undated, but shows a DJ-3A with a windowed hardtop for the Triangle Drive-in. It was posted to Facebook by Michael Canup.
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The photos of this RHD drive DJ-3A were posted by Andy to Facebook. They show a RHD DJ-3A at work for the Los Angeles School Police Department (that’s the department’s insignia on the door).
This is a 1956 RHD DJ-3A. It has the small rear window top that was halted sometime around late 1956 or early 1957 (http://www.ewillys.com/2020/03/17/different-version-of-the-koenig-manufactured-hardtop/), but also has the Hall tail lights which I am surprised to see on a 1956 (https://cj3b.info/Dating/Taillights.html). Oddly, it also has the rear side windows on the hardtop, which wasn’t common for the DJ-3As, but the side windows were standard for this model of the CJ-5 hardtop. So, this must have been a special order?
Photo taken June 06, 1956: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll44/id/61924
Photo taken June 06, 1956: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll44/id/61924
There was another photo taken with what appears to be the same jeep (same number on the door), but having a different driver (at least a different cap) named Officer Verne Schlotzhauer, while Captain Maurice W. Calfee watches the officer. The car to the right is different, also. This appeared in the July 24, 1956, issue of the Valley News, Van Nuys, California:
The top pic was also syndicated to newspapers. The image below appeared in the June 22, 1956, issue of the Des Moines Register:
The Huntington Digital Library has some more Kent Frost photos from his trips through Canyonlands and other southern Utah places. The photos represent two different trips. Most pics are from an October of 1955 jeep excursion, while one photo is from May of 1957.
This first photo from October of 1955 is a great photo that shows Kent and Fern Frost standing in front of a CJ-2A with a Porter & Reed hardtop. I’m not sure if this was one of their jeeps or not.
CREDIT: None …. Caption: Fern and Kent Frost next to a CJ-2A. DATE: Oct. 1955.
CREDIT: J. Ballard Atherton …. Caption: Frost Jeep Party. DATE: Oct. 1955.
CREDIT: Dudziak, Joseph Lawrence …. Caption: Camp of Kent Frost jeep party near Lizard Rock.. DATE: 1957-05-01
CREDIT: J. Ballard Atherton …. Caption: Frost Jeep Party. DATE: Oct. 1955.
This 1950 photo from the Gateway to Oklahoma History archives shows Roy Fisher’s jeep dealership. His dealership was active between 1946 and 1950 in Oklahoma City, OK. It was sold about the time this May 1950 photo was taken. Note the CJ-2A Fire Jeep in the second story window. The vintage Willys sign with the drop “J” logo is cool as well.
Here are a few ads from the Roy Fisher Willys ‘Jeep’ dealer era.
January 05, 1950, Daily Oklahoman.
Here is the sale announcement from the May 25, 1950, issue of the Miami News-Record out of Miami, Oklahoma:
