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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 article was published in the April 1956 issue of Willys News
This June 1956 photo from Willys News shows Harry Oliver delivering the Desert Rat Scrapbook newspaper. It turns out the Desert Rat has quite a history!
At the time of this photo the American Mosquito Control Association owned more than 3000 jeeps, making it one of the biggest jeep customers.
This article from the May 1955 issue of Willys News shares the story of Clyde Beatty and his ‘Safari Car’. You can learn all about the famous Clyde Beatty on Wikipedia.
Clyde Beatty also purchased a special car from Willys in 1951:
You’ll never find this unique piece of Willys equipment in a Special Equipment Catalog. It was featured in the May 1955 issue of Willys News. It has some type of geared pulley system for raising and lowering the scaffolding. OSHA approved? I wonder how many scaffolds they produced and sold . . .
This Acme Newspicture photo shows the first jeep and trailer to enter Slovenia. A soldier demonstrates the field technique for lifting a trailer with a railroad tie so his buddy can change a flat tire. I do not have an exact date this was published, but it can be seen at the fulton history site.
These photos were published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in July 27, 1943. In the top pic it looks like the driver jumped this off the end of a dock.
In June of 1946, around 10,000 Veterans appeared at the Benicia armory in the hope of buying one of the 1,588 WWII jeeps for sale. The article was published in the June 25, 1946, issue of the Utica Daily Press (pg3).
Here’s a DJ-3A Dispatcher Ad from January 6,1956, published in the Herald Statesmen in Yonkers, NY. If you lived in Elmira, New York, you’d have seen the same ad, but with a price that was over $200 more ($1583)! Carmel, New York, had the best price at $1249.
This ad was published six years later in a 1962 issue of the Herald Statesman.
DJ-3A Dispatchers were used by several pharmacies in Louisiana.
Here’s another pharmacy using DJs for drug deliveries.
This photo was published in the August 19, 1942, issue of the Courier-Express. The caption is interesting, in that the woman driver of the jeep had driven ambulances for the Chinese back in 1932!
The DJ’s ‘fleetness of get-away’ was one reason Kreisher purchased these dispatchers. There had to be faster vehicles than the DJ!
UPDATE: Originally I listed this as a 1941 article, based on a database date stamp. Richard pointed out the stamped grill would make this unlikely. It’s a good point! Additional research suggests the paper was from the 1942-43 time frame.
This photo documents one of fifteen jeeps transformed by the Canadians into fire jeeps. I don’t have a date on the newspaper, but it was published in an issue of the Flesherton Ontario Advance Newspaper.
This article about DJ-3A Dispatchers appeared in the April 1956 issue of Willys News.
The April 1956 Willys News contains the story below about a Willys Truck that was transformed, using a purpose-built body, into a motor home.
Good news. The site is back up! Explanation on what happened to come ….
I haven’t had a chance to add posts from the recent few days, but this photo is from the April 1956 issue of Willys News. This CJ-3B certainly has an unusual crew setup!
Most folks don’t remember the movie the Conquerer, starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. It was a Ghenghis Khan theme-movie, as it was a huge bust. The Conqueror movie was filmed in Utah locations such as Snow Canyon, St. George, Harrisburg, Warner Valley, and Hurricane during a 13-week stretch in 1954-1955 (source).
Unfortunately, what the movie is best known for is the unusually high percentage of deaths of the crew from cancer. The crew used some high powered fans to blow sands to simulate rough conditions. A documentary I watched suggested that disturbing the sand might have exacerbated the potential exposure to radiated materials.
You can read more in this article from People magazine: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20077825,00.html
The Southern Bank of Norfolk in Virginia thought the DJ-3A would make an excellent bank vehicle. Despite being outfitted with special locks and an ‘army-type’ lock box, the dispatcher did not look like a high security bank vehicle. Moreover, the bank might have been smarter not to put the bank’s name on the jeep. I would have liked a picture of the lock box. The article below was published in the June-July 1956 issue of Willys News.
Today the four 1956 Willys Newspapers in the mail I won on eBay arrived. There is lots of great stuff, both photos and interesting stories. I’ll be sharing them all in the coming weeks.
This first article from the page seven of the June-July 1956 issue tells the story of a retired couple by the name of Hawkins who readied a caravan for some cross country exploration. At the head of the caravan is a Fleetwood Caddillac. It pulls a camper-trailer that pulls a CJ-3B carrying a boat. Looks like they were ready for anything!
**SOLD** Seller accepted my eBay offer. I’ll scan and share these.
This lot of four rare Willys News newspapers is an unusual find.
“Vintage 1950’s Jeep Willy’s News 1955 &
1956 Dealers Newspaper Original 4 Total
Thanks for viewing my items.
Nice Collection Of
1950’s Jeep Dealer Selling Promo’s”
I stumbled upon a website that celebrates old articles from the town of Walla Walla, Washington, just forty-five minutes east of me. At some point the local newspaper ran a series of articles titled “Heap of the Week”. However, one week they changed the title to “Jeep of the Week”.
This story is interesting. Larson was involved in starting a jeep club in the mid 1960s. Apparently, manufacturers threatened to cut off warranties for any vehicles that entered a club. I’d never heard that.
“1977 LOUIS LARSON Next to his New 4 Wheel Drive Jeep he Built Press Photo”
View all the information on eBay
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
The Jeep was a newspaper published at the Monterey Presidio in California. The Defense Language Institute in Monterey has a collection of issues from 1943-1944. The one below was published November 4, 1944, and is supposed to be the last one.
UPDATE: In a comment below Claudia mentioned that Jarvis Jeep had a very catchy jingle: Beep Beep Jarvis Jeep. Apparently, that jingle was played a lot in Oregon as a variety of folks from Oregon have mentioned it on the internet. I tried to find a commercial with jingle, but no luck. Also, at one time Jarvis Jeep was the largest jeep dealer in the nation. If I’d realized Robert Jarvis was still alive I’d have tried to contact him. Unfortunately, he passed away this past April.
Apparently, he was quite the character and boxer. According to the article in this magazine, during a boxing tournament in 1946 Rocky Marciano broke his hand on Bob’s head. After which, they became life long friends. (go here to learn more and then search for ‘Jarvis’.)
Here’s an image with the jingle on it that was posted on pinterest:
Craig scanned this from the January 1959 issue of Jeep News. It features the Jarvis Jeep dealership from Portland, Oregon.
This article shares some of the jeep rustling that went on during WWII. One of protections against rustling that I’ve encountered is that driver’s would grab the rotor from the distributor to keep other military folks from stealing their jeeps.
Note that the ice cream story from yesterday has expanded to five gallons!
