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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 .
Craig found this photo from the August 1956 issue of Willys News
The Catholic Herald Newspaper published this photo on page one of the November 17, 1944, issue. The caption reads, “MASS ON A JEEP! Troops of the West Yorks Regiment attending Mass conducted by Chaplain J. Nolan, of Bradford, Yorkshire, in a jungle clearing in Manipur State.”
Here’s a bonus pic of the week from Craig. This crazy was of stoking a fire is from the August 1956 Issue of Willys News.
This photo was at a Pacific History site, though it isn’t clear to me whose site this actually is. The picture was part of a Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper and likely was taken in 1946. According to the caption, “Seems someone wrote in and complained that the newspaper photographer’s Jeep looked “like it belonged in a circus,” so when the circus actually came to town, the photographer obliged. Note the chrome wheels, bumper and grill on this surplus GPW, and the fabric-wrapped steering wheel. I’d be willing to bet the body isn’t olive-drab any more. Suggestions? I’m guessing bright blue.”
http://www.pacifichistory.net/public_html/NEWSFILE/NEWSDEC2002.HTML
UPDATE: The CJ3B Page has a color picture showing the jeep vehicles painted Gold for this display along with more information about the Hong Kong show.
http://cj3b.info/Siblings/SurreyGold.html
Originally published December 25, 2009: Bruce provided me with these fascinating documents regarding the October 15-23, 1960, auto show. There are two interesting aspects to this press release:
You can see a copy of the press release below:
Here’s another version of the event:
Article from late 1960 that includes a reference to black and gold vehicles from the November 22, 1960, issue of the Spokesman Review.
I’ve seen a variety of PTO items, but this is the first Corn Binder I’ve seen. This short reference was published in the January 1946 edition of Popular Mechanics.
David sent this image showing the delivery of the first FC-150 to South Dakota. He was wondering if anyone recognized the dealership?
David sent this image showing a delivery of DJ-3As. It was printed in “Willys News” in January, 1957. I need to get my hands on some more copies of Willys News.
Dexter spotted this 1949 issue of Popular Science at a local swap meet the other day. A reader of the magazine sent in an idea for waterproofing a jeep for only $.75. Not a bad price. Probably wouldn’t cost much more today. Note that it was in 1949 that the CJ-3A came out with a mini gutter to distribute water similar to the role the weather stripping hint accomplishes. I still have one of those gutters if anyone needs it.
And some other neat hints that aren’t jeep related
Hugo spotted this article about the dually wheel adapter in an April 1949 Popular Mechanics article. I can’t remember seeing duallies on the front.
This might be a good article. I tried to find the article online, but didn’t have any luck.
“This is an original magazine article carefully removed from COLLECTIBLE AUTOMOBILE magazine. This is a high quality production with high quality paper, without advertising. If you are familiar with this magazine, then you know its quality is considered the best in the industry. This is a 3, 4 or 5 page article under the heading of Collectible Commercial Vehicles.
To determine the approximate length of the article, look at the above photo. If you see 2 sheets it is probably 3 pages long. If you see 3 sheets, it will be probably be 4 pages or maybe 5 pages, and so forth..”
Glenn forwarded this article from 1956 and featured in “Willys News”.
Roy sent this Jeeps News’ page. The caption is self explanatory. You can see the jeeps much better if you click on the image below. I think Anderson Township is in Ohio.
Here’s another article from Roy about the running the Jeep Jamboree.
Here’s a nice Jeep News article from page 9 of the Fall/Winter of 1981. Thanks Roy!
UPDATE: Originally published 12/15/2011
Nothing about this idea sounds good. Mechanix discusses the attempts to use rockets for braking in their June 1946 edition of the magazine. One of the vehicles tested was a military jeep, with a special pyramid behind the driver to protect in case of a roll. It almost looks like the driver has a seat belt.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/11/14/rocket-brakes-for-emergency-stops
UPDATE: Glenn spotted this unusual competitor to the DJ-3A Surrey. The seller calls it a Jolly, though the magazine picture below suggests it is actually the Renault (thanks DC). The one shown below has been in the Newport Beach area for years and was once owned by the founder of Armor All. It is up for auction on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180772628708
Included in the Auction is a picture of a Mechanix article that discusses the DJ-3A Surrey, the Jolly and a Renault Beach Wagon. I tried to find the original article, but couldn’t. However, I did the other Modern Mechanix articles about jeeps listed in the posts below this one. Great stuff!
This article ran in the September 1949 issue of Mechanix. This might just qualify as the first Hi Hood!
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/03/midget-jeep/
Mechanix ran this article and picture on the future of the jeep in December of 1944. I think I might have this picture somewhere else, but never new its origin.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2009/02/01/jeepers/
Bruce spotted this unusual christmas gift for Nieman Marcus shoppers.
Howard wrote to me this morning, sharing the news that his father George passed away yesterday. In remembrance, Howard wanted to share an article from Stars and Stripes about the time his father jumped out of a jeep just before it was shelled. You can read the article below. He noted that his father always referred to the jeep as a peep, even the Wranglers!
Howard writes that his father George was “an advanced scout in A Troop, 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) of the 14th Armored Division. They earned the official designation of “The Liberators” because they liberated about 200,000 allied POWs from German prison camps, as well as several concentration camps. It’s interesting reading if you ever have time to google it, as is their involvement in the Battle of Hatten-Rittershoffen.”
I asked him if they had jeeps while Howard was growing up. He wrote, “We never had Jeeps growing up, though he always mentioned them when we saw one. My 18-year-old son got a beat up 1989 YJ a couple of years ago, and even through his Alzheimer’s Disease my father would enjoy riding with no top or doors and would always mention driving across Germany in one. My son has developed a strong interest and is reading up on restoration, and has said he intends to always keep a project going on when he gets out of college. I guess that means he’ll always stay broke!”
So, this post is a tribute to George.
From the Missoulian, a newspaper in Missoula, Mt, comes this picture. A friend of mine spotted in the Sunday paper and thought of us (she’s a historian, not a jeep person — good to have friends all over 🙂 ).
The caption with the picture: In another photograph from the end of a successful hunt, Eddie Churchwell displays his bull moose in front of Missoula’s Fire Station 1 in 1955. The moose was taken from the Lolo Creek area and brought home on a Willys Jeep.
Ok, ignore the “no update” post below. I do have one update. I found this article from Popular Science, August 1945, as part of my search (mentioned below).
UPDATE 3: Cblynch posted an update to this information on g503.com site. He notes that Randy Withrow in Alabama owns the below GP and also owns all the original photos. Apparently, the woman driving the GP died a few years ago. (Thanks Simon). Also, you can see an additional photo from Bergs yard in this thread. Finally, to GP1942 from G503, I’m glad you are enjoying the content, but please add a link saying you found the info at ewillys when copying and pasting it into other sites.
UPDATE 2: After further review, and based on Lindsay’s comments, I would say that the first BRC is a BRC-40. The TWO jeeps in front of that are BRC-60s (made after the original BRC prototypes and before the BRC-40).
UPDATE: A reader named Lindsay was kind enough to provide an update to this story:
Lindsay writes, “An interesting note about the article with the mayor that purchased the GP in 1944. That vehicle was tracked down by Ken Hake years ago and restored several years later. The 3 smaller photo’s at the bottom bottom right is a photo of Bergs Jeep parts in Chicago note the first one is a Bantam BRC 40 the one in the front of that is a very early “round nose” BRC of which only one still exists and belongs to the Smithsonian. This proves that round nose BRC’s were released and sold to the public. I sure would like to find one of those in a barn.”
The military started selling jeeps to civilians in 1944. By all accounts, Mayor Heine, of Lucas Kansas, and his family were the very first purchasers of a Military jeep for civilian use. Here is a Life Magazine Article about the Heines and the related images from the January 4, 1944, issue of Life Magazine (page 24 & 27). I bet they wished the jeep came with a top and a heater!
NOTE: The jeep below is a Ford GP
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Fred Heine would late purchase an early CJ-2A, as captured in these press photos that landed for sale on eBay in 2014:
This is a second press photo of a photo sold two months ago. The caption is the same, though it has slightly different marks.
“1945 Press Photo Hutchinson Kansas Fred Heine buys Jeep for farm, H Woodring”
For comparison, here is what the photo and caption from October 2014 looked like:
As I mentioned a couple days ago, a reader named Dave spotted this article and wanted to share it with readers. The article published in the 1960 edition of All American Word follows the All American Engineering Company Testing the air drop of a jeep by a pallet rather than via a parachute. To test this concept, the AAE built a special vehicle to mimic the landing of a jeep atop a pallet at speeds of 135mph. As you can see, the test was successful (at least the one captured in the photos).
Dave writes,”I was in Georgetown, DE recently which is a small town on the DelMarVa peninsula, and I ran across this very interesting use for a VEC CJ2A! I think it might fit your recent “museum” series of posts and I’m sure that your eagle-eyed readers will immediately recognize the historical relevance of this column shift speed demon! Apparently, this was a precursor to what is now known as LAPES or the Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System which is still taught, practiced and used today by our Military for forward area resupply missions. I watched C130 crews practice this (with varying levels of success)! at Whiteman AFB in western Missouri in the late 80’s. Fortunately by that point they were only destroying HMMWVs and military pickup trucks! The 8 of 10 or so operations that were succesful were really cool and you could certainly see the advantages of this type of operation.”
Click on the link below to see some closeups
