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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 .
James B Barber had this article published in the August 14, 1955, issue of the Carlsbad Current-Argus. He’d had his time in jeeps and was preferred a smooth running car.
One more article on the Colorado Calvacade, this time from the July 23, 1960, issue of Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel. The newspaper reported that the Cavalcades had escalated in popularity to the point that instead of one grand event, it was divided into four weekend events.
This report on the 1959 Jeep Cavalcade was published in Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel, August 25, 1959.
When looking over the 1960 Jeep Cavalcade brochure, I noticed it was the 3rd annual event. However, the 1959 brochure doesn’t mention it being the 2nd annual event. A newspaper clipping from 1958 solved that question. It turns out there was a 1958 advance trail exploration in 1958 to prep for the 1959 event, though it seems to have been more of a low key event when compared to the 1959 and 1960 cavalcades. This short newspaper article in the June 1, 1958, issue of the Fort Collins Coloradoan explains it:
This article appeared in Grand Junction’s Dailys Sentinenl on August 23, 1959:
These pics came from the September 05, 1964, issue of the Santa Maria Times. They were taken at the Fourth Annual State Jeep Rally at Oceano State Park, near Santa Maria, California. The dune buggy ambulance looks especially unique. I searched Google for more pics of it, but had no luck. The owner, Arnold Teague, was President of a local dune riding club.
On November 18, 1951, the Times (Shreveport, LA) welcomed the new Hy-Rail Jeep Wagon to the Kansas City Souther-Louisiana and Arkansas railroad. The article provides quite a few details on the vehicle and how it operates.
As this September 26, 1952, article in the Courier Journal (Louisville, KY) points out, by the autumn of 1952 there were 35 Hy-Rail jeeps operating on 21 railroads throughout the US.
Here’s an article introducing the rail FC Jeep to the Green Bay, Wisconsin, community. This November 17, 1962, article appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
UPDATE: It turns out that the U-Drive business first started right after the war continued into the 1960s, as this article from the June 1960 issue of the Honolulu Star-bulletin points out:
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Original Published October 20, 2020: A March 29, 1946, article highlighted a Jeep U-Drive business that opened in Honolulu. The first surplus jeeps sold could only be bought for business use by veterans. Roy L. Mongeon, from Hampton, Massachusetts, who was stationed in Hawaii, decided to purchase twenty jeeps. After a number of soldiers asked to drive his jeeps, he decided to open a jeep rental business.
The Miami Herald published a column by writer Robert C. Ruark On July 28, 1948. Apparently, he wasn’t much of a fan of the civilian jeeps, calling them “ladies”.
UPDATE: This post was originally published din 2014. Since then, I learned more about Ted, but had spread it out across various posts. Ted’s trips, and his subsequent movies, have been added to this post.
First Published November 2014: In 1955, Theodore Bumiller set out for an around-the-world adventure in a Willys Wagon. He captured his trip in photos and video. I attempted to learn more about his trip, but I only learned that his daughter is now a noted author (maybe someone else will have more luck). I emailed her to learn more about her father’s adventures, but have yet to receive a reply.
Following the trip, Ted made his first film: a 30 minute movie titled “Around The World By Jeep”. He traveled around exhibiting it. The ad below, published in the January 3rd, 1970, edition of the Toledo Blade shows he was still touring and showing his film fifteen years after he’d made his trip.
Anyone ever seen the movie?
In the late 1950s, Ted created a second movie: “The Four Seasons of Scandinavia”, an exploration of the four seasons in Scandinavian countries. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t have anything to do with jeeps.
This article from the April 15, 1959, issue of The Sun (out of Stark County, Ohio) explains more:
Ted’s daughter Elizabeth wrote a book and included an acknowledgement to Ted and his wife Ruth Ann for teaching her how to travel and for inspiring her to explore the world. In it she mentions a third film by Ted, “Eternal India”.
