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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 couple weeks ago some of the folks from the PNW4WDA put on another barrel racing show in the Tacoma Dome. There’s only room for two barrels, rather than three, but it still looks like fun. Here’s a few videos from the event.
This was fun to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmD6pbHKjn0
Somewhere, I think I have posted the pics from this place. But, I can’t find them.
Here’s some videos of what would best be called a Jeep Graveyard, located somewhere near Virginia I believe. There are four videos total. Obviously, not the best video, but still interesting. You can see still pics here: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f22/jeep-graveyard-657326/
Ever since I saw the movie about Preston Tucker I always wanted to check out one of his cars in person (which I talk about here). Despite the fact I found one near my Sister’s house in Roy, Wa, I still haven’t gotten there yet! Btw, here’s the official Tucker Car Club Site.
Prior to building the Tucker cars, he lead the development of a Combat Car. To my surprise, today I found a video of the Tucker Combat Car. Designed for World War II, but never purchased by the Military (to the best of my knowledge), the film mentions and shows the car; strangely, I never really thought this was real until I saw it in this video.
Here is an original video press release (parts 1 & 2) that explains Tucker and his new car.
And, a video promo of the movie Tucker- The Man and His Dream
I’ve been enjoying some fun time with my kids during the past week; driving the jeep has become one of the favorite activities, despite the freezing temps. I finally got brave enough to let Karson drive off in it by himself (well, only around the block). So, here’s a video of it for those interested.
One of the things I’ve been noticing as I watch the video is that the jeep slopes backwards more than intended. But, that doesnt’ trouble me too much, because I had planned to change out the stock XJ springs for some XJ springs with a 2″ lift. Well, either that or I can mount the springs over the top. For now, they’ll work fine though.
I stumbled upon this cool waterfall. Maybe some of you have seen something similar, but it’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it. It seems like to me that if you arranged a bunch of these in a row that you could create a 3D model out of falling water.
Here’s two videos I found today. The first video is a compilation of color footage that follows the landing at D-Day. I thought it was very good. I believe a little of this footage also was used in the WWII in HD series that was shown on the History Channel (some great footage there).
This video also includes a jeep called Hocus Pocus Focus. I searched for the phrase Hocus Pocus Focus, thinking I might come up with some meaning for it, but the only thing I found was that a band would name themselves Hocus Pocus Focus several decades after WWII.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvZCDfhoNxA
The second video is a nicely shot video that shows a rebuilt 1943 GPW and trailer. It’s one of the better videos I’ve seen on YouTube in terms of quality of shots and editing.
Bill, who runs this great Bantam Website, forwarded me a link to the below video which reveals the results of a four year Bantam Reconnaissance Car Pilot recreation completed by Duncan Rolls.
From the YouTube website, Watch a perfectly authentic re-creation of the original Bantam Reconnaissance Car Pilot (the world’s first jeep) go on-road and off in a demonstration by builder Duncan Rolls. The Pilot Re-creation required over 3500 hours of work to build. The drive components are original Bantam and Continental parts, as are the gauge cluster and other parts (a total of 60 per cent of the vehicle). Duncan made the chassis and body completely by hand. The only original sheet metal was a stock Bantam cowl, but even that had to be widened by six inches, just like the original was. The original Pilot, delivered to the Army at Camp Holabird, MD on September 23, 1940, was lost to history after successful testing.
While it’s not a jeep in form, it certainly captures the spirit of a jeep in function. Two alternators, three batteries, and a host of features make this an unusual vehicle. The most recent cheap jeep was launched in 1974 for the purpose of desert and mountain travel, not unlike the way original mountain bikers back in 1976 utilized old tough schwinn bikes to tackle the mountains. It’s singular purpose –the next ghost town or bust — was a cheap, but dependable vehicle capable of on road and off road travel for thousands of miles over the period of a week. This vehicle is still used and images and video from 2009 can be found on the website along with links to all the places these intrepid adventurers have visited over the past years (scroll to the bottom of the homepage). View the video below to learn a little bit about the unusual features of this vehicle (or go to their video page).
Steve Ricketts writes on the westernghosts.com website, In 1974, I acquired a 1966 Pontiac convertible from another customer. This time the price was $75.00. Like the Chrysler Imperial, the Pontiac needed a lot of work. After extensive engine repair and a transmission rebuild and modification, it was able to be driven to my house where the first Cheap Jeep (Chrysler Imperial) was stored. The transformation from old cheap jeep to new cheap jeep began. The finished product is what you see today.
It is highly modified, and works better for our purposes than anything we could buy today. It is easy to repair on the road, and parts are readily available. It carries more than “regular” jeeps and is a lot cheaper to replace should it become necessary to abandon. I would really hate to take a $30,000+, four wheel drive (Blazer/Bronco, etc.) on one of these trips. At the very least, the paint and body would be badly damaged. It would also be next to impossible to repair in the field, and a very real possibility exists that I would someday have to abandon it. After all these years of use and modification, I still have less than $800.00 invested in the Cheap Jeep…and that includes the original purchase price.”
For reasons only the Our Gang 4Wheeler folks know, they prefer their racing chilled, literally on ice. It appears to be a family fun affair with a season that varies with the thickness of ice.
Our Gang 4 Wheelers is an ice racing club whose volunteers have been organizing ice races in Colorado for 34 years. You’ll find them out on Georgetown Lake in the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Their season spans 6 weekends through January and February.
For those of you who want to try this sport, but don’t have tires, it appears they’ll rent you some. You’ll have to check out their website to learn more.
There’s many more videos and pictures here: http://www.ourgangiceracing.com/Media.html
This is the second of two videos made by Universal International News. Much of this footage seems very similar to the shots taken by Life Magazine of the Ridge Runners, when they did ran a story about the Jeep Club.
The Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club recognizes itself as the world’s first incorporated Jeep Club, incorporating in early 1947. I have run across reports of early clubs formed in Southern California, but whether they actually incorporated or not is unknown to me. This video made by Universal International News was one of two.
Here’s the ‘story’ of the jeep from the Jeep’s perspective. It’s got a bunch of historical footage.
This is part two of a two part marketing video produced, I think, by Willys Overland about their products. Not only does it cover the jeep, but it also covers, particularly in part 2, the other 4wd vehicles such as the Wagon, the Truck and shows some of the farming implements available.
This is part one of a two part marketing video produced, I think, by Willys Overland about their products. Not only does it cover the jeep, but it also covers, particularly in part 2, the other 4wd vehicles such as the Wagon, the Truck and shows some of the farming implements available.
This is one of the more amazing videos. It’s short. Watch the end of it closely, as the driver escapes the jeep just in time before the flat fender topples on top of him.
I was searching to see if anyone posted videos from the PNW4WDA 2009 Convention, but haven’t seen any yet. I did find this nicely organized collection of racing images from 2008 that I hadn’t seen. So, I thought I’d share them. Note the audio has been disabled. I have to wonder exactly how they track down audio like that given the millions of videos uploaded vs. the relatively low number of hits on this video.
And the Jeep loses.
UPDATE: It turns out that Wally Klingle’s Jeep and the High Hood featured at the beginning are still around. Wally’s 2nd cousin, who’s name I don’t know yet, commented on the video at youtube. I’m trying to arrange a visit on my way through Yakima so I can take some pics and learn more.
In his comment on the youtube page, he wrote, “Wally Klingle, the guy they lower down that old cliff they have since shut down, is my 2nd cousin. He started the ridge runners with a few others. He still has that jeep. My grandpa is in the video too and my uncle still has the high hood he was driving. He s..t when I told him about this video.”
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Linda McCune from the Don McCune Library kindly has given me permission to provide some clips from the Jeeping1 DVD, a collection of 3 episodes of Exploration Northwest related to pacific northwest jeeping. To order this DVD, you can contact Linda McCune at 206 726-2650 and ask for the Jeeping1 DVD. It costs $24.95. I encourage you to purchase is as she has the video for a Jeeping2 DVD, but has not created it yet.
The first of the three 30 minute episodes on the Jeeping 1 DVD is The Meeker Trail (Naches Trail) episode (1965). The second episode covers the “Doe Run”, a women only jeeping excursion (1974). The third episode highlights the Yakima Mud Bowl (1977).
From that 30minute Meeker Trail episode follows a dual narrative, discussing the original Meeker trail pioneers and their travails while following the ‘modern day’ jeep pioneers. I’ve agreed to publish only two clips from this episode.
In the first clip, Don McCune introduces us to the modern day pioneers as they double check their jeeps and head towards the beginning of the trail. Check out these jeeps from 1965, no fuss, no chrome here.
Jeepers familiar with the western side of the Naches trail will recognize the steep drop off. It might not look that steep in the video, but it is steep. A bypass to that hill was created so jeepers could avoid it. I’ve hiked it; it’s slippery and steep. Below this video is a shot approx 15 years later, with the sign seen in the video present at the left.
UPDATE: Christopher found the YouTube link for us. Thanks!
My Uncle Phil sent this to me. You gotta see this video. It appears a driver has a tire that lost its bead on the rim. To re-seat it, someone sprayed WD-40 (I think) onto the rim and then lighted it, which causes the tire to explode onto the rim.
Here’s a nicely done video about Jeepneys from the Daily Motion website.
The history channel series Modern Marvels did a fine show on the history of the jeep. There’s some great bits of info, pictures and videos. I think it’s worth watching, even just to watch the video of the experimental ‘jeep helicopter’. The youtube version of this episode is divided up into 5 sections. The nice feature is that once you start watching the first one, each successive video will be launched automatically.
My only contention with the show is that one narrator suggests that Willys invented four wheel drive. Actually, four wheel drive had been around for about 50 years. I wrote the following several months ago (though didn’t post it):
“A four wheel drive system for vehicles was patented 48 years before the development of Bantam’s BRC (Bantam Recon Car aka Mark I), the very first jeep (followed by 69 prototype BRC-60s aka Mark II), the precursor to the jeep and the decision behind the military to issue a call for prototype 1/4 vehicles (to which three companies responded: Ford (Pygmy), Bantam (BRC-40) and Willys (Quad). Porsche developed a four wheel drive electric car prototype in 1900, 2 Dutch brothers built a four wheel drive Spyker race car in 1904 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyker). The Four Wheel Drive Auto company of Wisconsin built 20,000 four-wheel drive trucks for the British and American Armies during World War I.”
Now, maybe Bantam invented the modern transfer case. Of this, I’m less sure. I haven’t found any evidence that certifies the inventor of the transfer case.
Other links:
A couple weeks ago, after finally ordering and receiving my Bronco Dana 20 rear sliding gear, I got my Dana 20 with 2:46 ratio Dana 18 gears put together. I decided to videotape the build and despite a few setbacks (such as trying to install the wrong dana 18 intermediate gear) I got everything together.
The video is hardly a complete document on how to rebuild a transfercase properly. Clearly, I won’t be quitting my day job to go into TV! However, I hope it’s educational and a little amusing.
A few related links:
This is a low resolution video, but is still 49mb. It runs approx a half hour.
I've heard rumors that a TV show in the 1960s did an episode on the Naches Trail. Good News! I finally found the episode, which was created by Exploration Northwest. The best news is you can buy a copy of it and some other early jeep videos on DVD from the Don McCune Library.
Jeeping 1 (Click link and scroll down to Jeeping 1)
This DVD features 3 episodes:
1. The Meeker Trail: "Join this spine-rattling trip with the Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club as they retrace the oldest route across the Cascades: Naches Pass. Filmed in black-and-white in 1965, it is based on Ezra Meeker's book "Pioneer Reminiscences of Puget Sound", which recounts traversing this old Indian trail with the first immigrant wagon train of 148 people in 1853."
2. The Doe Run: "The female members of the Seattle Jeep Club leave their families at home and enjoy a weekend 'Doe Run' on the rugged backcountry roads of the Cle Elum and Salmon La Sac area in the Cascade Mountains." (The WWJC club did something similar about this time – my mom and grandma went)
3. The Mud Race: " Yakima Ridge Runners Jeep Club race their specially-equipped jeeps through a mud-hole track in central Washington."
The Desert Races DVD (Click link and scroll down to Desert Races)
This DVD features 3 episodes
1. Mattawa 100: "The 1975 Mattawa 100 features 750 dirt bikes racing across 100 miles of sand and sagebrush near the eastern Washington town of Mattawa. Aerial and slow-motion photography offers an exciting view along with comments by contestants. The Everett Highriders Jeep Club and the Stump Jumpers Motorcycle Club assisted in the event". (I think I was at this race. Our jeep club was helping run a checkpoint. Guys were coming to the checkpoint bloody from falling. Very memorable).
2. The Sunfair 300: "Sponsored by the Washington Off-Road Racing Association, the Sunfair 300 is a desert race with 4-wheel-drive vehicles and rails (dune buggies) on a 225-mile course near Yakima that ranks as one of the toughest in the nation! Members of the Yakima Ridge Runners staff the race course check points." (I believe this was what my original racing jeep — that I purchased for $600 — was built to compete in).
3. A retrospective of the life of the host, Don McCune.