UPDATE: The auction reached $39,100, but the reserve was not met. Was on eBay
“For sale is a 1940 Willys MA prototype military jeep. It is my understanding that there was only 1,500 of these jeeps built and offered to the Army. This body style was never used again. I have learned that there are only around 30 of these jeeps left in existence. I have also been told by another MA jeep owner that this might be the only almost complete, running, original unrestored MA jeep in the world with visible WWII numbers on the hood. I feel that this jeep should never be restored or there will be no originals left. I don’t want to mislead you: the seats, bumper and gas tank are professionally reproduced duplicates. The gas tank was done by John Geesink from New Zealand. And the grill & seats were done by Jimmy Strauss in California.
This jeep was bought by my father almost 50 years ago. It was always kept inside. There is no rust problem. Has all 5 original wheels. The rebuilt original MA tranny needs to be installed. I have the shifting column. The windshield is off a Willys WWII slatgrill jeep. Motor is original. Radiator is not original. I have an extra MA head, extra bell housing, other top bow parts and machine gun strap footman loops (they are longer to allow for wider strap to secure machine gun to rear of jeep on both sides.) Jeep is not totally original, but close. It has wrong steering bell crank. Needs 2 notched axles, proper radiator, carburator, air filter, fuel filter, horn, back seat. What you see is what you get. As seen in pictures, the jeep has very little rust or damage to hat channels and body underneath. Forgot to mention: the rear wheel wells behind both seats, as seen in pictures hae been cut to allow seat to go back further. When my dad bought it, it had a bench seat in it.
I have mentioned that this jeep is a running jeep. Tires are no good and carburator may or may not need to be rebuilt before trying to start this jeep. Other than that, the new gas tank needs to be hooked up, a battery put in it and it should run, just like it did 50 years ago, when I watched my father shut it off and park it in the garage. Hope you get as much enjoyment from this jeep as we have. It is time for Dad to retire. Long live the Willys jeep!”
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