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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 .
Thanks again to Jan for sharing another early Jeep News magazine. This one is titled Milt. Henry’s ‘Jeep’ News. There is a reference to a jeep bought in early 1947, so my guess is that this was published sometime in mid 1947. The jeep-related company advertised on the back of this issue is Lincoln St. Garage, 7 Lincoln St., West Medway, Massachusetts.
Thanks to Jan for sharing this rare sixteen-page January 1947 issue of Willys-Overland Sales News!
I’m not very familiar with these nor do I know how many issues were released, but I assume this style of magazine was discontinued once the Salesbuilder magazines were created in mid-1948.
UPDATE: Thanks to Jan for pointing out that on page 4 are two photos of a 2A with a driver’s side spare tire. That would suggest that this issue was printed later than around mid-1948. Given the Santa highlight on the cover, I’d say the Fall/Winter of 1948 prior to the introduction of the CJ-3A. If that’s the case, then maybe these came out every six months?
Thanks to Jan in the Netherlands for sharing a scanned version of the late 1940s issue of ‘Jeep’ News Volume 1, Number 6. The “Cristie’s” at the top of the banner is a reference to Cristie’s Garage out of Monticello, New York.
I wonder if the Mahl Loader shown in a photo on Page 6 out of Minnesota is the one that was restored here.
Many thanks to long-time reader Dave Nelson for sending me this rare copy of ‘Jeep’ News. While there is no date stamp that I could find, there is a reference to an April 1946 study in one of the articles; yet, none of the jeeps pictured has the later 2A grille. So, I’m going to guess this is a summer 1946 document.
Also strange is that this wasn’t published out of Toledo. Instead, the mail address is listed as “Jeep” NEWS, Room 700, 305 East 45th South, New York 17, NY.
Finally, also strange, is that a colorized version of this was also produced and it included a reference to the magazine being Vol 1 No 1. If there was a second ‘Jeep’ News made, I have not seen it. My guess is that this was meant to be an advertising piece for dealerships, but it didn’t pan out, so was pulled after one (or a few) issues.
I published this last year
Evan Gillenwater posted the cover of this magazine to Facebook. He seems to think it came from Furgason’s Motors in La Grande, Oregon. The magazine was found at an antique store in New Hampshire.
Here’s the full issue from Dave:
Rick Krueger is hoping to pull together some information for the folks at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. So, if you think you might have some information that would help Rick, email him at das.krueg @ gmail.com (remove the spaces around the @).
Rick wrote, “I have a line on Larry Hughes son Cameron. Dean Richards, Lonnie Richards grand father was a friend of my fathers and Gary Lowes. Dean and Gary played an important part in a boating accident I was in. The name Toy Hall has come up as Commander on a certificate I have found for and award to SNORE in the 70s. So any info from Lionel would be great. Also tracking down a ambulance buggy snore donated to the posse in the 70s. The ORMHOF seems interested so I would like to pull as much together as possible.”
MILE-HI Jeep Club History: Among the online collections at the ORMHOF are some great old photos and history from the Mile-Hi Jeep Club (How is there no PNW4WDA history/race-history here?): https://ormhof.org/mile-hi-collection
Here is one example of what is posted there. This photo shows the inaugural issue of the Mile HI Club’s Jeep Club News in December 1956.
PHoto Credit: The Mile Hi Jeep Club and the ORMHOF
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This is a reprint of the first page of the March 1963 Jeep News. Notably, it discusses the two main reasons behind the change. 1) Kaiser Jeep was meant to identify the company as ‘one of the growing Kaiser “family of industries”‘. 2) It was meant to align the company with the ‘Jeep’ trademark and insure ‘Jeep’ was applied to the entire line of products around the world.
UPDATE: Happy May Day! Below are all the pages from this issue of the newspaper.
This unusual newspaper that popped up on eBay the other day. It was the seventh issue of the Northeast 4WD Racing News. There was no publish date, but one editorial puts this at roughly January 1976. It’s 14 pages published in a full-size newspaper format, so the pics are big! I’d love to see other copies if anyone knows of any (or knows how long this paper lasted).
(The images are extra large to allow folks to read the small text. Click on the image, then most likely you’ll need to click on it again to expand it to full size)
This is the front page:
UPDATE: Here’s one from the archives …
Originally Posted July 24, 2015: This Willys News article from July 1955 highlights an annual customer jeep demonstration in Plattsburg, New York. That’s the biggest teeter-totter that I’ve ever seen. We used to do something similar back in the 70s as part of payday events.
article continues below . . .
UPDATE: It’s been 9 years since this post has run, which just shows you how rare it is to see one of these for sale (see next post)
==========================
Craig Brockhaus saw the Boyertown Economy Delivery Comparison Post (see below) and forwarded both Boyertown and Montpelier Delivery Truck designs. Cool Stuff!
MONTPELIER DELIVERY TRUCK ARTICLE:
BOYERTOWN DELIVERY TRUCK INFORMATION:
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”.
This February 1962 issue of Jeep News includes two good photos on page four of the DJ-3A-based mobile bar that was at the Las Brisas resort in Mexico. I have a color photo of that, too. It might be fun to recreate one of those.
Page three shares a little info on a twenty-eight page dealer booklet entitled, “Your Ten Major Retail Markets”. That’s a book I’ve yet to see anywhere.
This 1979 March-April Volume 3, Issue 3, of Jeep Line, an employee newsletter, highlights the implosion of the Willys-Overland Administration building.
View all the information on eBay
“Here I have a
Near Mint
The Jeep Line
Vol. 3, No. 3
March-April 1979”
This December 1960 Jeep Service and Parts News is sixty years old this month!
Barney from Barney’s Jeep Parts sent November 1961 edition of the Jeep News our direction. The FJ-3A makes a big splash with a variety of images on page 4. Several Jeep Clubs, including California’s Auburn Jeep Club, Denver’s Mile-High Jeep Club, and Washington’s Trailer Breakers Jeep Club get mentioned. One article highlight’s Buddy’s win of a Surrey and Sailboat from the Del Monte Contest and includes an image.
There’s also a mention of photos and writeup about the Jeep Jamboree in the December 1961 issue of Argosy Magazine, but I cannot seem to find the issue on eBay.
This popped up on eBay the other day. Curiously, there are multiple mistakes in this issue.
The first appears on page four. Under “1943 Military ‘Jeep’ Vehicle Stars in Big Portland Rose Parade”, the article shares a little about the jeep and the parade. However, the jeep that’s pictured is actually an M-38. I can only suspect that the wrong photo was added to the article?
The second oddity is on the upper left corner of page five. Though the article is titled “Sixth Annual “jeepers” Jamboree ….“, the story is actually about the growing popularity of the Sweepster Rotary Broom. The only reference to the jamboree is a small paragraph that’s a continuation from “page 1”.
However, the Jeepers Jamboree story isn’t on page one, it was on page six under the title “‘Jeep’ Owner and prospects showing interest in snow removal equipment as winter season nears”
Meanwhile, the page five paragraph about the jeepers jamboree wasn’t about the jamboree itself, but instead about a page 1 jeep summer jamboree sales contest.
Despite all the errors, it’s still worth a read as there are a variety of interesting articles.
This June 1951 Salesbuilder Magazine was volume 3, number 6. This issue includes a three page look at the Farm Jeep and Jeep Tractor vehicles and the Jeep-branded farm equipment. A large number of 1951 wagon-related advertising pieces are shown on the first few pages.
There’s also a number of Laurel C. Worman dealership photos, include pics of his Willys wagons on the front page and examples of his wagons stenciled with “Welcome Wagon” on the back page. Finally, thanks go to Barry Thomas for helping me snag this issue.
I have a two year gap between my 1961 issues of Jeep News and this one from late 1963. During that period, the name was changed from Jeep News to Jeep News International. The use of months as part of the dating system were dropped in favor of using a volume and issue number.
Not surprisingly, the introduction of Wagoneers and Gladiators changed the focus to the full-size jeeps, but there are still legacy jeep photos and articles.
This issue of Jeep News is packed full of items. One curious article is about the Longview Trailbreakers on the last page. The article claims the Trailbreakers were launched in April 1960, but the Tacoma Webfooters page claims the club had originated prior to mid-1958. The only thing I can think of is that the Trailerbreakers incorporated the club in April of 1960?
Also, on page 6 the Del-Monte Contest for a Jeep Surrey was something I hadn’t seen elsewhere (learn about the winning store here). Meanwhile, on page 2 the paper announced the Gotham City contest winner, one Mrs. Edwin C. Sly of Buffalo, New York.
On page one is a great photo and article about the Hong Kong exhibit at the Chicago Auto Show. And, on page one, are eight of nine mailers used in 1961 (the ninth is shown on page 2). I’ve shared eight of them on eWillys, but have yet to locate the “operation Zebra, or” brochure. Anyone have a copy of that? (Busy Bee; willing worker; To get the Lion’s Share …; You Can’t Hide…; don’t get taken for a ride!; best for all short hops; Big Family!; and need a friend?)
This three-page spread was unusual for Jeep News.
Buddies’ Market in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, announced in the April 27, 1961, issue of the The Mercury newspaper that it was the winner in a Readers Digest / Del-Monte contest for a “Pink Jeep and a polka dot sailboat”.
Below is a contest poster that was distributed to stores nation-wide (and printed in the March-April 1961 issue of Jeep News):
This is the announcement by Buddies’ Market:
Thanks to Maury, I was able to get this 1991 press packet off ebay and shipped for under $10. That’s a good day. It wasn’t clear to me all that was inside, but it turned out to be a heck of a deal. The three-page tri-fold stores photos, old press releases, histories, and a few miscellaneous items.
Here’s the front of the packet:
These are the materials that are stored inside. There are four press releases, fourteen reproduction 8×10 photos, a 40-page AMC/Chrysler history, a jeep history that’s attached to the binder (see upper right corner), one March 1963 Jeep News front-page reproduction and a late 1940s wagon ad reproduction. Just the reproduction of the Willys Quad photo was worth the cost of this package (I’d never gotten around to getting one).
I haven’t read this history just yet, but wasn’t in a hurry as I’ve already read this book on AMC’s history:
Here’s how the binder looks when opened. The jeep history starts at the page in the middle.
Under the last page of the jeep history is a holder for all the photos and other documents:
Here are two 1990s press releases (I only took photos of the front pages):
These are two 1980s press releases:
The press release on the left is from early 1942 and covers the changing situation with America’s entry into WWII, while the one on the right is from 1965:
The Jeep News reproduction page from March 1963 is shown on the left. It includes a report on the name change from Willys Motors to Kaiser Jeep and the Willys-Overland Export Corp. to Kaiser Jeep International Corp. The reproduction wagon ad on the right is from 1948 and includes details on which magazine and dates it appeared (I wish I had that database of information!).
This October 1961 issue of Jeep News covers racing, jeeping, dealer news, and auto shows. There are some good pics from 1961’s Hong Kong Autoshow Display. I only wish they were in color!
On the yellow sheets following this document are suggestions on how to overcome flat spots during acceleration of the F-head engines.
Page two of this issue highlights what service departments should do when replacing engines in WWII jeeps.
This June 1952 issue of Willys Service News is part service news updates and part ‘how to sell services’. This is one of three that was on eBay recently. The other two will get posted over the next few days.
Included with this Willys News are several supplements places, including 1) Suggestions on maintenance updates for vehicles (there were problems with the Aero car demonstration models not running perfectly, but these tips could apply to jeeps); 2) How to improve steering (again, directed at cars); 3) Passenger car door lock issues.
UPDATE: A new seller has over 10 issues of Vagabond: Adventures in 4-Wheel Drive issue #1 for sale. I purchased a copy and will post once I receive it. I’ve only documented two issues of this magazine; Here’s issue #2.
This is issue #1 Volume 1. Note the great article on the rare CJ-5 camper.
“Original factory magazine , 5.5 x 8.5 , 32 pages . Includes interesting articles showing Jeep Gladiator Camper , CJ5 Universal Camper , Wagoneer in Redwood National Park , many other interesting articles . This magazine was printed by Jeep and sent to the dealers and customers .”
