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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 to Tom for sharing this one. This Baier lighter appears to lack the ashtray trailer. The tires are odd as well. (See a more original setup here)
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3416927958563592
“occupied Germany right after WWII. Made from solid aluminum. Still in very good condition.”
Here’s another jeep lighter from Great Britain. As you can see in the first pic, one of the cats was a BIG help with this post.
View all the information on eBay
“USA WW2 WILLYS MILITARY JEEP TABLE LIGHTER
110mm x 60mm x 50mm
THE LIGHTER PART IS REMOVABLE, THE LIGHTER CLICKS AND MAKES A SPARK, BUT FURTHER WORK WILL BE REQUIRED TO GET THE LIGHTER UP AND WORKING CORRECTLY AGAIN. SO PRESENTLY LIGHTER NOT WORKING.”
Today I only listed one-third of the jeeps I found for sale (and I didn’t look that hard to find them). There are a lot of jeeps out there for sale right now!
In other news, I finally snagged one of these CJ-5 ashtrays off eBay at a reasonable price.
This Wellingon Jr. stamped lighter sold at auction for $45 on eBay the other day.
This R.B. Macbride Ashtray sold on eBay for just over $20. R.B. Macbride was a long time vehicle dealer in Modesto, California, that didn’t get a jeep dealer agreement until early 1957. Here are photos of the ashtray.
This January 17th, 1957, article in the Modesto Bee shares the news about Macbride’s Willys Jeep dealership:
Later that same year, on July 17th, the Modesto Bee ran an ad for Macbride touting the new FC-170:
This lighter is located in Italy. I’ve not seen one of these 3B lighters.
“19x9x11 cm. THE LIGHTER IS EMPTY need to be charge”
UPDATE: **SOLD** For $90.79 on eBay
This is a cool, retro lighter featuring Time and Life and a CJ-5. Why would it feature both Life and Time logos?
“Good working condition with good plunger seal, clean chimney, good printed display.”
Maury shared a pic of four of his lighters. I don’t know the exact dates, but made my best guess as to the order they might have been manufactured. Maybe someone else has a better guess?
My guesses:
1) The Willys Motors is likely the earliest, possibly not long after the merger with Kaiser. It didn’t take long after the merger for “Willys” to take a back seat to ‘Jeep’, so my guess is 1953/1954.
2) The 4 Wheel Drive one is my guess for second, maybe 1954-56. Kaiser was ramping up the advertising and “4 Wheel Drive” was definitely a prominent element of that.
3) The yellow-blue logo is from 1957ish. That logo appeared on a number of brochures of that era, including this one from 1957.
4) I can’t tell if the red ‘Jeep’ light is plastic/glass or a combination, but I will guess that one is the newest one? It kind of feels like late 1950s or early 1960s to me.
Here’s a neat matchbook featuring a jeep with a post hole digger. It still has matches.
View all the information on Ebay
“Post WWII vintage matchbook for Jeep – Fort Worth Willys Overland Co., Fort Worth, Texas. Willys Overland Motors, Inc. Toledo Ohio. Great image is very similar to the 1945 press release of the CJ-2A Post-hole digger demo.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was listed at $175.
(03/01/2021) This rare package includes a plaque and the original box (pretty cool box). The starting bid is $175.
“THIS AUCTION IS FOR A WILLYS JEEP MODEL FC 170 GOLD PLATED ASH TRAY IN ITS ORIGINAL BOX AND INCLUDES “CARE” INSERT.
WILLYS MOTORS INC. OF TOLEDO, OHIO
GOLD PLATED WITH 22K GOLD PLATE
THE ASHTRAY IS IN GREAT SHAPE WITH MINIMAL WEAR.
THE BOX IS IN GODD SHAPE ALSO WITH GOOD COLOR AND GRAPHICS.
50’S VINTAGE
A NICE, RARE, JEEP TOY”
Barney shared photos of this neat WWII Ashtray. Created in 1944, it celebrated the liberation of Holland prior to the end of the war.
Maury forwarded this “JEEP” pin that’s available on eBay. Does anyone have any history on the slogan “Joint Effort Extra Pay”? It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this was some kind of Willys-Overland or Willys-Motors factory worker incentive program, but I’d want more evidence before concluding that.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage, JEEP FACTORY PIN (Joint-Effort-Extra-Pay) 1-1/2 x 3/4 Inches”
A web search yielded a second item with the same logo, except this time on an ashtray with the an accompanying “A W” logo.
The starting bid is $75 for this unique lighter. It’s one I hadn’t seen.
View all the information on eBay
“THIS AUCTION IS FOR A 5 INCH LONG WILLYS JEEP MODEL CJ5 CIGARETTE LIGHTER.
THE JEEP LIGHTER IS IN GREAT CONDITION
THE JEEP IS WELL DETAILED AND THE CONSTRUCTION IS VERY WELL DONE. ITS HEAVY.
THE LIGHTER SPARKS WELL.
THERE IS NO LIGHTER FLUID IN IT AT PRESENT.
A NICE, RARE, JEEP LIGHTER”
This looks to be a Willys-Overland produced matchbook that allowed dealers to add their names. In this case, Ike’s Haugland Motor Company out of Wheaten, Minnesota, added its brand to this matchbook. The interior of the matchbook was the biggest surprise to me, as it listed the 9 reasons why the jeep can do all it does.
This is priced at $750. This has a late 1940s-early 1950s Willys-Overland logo along with the cursive inscription of Liz Hunnicutt. I tried to matched Liz Hunnicutt with Willys, but I didn’t have any luck with Google searches.
View all the information on eBay
“Rare Zippo Lighter Willys-Overland Automotive Advertising 1937/1950
Pat. 2032695
The Insert is a 2517191
Good Condition with Good Snap
Inscribed Willys-Overland On One Side
Inscribed Liz Hunnicutt on The Other
VERY RARE LIGHTER – ESPECIALLY INSCRIBED WITH LADY’S NAME (POSSIBLE WAR TIME)”
UPDATE: Long story short, I bought the bottom two jeep lighters. The first winner of the auction didn’t pay, so when I saw them re-acutioned, I made sure to snag them.
This first one is the jeep lighter/ash tray combo and initially sold for $113.50 (plus $12.70 shipping), but the buyer backed out. My purchase price was a little less:
This matchbook is interesting in that there’s no dealer name printed on it. We’ve seen another example of this same matchbook earlier this year.
View all the information on eBay
For comparison, this one was on eBay in 2019 with Wasson Motor Sales printed on it:
The starting price on this matchbook is $49.99. Note the illustrative details of the jeep, including bows+holders and a rear pto.
View all the information on eBay
“Jeep Willys Matchbook Indianapolis Indiana Vintage Rare Dealership 40’s?. Condition is “Used”. Shipped with USPS First Class. This is old and used. The colors and advertising are beautiful! No matches. What you see is what you get.”
Starting price for this ‘Jeep’ 4 Wheel Drive lighter is $75.
View all the information on ebay
“Great old lighter. From the estate of a longtime Toledo Jeep Employee.”
There are two vintage matchbooks in this auction, one from Peru and one possibly from Peru that has a jeep on it. The jeep matchbook is cool, but the asking price is $89.99 (at least they include with matches).
View all the information on eBay
“Rare WWII Era WILLYS ARMY JEEP Matchbooks Peru Indian Spanish
Incredibly rare
Great graphics and color
A few matches have been used
Books are in great shape
This auction is for both matchbooks, you get two!=
Feel free to ask questions”
Chris added this unique and undoubtable rare Turner Mower matchbook cover to his already extensive collection of jeep-related matchbook covers.
A Turner mower brochure can be seen under #3 on this post. http://www.ewillys.com/2017/03/03/mowers-for-the-early-jeeps/
And, more info on additional Turner jeep-related products: http://www.ewillys.com/2020/06/10/1948-turner-stationary-hay-baler/
UPDATE: This sold for $66 plus shipping of $15.
This unique lighter with an entombed jeep model has already reached $26 (+$15 shipping) with four days to go.
“What a great piece. During the 1950s and 1960s Evans teamed up with the Clearfloat Company to create various see through lighters with miniaturized items “floating” inside. This one has a miniaturized figural Willys Jeep.
The lighter is also marked “Dudley”. Likely, this piece was a gift from the Jeep Dealer of Dudley, Massachusetts to their Jeep Customers. If anyone knows more about them, please drop me a line and I will add it to the info.
The Jeep inside this great decor piece is superbly detailed. I have pictured it from all angles for your inspection. Since the craftsmen at Clearfloat made these lighters by hand, there are no two of them alike. This special piece is in excellent condition with a snappy action. The flint tube is clear and a it has a great spark from the new flint that was installed for your convenience.
Here is your chance to add this Good-Looking Evans Clearfloat Décor Table Lighter to your collection – Thanks for looking.”
This unusual little lighter is engraved with Willys, Packard, and Mack. Kenneth B. Schleicher ran a dealership out of Lehighton, Pennsylvania, for fifteen years. He passed away in 1984.
View all the information on eBay
Vintage Redilite Stick Lighter KB Schleicher Mack Willys Packard never used”
UPDATE: Mario shared his newest flea market find. It’s a Ford GPA Seep shaped lighter that holds a lighter similar to the small flat fender jeep lighter shown below.
While searching for another example of the above SEEP lighter, I discovered someone made a SEEP ashtray. It may have been a one-off build, but it’s neat none-the-less:
From the Collectors Weekly website: “This is another more unusual piece of trench art. This model is 6″ long and stands about 1 3/4” tall. The body is of shell brass and the wheels are “42” and “43” dated .50 cal rounds. The headlights are smaller rifle brass cartridges, dated “43”. The center portion lifts out for cleaning.”
======================
Original Post (Feb 2020): I just returned from a quick trip to Seattle, so limited updates today.
While there, I picked up three different sizes of Jeep lighters (thanks to Dan)! I plan to keep one of each and will sell some of the others. I tried to price these on eBay, but none of these are currently on eBay.
The largest one is particularly cool (far right). To ignite it, you collapse the steering wheel; the fire shoots out the hood. I’ll get a video of it tomorrow. The smaller ones are surprisingly heavy.
