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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.
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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 .
This “Extra” September-October Jeep News issue is twelve pages long. There’s a lot going on with this issue, so enjoy!
I got this July 1959 issue of Jeep News for free, but it is an incomplete and damaged issue. On page one, the “Millions Will See ‘Jeep’ Vehicle Displays …” article continues on page four, but page four seems to be missing. So, this issue may be six or eight pages in length.
The last page of this edition might be the most interesting. On the lower left is an article showing an FC-170 modified to handle parking an maneuvering big trailers. One the lower right of the page is an article about Tootsie, a South Dakota coyote that became the official state animal, who got to ride in a jeep station wagon on some of her trips.
I can’t find where I have published this 1959 commercial, so here it is.
The best part of this four-page March 1960 Jeep Service and Parts News is how to fix an annoying “rumble” in a CJ-5. According to page three, get yourself a pry bar and increase the clearance between the floor pan and the Flywheel housing bolts.
It seems I neglected to post three Jeep News issues from 1959. So, here’s the first one, an eight-page issue from June of 1959. One page one, apart from dealer info, an article shared the news that several gatherings of jeeps would tour the Colorado Rockies as part of the “Rush to the Rockies” Colorado Centennial celebration during the summer of 1959 (an event detailed here).
Page two includes a story of Roy Nickerson and his family’s trip from the tiny town of Smelterville, Idaho, to Toledo to see how jeeps were made and to then drive six vehicles back to their Nickerson Brother’s Willys Dealership in Idaho. Page three tells how then Baltimore Colt’s fullback Alan “The Horse” Ameche participated in a Jeep television commercial (I couldn’t locate the commercial online).
Page four shows some images and stories from the 1959 Tulsa Oil Show Jeep Exhibit. Page five includes a reference to a new, easy-to-install Capstan winch from Ramsey. Page six highlights the large number of jeeps plying the Atlantic Coast-line, including at least two fire trucks. Page seven discusses the Etowah County ‘Jeep’ Club, which doubled as a civil defense unit. Page eight shares pics from the beaches of North Caroline, where jeeps proved popular for fishermen.
The February 1960 Jeep Service and Parts News is another four-pager. One item on page three that caught my eye was FC-170 frame re-inforcement that became effective with 61568-17824 and 61568-13-10417. Prior to that, a May 1959 (I don’t have) issued announced a kit that was available for frame reinforcement.
The 1963 issue of Jeep News Volume 9 Number 5 was eight pages. The entire issue covers “The Greatest Show on Earth”, a short-lived series back by some Kaiser-Jeep advertising. A dealer contest was also held as a part of this event.
This four page issue of the January 1960 Jeep Service and Parts News includes a reference to a DJ-3A kit allowing the service department to install a passenger seat. I wonder how many DJ-3As were sold without passenger seats?
The fourth installment of the 1963 Jeep News shifted back to eight pages with this issue. It’s clear from the front pages thus far in 1963 that the Wagoneer and Gladiators were popular additions to the jeep line up. Each month seemed to bring reports of new sales highs.
Also interesting on page one is the reference to Wide World of Sports (WWOS) filming the 1963 Jeeporama near Boulder, Colorado. Unfortunately, I had no luck finding any WWOS episodes related to that filming.
Page two brings us the story of Noble Trenham and Dean Fisher, a pair of adventurers who went around the world in a modified FC-170. Their story includes their interrogation by Colombian officials who didn’t believe they were on a goodwill tour. The situation looked dire until they produced evidence of attending USC; it turned out their interrogators were familiar with two local boys who were also attending USC. You can read that story here: https://issuu.com/trailsmag/docs/august-2012/25, which is part of a series titled A True TrailBlazer in Trailblazer magazine (series starts with this April issue).
The article also mentioned that a book was in the works. Well, the work took decades, because it wasn’t until 2018 that a book was finally published by Dean Fisher (if there’s an earlier book, I didn’t find it in my brief searches). I just bought a copy, so I’ll let you know what I think: https://www.amazon.com/Roads-Peoples-Birds-Mountaintops-Billabongs/dp/1622881877 .
Page three of this Jeep news shares one of the more interesting DJ-3A ice cream trucks I’ve ever seen. I wonder what ever happened to it? Also on page three, the page reported that the Sareea Al Jamel 4WD Club of Indio’s annual desert trip drew 322 vehicles and 978 people!
Pages four, five and six celebrate the 60th year of the company, starting with Overland. Page seven includes a variety of photos, including a CJ-3B, which is a surprise given those rigs had been ignored by the editors of Jeep News for years!
Page eight tells the story of the “Jeep mounted band”, while a photo farther down on the page shows another example of a Virgin Islands FC used as a tour jeep (here is a different example).
This issue of jeep news included a handy index to locate information within earlier editions of the newsletter. That would have been handy to have for the regular Jeep News issues as well.
