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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.
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 .
Dave found and shared these photos of a Dualmatic hub box with an information sheet inside it.
UPDATE: A twist on the 4-in-1 campaign shared below was the use of the term “4-Purpose Jeep” in some newspaper ads.
A few months after the introduction of the CJ-2A in July of 1945 Willys-Overland introduced the 4-in-1-functional vehicle advertising concept for the Willys Universal ‘Jeep’, which was an effort to quickly explain how Swiss-army-knife-like the new jeep could be. Perhaps, speculatively speaking, it was even a play off of the “4” in the 4-wheel-drive aspects of the jeep as well? Either way, for a short-time, in late-1945 and early 1946 Willys-Overland pushed the idea of the jeep as having 4 different functions for farm and industry.
I would argue that the campaign wasn’t very successful, or at least didn’t work for me, because just this morning I had to once again look up what constituted the “4”. In case you can’t remember, let’s take a quick look at how this campaign might have originated.
WHAT THE JEEP CAN DO: The earliest mention I have of the four functions was in the Saturday Evening Post’s November 10, 1945, two-page-ad, the first big splash of advertising for the new Universal Jeep, where W-O claims in bold at the top of the ad that the ‘Jeep’ is a vehicle capable of doing a “thousand jobs”:
Looking more closely ad the ad text, W-O never gets around to listing all 1,000 possible jobs for their new vehicle, but, after claiming the Universal “Jeep” can do almost Anything, the company breaks down the CJ-2A’s functionality into four categories: 1) As a Truck, 2) As a Runabout, 3) As a Mobile Power Unit, and 4) As a Tractor. But, absent from this page is the 4-in-1 branding.
The Four-Function Jeep: The very next month, Willys-Overland inches closer to the 4-in-1 concept by proclaiming in a second two-page ad on December 02, 1945, in the Saturday Evening Post, that the ‘Jeep’ was a “The Four-Function” vehicle.
Once again, Willys-Overland listed four categories, but this time a) changed the order, 2) softened the “truck” claim, changing it to a Light Truck, and c) softened the “tractor” claim, changing it to Light Tractor as the following category headers show: 1) Use it as a Runabout, 2) Use it as a Light Tractor, 3) Use it as a Mobile Power Unit, and 4) Use it as a Light Truck.
Still, as of December 1945, the term 4-in-1 still wasn’t used in the company’s major advertising campaigns.
The 4-IN-1 Jeep: That changed on January 19, 1945, when W-O published a third two-page-ad with the title “For Business Or Farm, The 4-IN-1 ‘Jeep’ Does More Jobs … Tougher Jobs“.
Barry shared this June 1971 Ad from “The Progressive Farmer”. It touts the Jeepster Commando as a “Farm Hand” jeep, a term used as far back as the February 03, 1945, Willys-Overland Ad (at bottom). While off-road capable, I never pictured this model being used regularly as a Farm Jeep (maybe it was?).
From February, 1945:
Here’s a rare floating jeep mechanical pencil with an engraving of Archer Motor Company from Burlington, Iowa.
View all the information on eBay
“RARE!!WILLY’S OVERLAND*Archer Motor Co.*Burlington,IA”FLOATING JEEP”Pencil/Works. This is very close to mint if not. I didn’t find anything really wrong with it.This is for the most discriminating collector or someone looking for a center piece for a Jeep display, it’s the origin of the JEEP.”
I don’t remember seeing this brochure previously. It is 12 pages, but unclear how many cover the jeep line. I didn’t know Mitsubishi did a Fire Jeep.
View all the information on eBay
“1958 Mitsubishi sales brochure with Willys Jeep, Jupiter Trucks & 500 Sedan. Size is 8.25 x 11.5 with 12 pages. Bent corner, creased.”
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.”
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)
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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: Several instances of newspapers carrying the ad have been found across the US. They include, Page 5 of the Atlanta Constitution’s American Weekly Magazine Page 3 (thanks John), The San francisco Examiner Sun’s American Weekly Magazine Page 3, and The Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph’s American Weekly Magazine Page 3. So, it was the American Weekly Magazine that printed the ad. Thanks for everyone’s help!
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Barry is investigating how a Farm Aide Lift (or what appears to be one) ended up on page 3 in an April 6, 1947, Willys-Overland ad for the Universal Jeep. The biggest question is [ed note: now answered], in what magazine did the ad appear? My guess was that it is some kind of newspaper-related Sunday periodical (such as Parade or The Week). It might have even been a western-US only periodical or ad.
Well, I was right about the Sunday periodical, it was the American Weekly Magazine Page 3, but I was wrong about the regional aspect; it’s clear it was nationwide.
You can Barry’s full post about the topic here: https://www.farmjeep.com/2022/02/16/april-1947-mystery-ad-is-that-a-non-jeep-approved-lift/
Here is a closeup of part of the ad (compare it with the Farm Aide Lift).
Photo Credit: Farm Jeep and the Mysteries 1947 ad post
This whole ad appeared in the Atlanta Consititution:
Here is the cover of the magazine:
I snagged this rare postal jeep FJ-3 brochure off of ebay; It is rare enough that I didn’t know these existed! One thing that caught my eye was the Civil Defense sticker. I off handedly mentioned it to Ann and she quickly found the reason for the sticker. From this page at the USPS website:
Each year from 1954 to 1961, civil defense authorities coordinated a drill called Operation Alert.6 Cities across the country conducted civil defense exercises on the same day. Postal participation in Operation Alert 1956 was described in a West Virginia newspaper:
A civil defense drill was held Tuesday afternoon in the Beckley Post Office. This drill was one of a series of simultaneous drills held in 38 key postal installations of the Washington Region….
These training drills are required by the government since keeping the mails moving plays an important part in the communications system that must be maintained during national emergencies. Four feder- al trucks operated by the Beckley Post Office have been designated Civil Defense units, and bear that insignia.
Including the four vehicles at the Beckley Post Office, 25,000 postal trucks were designated as emergency civil defense vehicles and fitted with Civil Defense de- cals in 1956. It was believed that “postal trucks would be valuable as emergency ambulances, rescue vehicles, and for local emergency transportation in the event of an enemy attack.”
Starting in 1956, many postal vehicles bore decals indicating their potential use as ambulances, rescue vehicles, and for other transportation during emergencies.
In December 1964, the Civil Defense Program was expanded to include even the smallest postal-owned motor vehicles, the three-wheeled Mailsters. Vehicle maintenance facilities provided Civil Defense decals so that each of these smaller deliver could be identified. Civil Defense decals were required on postal-owned vehicles until March 1971.
Now for the brochure:
I spotted this brochure on eBay. It’s not jeep specific, but does depict a CJ-2A using the sprayer. Given the model of jeep, I imagine this was a late 1940s brochure. The brochure came from Canada and the company is from Winnipeg, so the brochure was likely meant for the Canadian market.
I’m showing the order of this 4-page brochure backwards, as the jeep is on the last page, not the first.
