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About eWillys
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.
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 .
After Willys Motors found it’s groove in 1956, the marketing department continued its Saturday Evening Post ad-a-month pace throughout 1957. The company used the same triple-pane style of ads as it had in 1956, the exception being a two-page, color, introductory ad for the FC-170. Marketing also reused some content from the previous year, but combined that older content with information about the FCs.
For example, the first triple-pane ad, in February of 1957, was very similar to the the June 1956 ad, except that it included an FC-150.
Comparison of similar “Gets there … works there … anywhere!” ads from June 16, 1956, and February 23, 1957.
Here are the next four ads for 1957 in the Post:
These ads appeared in the Saturday Evening Post March 30, April 27, May 25, and June 22 of 1957. The April 27, 1957, ad is mostly a repeat of the November 17, 1956, ad. The June 22, 1957, ad is mostly a repeat of the September 26, 1956, ad.
In July, Willys Motors, as they did for the FC-150 in December of 1956, ran a full-color two-page ad for the new FC-170:
This two page ad introducing the FC-170 appeared in the July 13, 1957, issue of the Saturday Evening Post.
The remaining four ads for 1957 are shown below:
These ads appeared in the Saturday Evening Post on August 17, September 21, October 19, and November 11 of 1957. There was no ad published in December of 1957.
After Willys Motors near-montly ads in 1957, I expected to find similar advertising the following year. Instead, I could not locate any ads in the Saturday Evening Post over the course of 1958.
Prior to the Kaiser buyout, Willys-Overland was a regular advertiser in the Saturday evening post, with ads appearing almost monthly from late 1941 (after winning its military contract) up until 1952.
From 1952 through 1954, the focus of the advertising shifted to the new Willys Areo line of vehicles, abandoning jeep advertising in the Post almost entirely.
In February of 1954, one ad for the Willys wagon was published, the only jeep-oriented ad of the year. However, the title of the ad was “The Common-Sense Car that Leads a Double Life”. So, even that ad was as much a “car'” ad as a “jeep” ad.
Given how similar the above ad was to the Willys Makes Sense campaign of 1951, It’s clear that even under the early days of Kaiser’s management, the advertising for the Willys/Jeep line had yet to be changed. That probably explains why no more jeep ads appeared in the Saturday Evening Post for the remainder of 1954 (and Willys Aero ads ceased after June of 1954).
Then, on January 8, 1955, Willys Motors published a two-page splash with an ad for it’s new model: The CJ-5.
January 08, 1955, Saturday Evening Post
Subsequently, Willys Motors’ advertising in the Post waned again, absent throughout the remainder of 1955. It’s advertising in the Post remained dormant until mid-1956.
On June 16, 1956, Willys Motors published “Gets there … works there … anywhere!”. The ad also appeared to have introduced a new slogan: ‘Jeep’ VEHICLES BY WILLYS KEEP AMERICA ON THE MOVE (that was used by the company at least through the end of 1957 .. I haven’t check past that yet).
June 16, 1956, Saturday Evening Post, “Gets there … works there … anywhere!”
Once again, jeep ads started appearing on a regular basis. On August 4, 1956, the ad, “Gets there … works there … anywhere” was published:
August 04, 1956, Saturday Evening Post, “Traction … Action … Satisfaction!”
Willys Motors continued advertising monthly with the same three-pane theme. These were the next three ads:
Willys Motors ads: September 22, 1956, “Goes more places, Does more Jobs, Save more money”; October 20, 1956, “Takes the lead, On the road, Off the road”; November 17, 1956, “Thousands … Millions … Billions!”.
On December 29, 1956, the final Post issue of the year, Willys Motors interrupted its three-panel campaign to introduce readers, in a two-page color ad no less, to the new model of jeep: the Forward Control ‘Jeep’ FC-150.
December 29, 1956, Saturday Evening Post 2-page ad, “extraordinary! Now… the completely new Forward Control ‘Jeep’ FC-150”
As well see in a future post, the company continued an almost monthly advertising campaign through out the following year of 1957.
This ad, “Willys-Overland brings Farmers the advantages of 4-Wheel-Drive Power”, was published in March of 1948 most likely in a farm magazine (based on other ads the seller was selling).
This issue of Jeep News is interesting in that the whole middle section focuses on the rise in jeep clubs. It isn’t an exhaustive list, but rather simply a list of clubs in contact with Jeep News, with a heavy emphasis on western clubs.
Note the CJ-6 hardtop on page 7. It’s a custom top built by Koenig. I don’t have it in my records, so keep a watch for it. It’s probably still out there somewhere, most likely still in Texas. Note also the scale model FC-170 giveaway and certificate with each FC-170 purchase on page 2.
1954 Form KW-1706 Brochures, early (orange) and late (green) versions.
UPDATE: For a few years now I’ve noticed that there were two versions of the 1954 Form KW-1706 titled ‘Jeep’ FARM POWER, one having an orange theme and one have a green theme. Since I owned an orange copy, I wasn’t in a hurry to get a green copy. Still, I was curious about why the newly formed Kaiser Willys Marking Team would publish a brochure, with the same form number, in two different colors, as that wasn’t a customary practice.
A few days ago I found a good price on the green version. When it arrived, I compared the two brochures. At first, I couldn’t see any differences. But, after examining the text, I discovered the reason behind the color change.
A small section on both brochures is titled “NEBRASKA TESTED”. Apparently, when the original orange brochure was produced, the jeep had only completed a tractor test (#432) using a jeep powered with an L-head, yet the company had applied to take the test using an f-head. At some point after the brochure was published, the f-head test (#502) was completed (which did show increased horsepower).
So, the company updated the brochure’s “NEBRASKA TESTED” text and changed the brochure’s color scheme, probably to make it easier to know which old brochures should be set aside and/or destroyed. At least, that’s my theory.
So, here’s a look at the two blurbs side by side.
Comparison of early (orange) and later (green) versions of the 1954 ‘Jeep’ Farm Power brochure.
UPDATE: I was finally able to get one of these off eBay at a reasonable price. It’s form W-1831 from 1955 introducing the new CJ-5. The back page (bottom pic) has some discoloration. The 3rd pic is a foldout, so it’s much bigger than it appears.
In March 1962, two different articles highlighted the introduction of the Jeep line of Tonka Toys.
1. Toys and Novelties Magazine: The article in this magazine noted that part of the reason the Tonka company had the financial and physical capacity to produce a wide variety of toy jeeps was that it had recently gone public.
In the ‘sometimes it’s better to be lucky’ department, eBay blessed me with a huge win the other day: 10 Willys News issues from 1960 and 1961 for only $20 (and free shipping)! Here’s the first one. It includes a lot of DJ-3A Surrey articles, a note about future President Lyndon Johnson checking out a Willys truck for his ranch, and more. The 1/4 ton jeeps (CJ-5s and CJ-3Bs) take a back seat to the FCs, Wagons, and DJs in this issue. There’s also articles demonstrating how dealers felt TV shows were helping to drive sales, which is likely why Willys Motors moved forward with other TV show and movie tie-ins.