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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 .
This B.F. Goodrich Ad features a group of soldiers pushing a jeep over a muddy road while two women chat on a sofa. It is titled, “We took the nicest ride on Sunday”.
View all the information on eBay
Roger Martin spotted this sign for $225. It’s 48″ wide by 17″ tall. I don’t know how ‘vintage’ it is, but I would have bought it if it was still available. It sold quickly.
I finally snagged one of these ‘Jeep’ Planning brochures. Based on some of the images (like the WILLYS and JEEP within a link), I’d say this was produced in the Fall of 1944. As best as I can tell, it might be the earliest brochure for what would be the CJ-2A, though you’ll note that only CJ-2s are pictured (unless I missed an X-cj). The brochure breaks down the four principal uses for the “peace time jeep”.
These three ads were all featured in Australia’s Power Farming and Better Farming Digest magazine in 1960. Each one is 18cm x 24cm (7in x 9.5in). I wish the pics were better.
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: Steve shared this link about a ‘Lady Jeep’ article written for the Heinz Center, which led me to Amazon. That listing included a date and magazine for this ad … the August 31, 1946, issue of the New Yorker. And, there’s a better pic on Amazon.
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Originally published May 19, 2019: This ad was on google image search, though it was gone from the actual destination page to which Google directed me. So, I have no date or magazine name to identify when this ad was published. It treats the Army jeep as a tomboy and the wagon as a Lady.
You’ll note that the patent number 2854111 is the same one connected to this single lever design: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2854111. Read to the end, as this patent number appears connected with an odd looking, Dualmatic-related hub.
This post is all Scott Gilbert’s fault. We got talking about the different color of Dualmatic hub labels on Sunday and, suddenly, my Sunday afternoon vanished into research!
This post leverages the great work from the CJ-2A.com’s dualmatic twin-lever page and the ih8mud hub forum about Dualmatic twin-lever hub variations. For the record, I’ve never owned any of these hubs, so I’m leveraging pics and the internet as best I can. It is a working post. If you have corrections or comments, please let me know!
If only I had each set of hub in front of me I might have a better shot at highlighting the differences (height and faces), but I do not have them. So, I’ll just do my best with the faces and some documentation for dating purposes.
I was going to use the CJ-2A page’s nomenclature, but after studying the different faces, I think it’s better, as I hope you will see, to expand the styles types:
Design A: Recessed center, full ribs, sharp-ended ribs
Design B: Raised center, full-ribs, sharp-ended ribs
Design C: Raised center, full-ribs, round-ended ribs
Design D: Raised center, one-end of both ribs recessed from the edge, all round-ended ribs
Design E: Raised center, both-ends of ribs recessed from the edge, all round-ended ribs
Design W: These were marketed by and stamped as Watson hubs (hence why I call them Watson hubs), but also stamped and sold by third-parties like Sears unstamped and unbranded.
Before we begin with the twin-lever design, let’s look at the single lever design. Dualmatic’s founder Charles Simonsen’s original patent was for a single lever design.
This photo may highlight why that design didn’t hold up well and why support was needed for the cam levers:
This photo was found on a G503 forum. You can see that the lever has been highly stressed.
CONJECTURE: If the bending of the single lever was even a somewhat common occurrence, then it would explain the shift to a dual lever, rib-supported design. One of those early designs may have been the Design W or the Watson hub seen at the bottom of the post, but it seems to me that when full of mud and small debris, that loosening the levers would have been difficult. So, my theory is that the next idea was Design A, which is the earliest one documented with a specific date.
DESIGN A: The earliest example of a Dualmatic hub with a date comes in the form of this April 1958 advertisement in Popular Mechanics. For our purposes, this would be Design A. It has full, un-rounded ribs and a recessed interior
Design A hub with recessed center, full ribs, sharp rib ends.
Design A hub with recessed center, full ribs, sharp rib ends.
Design A can also be seen in this undated brochure, most likely pre-1963 given the lack of full-size jeeps:
Curiously, Design A was still around in 1964, as evidenced by this 1964 Montgomery Wards catalog ad below, but a new type of style appeared, which I call Design C, with a raised center (for branding I assume) and full, but rounded-ribs (and around as late as August 1965 in a Four Wheeler Ad):
Designs A & C Dualmatic hubs. Lower pic — Design A hub with recessed center, full ribs, sharp rib ends. Design C Dualmatic hubs with raised center, full ribs, round-ended ribs.
DESIGN C: Here is a better pic of Design C. You’ll note that the sticker branding is colored black. So far, the consensus is that there were three different colors of stickers, black, blue and red. Again, when each was used and why they changed is uncertain:
Design C Dualmatic hubs with raised center, full ribs, rounded-ended ribs.
DESIGN B: At some juncture, Design B was introduced. Design B had a raised center and full, sharp ribs like Design A. You’ll also note that this has the red center branding sticker: Continue reading
These two “No Roads Needed For a ‘Jeep'” ads appeared during the late spring of 1953 in two different California newspapers. I don’t know if this was just a regional or a national campaign.
This first ad appeared in the April 29, 1953, issue of the Sacramento Bee, sponsored by the Winter Willys Company:
This second ad appeared in the May 12, 1953, issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, sponsored by Mosso & Puccinelli:
UPDATE: Here’s another “Bond Wagon” ad for sale on eBay.
View all the information on ebay
“Grade per Six Grade System: Near Mint
Page size in English units (approximate): 10 1/4″ X 13 3/4”
This 4-page brochure from D.L. Beck Manufacturing included a separate price list that dates the brochure around August 1, 1955. Curiously, the “Econo” hardtop was no longer featured in the brochure (see a 1954 example brochure at the bottom of this post). Apparently that “Econo” line of hardtops wasn’t good enough after all (see letter at the bottom that explains the reference).
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Originally Posted December 14, 2014 —
