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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 seller has five of these early CJ-2A brochures for $10.99. That’s a real good price.
View all the information on eBay
“This lot offers the early Universal Jeep dealer’s brochure/foldout as shown. It measures 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches. It measures 34 inches long when opened. This brochure includes 14 pictures of the Jeep doing heavy-duty farm work. The condition is excellent.”
This brochure that Maury spotted highlights both the model “S” and the model “V”. The seller is accepting offers.
View all the information on eBay
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This early 1950 Bert “King of Jeeps” catalog only has about 24 pages. The price is high, but the seller will accept offers.
“Offered – Berg’s Truck and Parts Co., Genuine Jeep Parts and Replacement Parts, Catalog 150. Age – Dated 1950, stamped on the back.”
This two-page Ramsey Winch brochure is dated 1959, but given there’s a wagoner on the front, it’s likely front 1963 or later. Still, it’s got some neat illustrations about how to winch.
View all the information on eBay
This ad from the September 1969 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine shows the Boulder TowBarGuid, a winch that wrests atop a towbar. The same issue included a story on the winch, though not much background was provided about the company. The winch was manufactured by the Hilmer Company out of Boulder, Colorado.
Claude Ramsey and his brother, Rayburn, originally founded Ramsey Winch Company as Ramsey Brothers Tool and Die in July 1944 to manufacture aircraft parts, tools and dies for Douglas Aircraft Company. Claude, realizing the need for a front-mounted winch for passenger cars and pickups, designed a crankshaft-operated winch (Model 101) to pull vehicles out of mud and snow. Demand for the Ramsey Winch increased to the point that the name of the company was changed to Ramsey Brothers Winch Manufacturing Company in 1947. In 1950, the company changed its name to Ramsey Winch Company when Claude bought out his brother’s share of the company.
Here’s a two-page brochure for the dual PTO units: DP-1 (for the Jeep Universal), DP-2 (for 4WD trucks and wagons), DP1-150 (for FC-150s), DP2-FY (for FC-170s).
This twelve-page Ramsey winch brochure from 1959 covers a variety of products. I have three of these brochures, so if you’d like to purchase one for $10, let me know.
I spotted this circa-1950 foldout-wagon ad for a good price on eBay. The wagon folds out horizontally to reveal the interior of a wagon.
It starts like this:
The wagon then flips horizontally to reveal the wagon interior and more text.
The backside of the image shows the exterior of the wagon:
This Jeepster invitation mailer(?) was included in some other items I got a few months ago. I would imagine it was part of the introductory campaign in 1948?
As I’ve mentioned, I once made the ‘mistake’ of buying three Austin Champ fixer-uppers to save them from being crushed. Despite that experience, I joined the Austin Champ group, as sometimes I find Champs for sale and post the links on the site.
The other day someone posted a 1955 ad for the Champ Firefly, which was a type of fire engine built on the Champ chassis. I’d never heard of them, so thought folks might find these ads interesting.
Here’s a an actual Austin Champ NSL 418 Firefly Fire Engine:
Found this on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/buzzer999/7609146360
The next three ads were all listed on this site: https://www.aviationancestry.co.uk/?searchQuery=Fire+Armour&startYear=1909&endYear=1980
The first two ads, from 1954, are for Champ Firefly Airfield Crash Trucks:
This 1955 ad is for Fire-fighting. I’ve yet to see pics of one of these restored.
Generally, my interactions with ebay sellers have been excellent. But, of course, it was only a matter of time before I received some damaged goods.
Recently, I got a good price on three Willys-Overland Progressive Farmer Magazine Ads from the late 1940s off of eBay. However, the packaging was less than stellar; in fact, it was so poor that the package arrived like this:
Inside, each of the ads was torn in the same spot, meaning the USPS was a little too rough with the package (though I do think the seller’s poor packaging is really the primary issue).
Worse, the ads were wrapped in cellophane, without any kind of backing, making them difficult to remove without tearing the pages worse:
The good news is that upon being notified the seller refunded my money in its entirety and let me keep the fairly worthless ads. Still, I can eventually scan them and repair them in photoshop, some day.
And now for the Ads: This ad does not have a date on it, but given the “J” logo, I’d say it was December of 1945 or January of 1946, page 11:
This next one is from July of 1946, page 19:
This one is from May of 1947, page 49 (it also appeared in the May 1947 issue of the Country Gentleman Magazine):
UPDATE: Here’s a Thor PTO winch for sale. See the brochure for it at the bottom of the post. (Thor also made hubs).
https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/pts/d/bakersfield-1960s-thor-pto-lb-winch/6912177380.html
“A late 1960’s Thor T-100 Pto 8000lb winch. Popular on old Willys and jeeps,
Very hard to find, in Excellent condition as far as running properly.
Hasn’t been used since the late 70’s always been stored in a dry place no rust, has some paint missing from being moved around over the years.
Asking 650$ Obo
I have no use for this but I’m sure someone restoring a project Jeep or Bronco would love to have an original winch from the era.’
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Original Post from December 2016:
The Thor line of winches. Thor also had a line of hubs.
