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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 Kaiser Jeep of Canada-sponsored magazine featured the Jeepster Commando, complete with a College Bowl winner of a Custom adorned Jeepster Commando. The issue also highlights the Repair Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, which dismantled jeeps quickly across Canada (200 appearances from Victoria BC to St. Johns). (Great find off of eBay!)
UPDATE: Chris noted that this photo is back on ebay. Cool sign!
Fisher Motors out of Brattleboro, Vermont, has an interesting sign that highlighted Willys Jeep, Sales-Service, and Cars & Trucks.
View all the information on eBay
This ad was published in the August 1954 issue of Fortune Magazine. When Kaiser bought Willys, one of the early advertising decisions was to use the KW logo on various marketing documents. I suspect this was an attempt to brand across the jeep and Willys Aero lines. This strategy was dropped by 1955, followed shortly with the dropping of the Aero vehicles.
View all the information on eBay
This 1948 brochure indicates the Champion post hole digger (aka an Earth Auger) was manufactured by the Southwest Equipment Company out of Los Angeles, California. According to a 1948 filing, the company was operated by Kenneth J. Browne.
This December 12, 1947, ad was published in the Sullivan Daily Times by the Citizens Garage out of Indiana.
This Pennzoil ad was posted to Facebook by Mario. It is dated July 17, 1944.
Mario posted on Facebook this great ad for American Central Manufacturing.
Maury and I thought this jeep bank was interesting. It is a Willys-Motors-parts-department-themed wagon that is listed as a ‘1953’. It was sold on eBay and now documented at WorthPoint. Anyone seen others of these?
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/liberty-classics-1953-jeep-willys-491185253
Maury suggested we organize and go through the various Willys-Overland and Willys Motors logos, badges and slogans seen in brochures and ads during the years between 1941-1963. I thought that a good idea as well, so here’s what we found for the pre-Kaiser period between 1941-1953.
Before we begin, when is a slogan ‘a slogan’ and when not? It is totally arbitrary on our part, but we think we’ve covered quite a few (and welcome other suggestions). Much of Part I is a synopsis of advertising-related posts published over the last year. We hope to publish part II in the next few days.
1941-1945: (A deeper dive into the ads of this time period can be found here).
As a 1951 advertising review noted, the challenge facing Willys-Overland, once winning the jeep contract, was to convince consumers that the jeep was a Willys product (even though, as Ford argued, it was a joint project). To this end. Willys-Overland’s very first ad in December of 1941 emphasized WILLYS.
See the full ad here: http://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/1941-12-13-sat-evening-post-jeep-in-civvies-650px-pg117.jpg
Willys-Overland continued this theme with their famous war-time color ads, a list of which you can view here (1942-1946). In the Hell Bent ad, the first of the war-time ads, Willys-Overland continued to emphasize WILLYS. The company also added “JEEPS” as a third category of vehicles for the first time.
From the June 27, 1942, ad in the Saturday Evening Post.
In 1943, while emphasizing WILLYS, the company introduced a new badge, “The Sun Never Sets on the Fighting Jeep”
This ad, AVENGING JEEPS BLAST JAPS FROM CHINESE VILLAGE, was published in the February 06, 1943, issue of the Saturday Evening Post, page 85.
The “Fighting Jeep” phrase lasted through May of 1943. Then, was left off of a few ads, before returning on July of 1943 with the replacement of Fighting with Mighty: THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE MIGHTY JEEP.
This ad, HEROIC OFFICERS DARE DEATH FOR MEN, was published in the July 17, 1943, issue of the Saturday Evening Post, page 97.
Willys-Overland continued to emphasize WILLYS until February of 1944, when the company abruptly switched the emphasis to JEEPS.
This Carter Products Ad appeared in the January 19, 1952, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. It’s an interesting throwback ad to the WWII concept of the jeep (arguably, it’s a Ford GPish illustration).
