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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 .
I bought the following 5″x7″ Portuguese ads off of eBay for $2/ad plus shipping from Europe. The seller noted he had more ads, so sent me a link to 96 more (including lots of good early ads). He wanted to sell these outside of eBay, so I figured I’d get a better price, especially buying in bulk. Instead, he doubled the ads to $4/per ad. When I balked at the price, he claimed he was selling his ads for €6 on eBay ($7.09). Given I’d just bought them for $2, I was a bit confused by his claim. Maybe something was lost in translation, but, needless to say, I won’t be buying any ads from this seller outside of eBay.
These ads have some neat illustrative work.
June 1947
1948
1947
Here are pics showing 1/4 of his collection of ads:
There are two vintage matchbooks in this auction, one from Peru and one possibly from Peru that has a jeep on it. The jeep matchbook is cool, but the asking price is $89.99 (at least they include with matches).
View all the information on eBay
“Rare WWII Era WILLYS ARMY JEEP Matchbooks Peru Indian Spanish
Incredibly rare
Great graphics and color
A few matches have been used
Books are in great shape
This auction is for both matchbooks, you get two!=
Feel free to ask questions”
Here’s a an odd jeep-like Christmas card labeled “JEEPERS”.
View all the information on eBay
“Vtg 1940s Christmas Greeting Card WW11 Green Army Jeep Anthropomorphic Dog/AS IS.”
Steve shared this photo. Though it is an undated reprint, it’s one I hadn’t seen. The photo is only 5″x5″. I’m surprised it isn’t reproduced as a 8″x10″ photo.
View all the information on ebay
“This is a nice reproduction of an original World War Two photo showing US soldiers in a Jeep reading a sign prepared by French citizens expressing gratitude for the liberation of France from the Nazi’s. Great photo! Size of photo is about 5″ x 5″.”
The photo above sent me on a quest to find another example of a medic/ambulance jeep with a cross painted onto the grille. I finally found one on a model, one built to replicate a Brazilian Expeditionary Force jeep ambulance from 1944 Italy. The author of the post did a good job retelling the history of the jeep (and didn’t fall for some of the incorrect history on the internet).
http://panzerserra.blogspot.com/2013/04/jeep-14-ton-4×4-ambulance-brazilian.html
This illustration is one of the inspirations for the model.
This French Army poster has a buy-it-now price of 136,50 Euros.
View all the information on ebay
“ORIGINAL FRENCH LITHOGRAPHY POSTER
ORIGINAL FRENCH VINTAGE POSTER IN LITHOGRAPH
LEARN A GOOD CAREER IN THE ARMY (1950)
Format : 60x77cm / size : 23×31 inches”
UPDATE: Vince shared an article from autoblog.com that provides more information on the Rainbow Sheikh (Sheigh Hamad bin Hamdan) who built the world’s largest running jeep. It had been many years since my last post on the subject, so it was time to update this post.
In 2010, reports were that Guinness Book of World Records had recognized the jeep as the largest running jeep in the world; however, I could not verify the record through the Guinness web site. Recently, a huge CJ-5 built by the same Shiekh for his offload museum may have surpassed the flat fender.
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/05/31/worlds-largest-working-jeep/
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Published in April of 2009: I thought it was just a fake keep prop of some kind, but apparently it’s being built on the framework of a large quarry mining truck.
The movie Come to the Stable includes a jeep in the movie and on many posters about the movie. Based on how often a jeep appears on advertising literature, I thought a jeep might have played a prominent role, but after reading a movie synopsis, it doesn’t seem that way. I couldn’t find a full version of the movie online to see for myself, but there is a version on Apple TV (and likely elsewhere).
The movie features a song titled “Through the Long and Sleepless Night“, with a record jacket that includes a jeep image. It was the reason I began researching the movie:
These are posters found online:
This illustration was donated to the University of Toledo. It was drawn by Steven Escayne while was serving in Italy in 1944.You can see a few other illustrations by Steven drawn during the war in the Library’s collection here. Another website, https://toledosattic.org/exhibits/war-in-their-own-words also has some drawings by him.
PHOTO CREDIT: https://utdr.utoledo.edu/islandora/object/utoledo%3A3557
UPDATE: The cow in this illustration may represent an estate and cattle ranch Canaday owned on St. Croix, USVI.
This 1952 birthday card for Ward Canaday has been persevered at the University of Toledo. One of the signatures is from Barney Roos.
https://utdr.utoledo.edu/islandora/object/utoledo%3A3929
