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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 .
John, from R&P 4WD, forwarded another neat flattie.
John writes, “Steve, our resident AT/wiring guru has had this in one of the back bays for the last year. The pictures don’t do any justice to the super slick paint job on the frame. Boxed and stretched frame (8″ in the front horns), small block Ford, C4 automatic, Model 18 TC, and an overdrive from Herm. Here’s the reallt slick part, Jeep XJ rear leaf springs, under all 4 corners. R&P Dana 44 front, with disc brakes, and a R&P full floater kit in the rear, with 11″ drums.”
The next time you are in Perth, Australia, make sure you stop by and see Ben Carlin’s SEEP named Half Safe. Ben Carlin and his wife navigated their SEEP around the world back in the 1950s. I found two website’s that chronicle the adventure: David Brooks shows pictures along with the story and Leisure Wheels has a large article with a single pic. Below is the beginning of the story and below that are a few pictures. Ben Carlin also wrote two books about his adventure “Half Safe” and later ““The Other Half of Half-Safe”.
FROM DAVID BROOKS WEBSITE: “Ben Carlin (1912 – 1981) was born and attended school in Western Australia. While awaiting demobilisation after service in India in World War II, Ben noticed a US amphibious jeep among other war debris, and remarked “You know, Mac, with a bit of titivation you could go around the world in one of these things”. For some never-explained reason, Ben was not certified insane on the spot, and eventually fulfilled his dream ….”
John Barton’s book “John Barton’s Fleamarket Guide To MB and GPW Tools And Accesories” is now for sale at Lulu.com. The price of the book is $25. Proceeds from the book are going to John’s daughter’s college fund. If you have any questions about it, you can contact Merlin at merlin [at] HANSONMECHANICAL.COM.
Merlin writes, “This book was first written by John Barton in 2006. It is a review of all tools carried on the WW2 Jeeps and their varieties. This should be a great help while hunting for the correct tools for your WW2 MB or GPW.”
I am proud to announce that “Finding Virginia” is now for sale at CreateSpace. It has been the culmination of a year’s worth of writing and editing (and 46 years of living). Please shamelessly encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to purchase this book. Give it as a present to your spouse (really, they will enjoy it), your kids, other jeep lovers, car lovers, or whomever you know. It is also useful for filling spaces in bookshelves.
What’s the book about?
It’s about jeeps, love, the history of the jeep, love lost, the San Juan Islands, my dad’s health fight, how to get kicked out of college, how to grow up in a jeep club, how not to sail, how to get stuck in the woods, cooking, my thoughts on a variety of subjects, and the reasons why I started eWillys.
Who’s the target audience?
Readers of eWillys are first and foremost the target. People who like adventure and travel should enjoy it too. Women especially enjoy the ‘love’ story aspect. People who are frustrated with the economy will, I believe, relate to my frustrations with it too.
The book can be ordered through CreateSpace and, later, through Amazon, though Amazon pays me less. The price is $18.39. If you want a signed copy, I will need to order some books, sign them and then mail them to you. You can email me for more info — d@ewillys.com and put “signed copy” in the subject line. These will cost a little more due to the cost of me shipping to you. I will take a check or paypal as payment.
I am willing to both sign books and attend signings. I can even bring Biscuit if necessary, depending on the weather and distance.
So, I go away for one night (hanging out in Yakima)…. though a fun night … and the search site (jaxed) that I have used faithfully for 4 years to find old willys & jeeps for sale across the US receives a cease and desist letter from Craigslist lawyers. I have seen that happen to other sites, but somehow jaxed could always get around it, until now.
While I can still search through a mashed up collection of individual craigslist sites through SearchTempest, searching nation-wide will be more difficult (or at least time consuming using SearchTempest). So, I will spend a day or two trying to figure out another method. One way or another I will have updates Sunday night.
In the meantime, I finished draft 3 of my book, which involves jeeps and more. The reviews I have received are extremely positive, so I hope to complete one more draft and then have it ready sometime in September for ebooks (real books will take longer, but I hope will come at some point too). Here’s a draft of the book cover:
Harold Stephen loves old jeeps. He loved them so much he spent time exploring the world in both a CJ-5 and a Landcruiser during the 1960s. In 1965-6 Harold Stephens, along with Al Podell, picture editor of Argosy magazine, formed the Trans World Record Expedition and set the world’s record for the longest non-repetitive miles motor trip around the world (42,500 miles). They captured their trip in their co-authored book, Who Needs a Road. I just bought a copy and you can find a paperback copy for sale here.
Prior to their joint trip, Harold purchased a CJ-5 and shipped it with a small trailer to Europe. He writes, “Three months in Europe, and no accommodations to worry about. I camped in the shadows of medieval chateaus and age-old monasteries. When I could find none of these, I camped in farmers’ cow pastures. Many times I awoke to discover cows nibble at my shoes outside my door. If farmers came, they were usually friendly, providing I had closed the gate behind me, and often invited me to the farmhouse for coffee and homemade bread.” You can read more about his CJ-5 European adventure here, including a two month stay in a Russian Jail.
He eventually made his way back to Spain, parked his Jeep and returned to the US. He sold his story to Argosy Magazine and then his editor asked him if he would be interested in an around the world tour in a Toyota Land Cruiser (I tired to find the argosy article, but was unsuccessful). He said yes, so he and a few others went pack to Spain, picked up a Landcruiser, snagged his jeep, and then started off on their journey.
Here’s a kid’s book called Willy: The Little Jeep Who Wanted to Be a Fire Truck. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s supposed to be based loosely on a real event and a real 1947 CJ-2A. The book has its own website.
From Amazon.com, “Join Willy as his dream of becoming a fire truck takes some surprising twists and turns. Travel with him on an adventure that brings him from the sidelines to center stage and safely back home again.
Written originally as a Christmas present for a friend, WILLY has already captivated children of all ages. As one reviewer noted, “The book is written for a child, but has so much meaning for adults as well. I don’t mind admitting that a tear of joy rolled down my ‘headlight’ too!” Others have described Willy as “lovable,” “endearing,” and “plain ol’ fun.”
The story, penned by volunteer firefighter Don Estes, is based on actual events that happened in Clinton Corners, New York and Clinton, Connecticut.”
Before there were jeeps, drivers had to amuse themselves with vehicles somehow. Before there was Willys Overland there was just Overland. In 1907, wondering where 500 cars he ordered were, John North Willys found himself having to ask friends to inject cash into Overland after he discovered he wouldn’t get his cars if he didn’t (the company would have gone bankrupt). So, in 1920 you have an Overland (maybe the 1918 Overland 90 Touring model) made by Willys Overland, what can you do with it if you don’t have four wheel drive?
You jump it of course! On September 5, 1920, the driver below, Henry Alegria, a Basque Pioneer in Idaho, drove this four cylinder Overland touring car over an 18 foot gap between two ramps. I’m assuming he survived the jump. It looks pretty crazy, given the driver probably had no seat belt. I found the photo in a book by Arthur A. Hart called Life in Old Boise that someone gave me recently. The book has some great pics, which are more enjoyable if you know Boise, Idaho, at all.
I found a link to this fascinating book from the Olive Drab Site. Click on this link so they’ll get credit for the purchase from Amazon and view some of the pages. There are pics of early jeeps I’ve never seen before and I’ve been spending some time collecting pics for various histories I’m putting together. I’m adding it to my list of books to purchase.
Ok, this has nothing to do with jeeps, but the recipe was unusual enough that I thought I’d write about it …..
One of the first things I do when I move to a new place (and I’ve moved a lot) is that I get myself a library card. I love to read and pretty much exclusively checkout non-fiction books. I try to read about 5 a month or 60 a year, which I suppose makes me a book worm compared with the national average of 4 books a year. However, my reading pales in comparison to someone like Teddy Roosevelt (I highly recommend this book about TR), who even as president would read several books a day in multiple languages, reading 10s of thousands of books during his lifetime. Even more amazing, with his photographic memory, apparently he had an astounding ability to recall details of what he read even years later.
So, last night before going to sleep I was reading a book called The World of Caffeine, a history of caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate). As I read through the book, I came across this recipe for something I had never heard of before, Beer Soup, a popular breakfast dish up through the 18th century. As a former chef, an interesting recipe always catches my eye. This recipe was unusual enough, some might say gross enough, that I thought I’d share this treat(?).
BEER SOUP RECIPE from rural Germany in the 18th century:
“Heat the beer in a saucepan; in a separate small pot beat a couple of eggs. Add a chunk of butter to the hot beer. Stir in some cold beer to cool it, then pour over the eggs. Add a bit of salt, and finally mix all the ingredients together, whisking it well to keep it from curdling. Finally, cut up a roll, white bread, or other good bread, and pour the soup over it. You may also sweeten to taste with sugar.”
I don’t know when or where it came from, but at some point my parents obtained a book simply titled “The Jeep“. It was mostly a picture book, which as a young kid was perfectly fine with me. I open and looked through it many, many times. Ok, I still open it ….
However, it wasn’t just a book with a few pics of jeeps you see everyday. Instead, it’s a slim book full of a wide range of pictures. Of course, there’s the standard bantam, mb, seep, gpw, etc. But, there’s also, for example, 3 images of the Willys/Nuffied modified airborne jeep, seen to the right (though not from the book — it’s from a russian site — the book images of the Willys/Nuffield are at the bottom of this post).
I bring this up, as I ran across a copy of the book at the Boise Library today. So, I snapped a few images of the pictures with my digital camera (hence the poor quality – purchase the book to see them sharply) and will post a some of them.
I haven’t asked for permission to post them (I TRIED to, but can’t find the contact info for them), so I’ll add this pitch for the book. This book is a must for any jeep nut. While it’s a fairly small book with only 64 pages, the collectors prices (at amazon) were hovering around $45. It’s a perfect size for your kids. The organization responsible for publishing the book is the Olyslager Foundation (link?), which has published a number of other cool books listed at the Open Library Project.
Now for some cool, but poor quality pics to wet your appetite…
One of my favorite sections of the book show how quickly a crate jeep can be put together. The book documents this particular group only took 3 minutes and 31 seconds to put it togther.
