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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 .
Bill shared this video of Mr. Metalshaper showing some issues he encounters while rebuilding some L-heads. Check it out on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9hRYtIv0Tk
A photo from the May 30, 1959, issue of the Eugene Guard showing the FC-170 “EL Borrego” with the Boyds.
UPDATE: This series of articles was first published in 2015. I’ve updated with several additional articles and photos.
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(First published February 15, 2015) This interesting collection of news articles captures Howard & Ora Boyd’s 1958 trip in an FC to South America. The first article was published prior to the trip. The second was published during the trip. The third was published following the trip. I was only able to find one photo and it was poor at best. It may have been that the Boyd’s got the idea from the Schreiders, who did nearly the same route three years before them.
Howard Boyd died in 1993, but Ora Boyd lived until 2009, dying at the age of 106, meaning she was born around 1903. Living much of their lives near Eugene, Oregon, according to her obituary their year-long jeep trip was one of her all-time favorite memories. The obituary was published in the Talent, Oregon, Historical Society newsletter, so I’ve written them to see if we can learn more.
1. This October 31, 1958, EugeneRegister-Guard article discusses trip preparations. The Boyds had a custom camper built for their FC (though no articles mention the model of the vehicle — it looks to me like an FC based on the pic below). They named their jeep “El Borrego”.
2. November 09, 1958 Eugene Guard .. brief article:
3. December 14, 1958, from the Eugene Guard:
UPDATE: Today I removed the tube bender from its box, only to find that the collar for the tube bender had irregular holes that had been “patched” by welding two spacers to the outside of it. But, that modification meant that the bolt was no long enough, meaning one of the two sides of the collar would be riding over the threads. Given the importance of the collar, this “fix” is unacceptable, so this bender will get returned.
Below you can see that both holes are irregular, so a spacer has been welded to the outside. What are these people thinking?
The bolt next to the collar is the stock bolt. I happened to have a similar bolt that was longer and better for this application. However, given the poor quality collar, I will be returning this device.
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As mentioned, a couple weeks ago we had the estate sale, which consumed WAY too much of my time. First there was the setup. Then, there was the rain, so then we had to re-setup using part of the shop (which meant moving stuff out of the shop like the race jeep), hanging tarps to hide tools, etc. In the end, the rain stopped Saturday at 4am and began Sunday at 3pm, which gave us a decent window to sell stuff.
We sold or gave away quite a bit, but there were still multiple trips to donation centers, a trip to recycling, and several trips to the dump. Then, once completed, we still had to reorganize the remainder.
The good news is that a lot of crap left the shop, which gives me much more room than I’ve had. Also. good news, the weather has finally warmed up, with blue sky and no rain.
So, I finally returned to work on the racer, though the work was mostly grinding/cutting off the remaining pieces of the rear front spring holders and the former mounts of the side bars. With that done, I can now fit the new side bars.
Before:
After:
I’d prefer to take the whole thing apart to better clean up and paint the frame, but that can wait until winter. For now, I am focusing on functionality over style (though the green will be painted black before the body is installed).
With the grinding done, I’m not far from being able to begin work on the roll cage. The new cage will be wider (for the wider Parkette body) and roomier (so I fit better). To build the cage I needed to get some new tools.
My plasma cutter arrived a few days ago, along with my tube bender (from Affordable Bender). I was going to build another bender, but I cannot locate printed copies of my bender plans nor can I find the password to the PDF I received from gotTrikes.com (locked PDF .. and no response from the gotTrikes website for a new password). So, after some research, I decided to take a chance on the AffordableBender, which as gotten pretty good reviews.
The thing I am awaiting now is my new MIG welder, which was supposed to arrive around June the 9th. It is now expected to arrive June 29th.
Dave Morgan shared this video taken by his father. With some research, Dave figured out the video was from the 1960 Gold Country Classic (I like the ‘backing a trailer event’ idea; it’s something different), a jeep event held by the Sacramento Jeepers Jeep Club. There is no sound.
You can learn more here: https://www.oldwillysforum.com/forum/index.php?threads/cool-video-jeep-rally-in-n-california-c-1960.24095/
Jeep races used to be a near weekly event during the summer back in the 1970s. Below are examples of Pacific Northwest 4Wheel Drive Association (PNW4WDA) races held between 1967 and 1970 near my local Eastern Washington community.
It’s hard to believe gived the growth in the Tri Cities (an area consisting of three cities–Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, all separate by rivers) in southeast Washington that races were held near Columbia Point. Now, that area is either wetlands, parks, or homes. Here are several articles with names I’m familiar with. These races were held in conjunction with the annual Water Follies celebration, an event still being held, though without jeep races, though the unlimited hydros still run.
From the June 4, 1967, issue of the Tri Cities herald:
An article later in the year contained some great images (July 16, 1967 Tri City Herald):
The results of the race were reported in the July 24, 1967 issue of the Tri City herald:
The July 20, 1969, issue included this pic from the racing:
Two days later, the July 22, 1969, issue of the Tri City Herald published the results:
If you head toward Yellowstone, but it still remains closed (roads got his pretty heavily due to rains/flooding), you might detour to the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Wy. This huge collection of military vehicles includes multiple jeeps.
George Bondora posted these to FB:
Jim shared this photo from a cookbook of the McDonnell Aircraft Company’s Fire Vehicles, including several jeeps. I tried to learn more, but my searches were a bust. Anyone recognize how the modified CJ-5 might have been used?
It was a beautiful morning in southwestern Ohio, so Roger took his wife’s grandkids to some breakfast this morning in his 1947 CJ-2A. it was was painted Jade Green in 1967.
His jeep still looks as good as it did when I drove it in 2013…
UPDATE: This is not for sale.
Roger shared these pics of an air-cooled engine he has. He showed it off at this year’s Willys Rally. It’s an air-cooled engine with “WILLYS” cast on the valve cover and intended for use as a generator, though he was told it was the same engine used in the M-274 Mule.
UPDATE: This updated post from 2012 now includes photos taken by David Carr at LA County’s Cabrillo Beach. The three photos below are on a wall as part of a “wall-of-fame”.
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From June 28, 2012: Over the past 100 years Los Angeles County has used a variety of vehicles to manage their beaches. As part of a retrospective, the article below shows a few of them, along with welcoming some new hybrids into the County system. All photos belong to LA County’s Life Guard Association.
Here are two GPWs (the pics were from a now defunct blog):
Bathing beauties were still posing on county lifeguard trucks in 1959.
Buz unearthed this CJ-2A Life Guard Jeep used by the city of Los Angeles (vs. the county). Though the caption accompanying the jeep suggests this was war surplus, it’s clear this is a civilian rig. The rear extension is interesting, though doesn’t look neatly done.
