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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 .
During 1961, along with non-animal-related brochures, Willys Motors produced this series of ads using different animals. It appears they were only produced between January and September of 1961.
January 1961: Dog
February 1961: Busy Bee
March 1961: Horse
April 1961: Lion
I finally found an original of this brochure on eBay, so here it is. It’s another of the “animal series” of brochures that was published in 1961. This is Form DM61-07.
This is the front page.
This form is opened vertically to reveal this page:
The brochure is opened horizontally to reveal this page:
This is the back when unopened:
Forget April showers, it’s snowed here the last couple of days in Prosser, setting an April record for snow. We lost power for most of yesterday morning. Updates Wed morning.
Meanwhile, the snow followed Mitch Carter down to Moab, so the usually sunny Easter Jeep Safari week started with a blanket of snow.
At he got some good jeeping on Monday pre-snow (more pics on FB):
Barry Thomas’ photo of this farm working CJ-5 landed on the cover of this month’s Farm Collector Magazine. Congrats to Barry! (it is great photo).
If you have a subscription to Farm Collector Magazine, you should be able to read Barry’s article, too.
UPDATE: Just to be clear, this is not preassembled. It is a kit that needs assembly.
John forwarded me this link to a scale model jeep kit, roughly 22″ long, being sold through MegaHobby.com. At $260.96, it isn’t cheap, but it appears to be a detailed larger scale model. The model is produced by Dragon, which is short for Dragon Models Limited, a company out of Hong Kong, that has been making military diecaet models since 1987.
https://www.megahobby.com/products/1-4-ton-4×4-truck-w-50cal-machine-gun-1-6-dragon.html
A few months ago Nate shared a few pics of a Willys Electric Light Plant. Below are a few more. He has even more pics and info on the earlyCJ-5 page: http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/151693/
For those going to the Willys Picnic this year, it sounds like he will be bringing it along (June 12th Kempton, PA).
Dave asked me about the type of adapter used on DJ-3As and FJs to connect an automatic transmission (which may have been the Borg Warner model 12 according to David Sapp mentioned in his comment to this post, though I have no documented evidence of this, but it should be out there somewhere). Essentially, a adapter plate is bolted to the back of an L-head/F-head engine, to which the transmission bell housing attaches.
After some searching, Dave spotted the adapter in an FJ supplement book. Here are the pics.
Meanwhile, a discussion from 2012 on the topic of DJ-3A automatic transmissions yielded these pics showing a BW transmission connected to an L-head with a similar looking plate.
As for the rare shifter that’s been captured in some pics, this pic is the best I have (from a DJ-3A automatic). It confirms Barry Goodwin’s comment on another post that the transmission lacked a “Park” feature. Instead, the driver would put it in neutral when parking (and I assume pull the parking brake).
If anyone has a document that confirms it was the M-12 BW transmission that was used, or has more pics or is aware of other useful discussions on this topic, please let me know. There isn’t much info about these setups on the web.
FYI: Based on my research, it appears the Willys Aero cars of the 1950s used a GM Hydramatic rather than a BW transmission.
This neat quarter-sized Sacramento Jeepers pin is available on eBay for $14.95 (or make offer) and free shipping.
View all the information on eBay
“US Quarter is there to show size. This item will be packed well and Shipped with USPS First Class with tracking.”
Mike shared this video of a brief MD Juan factory tour. The video, in part, demonstrates the scope of equipment necessary to make some of the parts. It’s not a trivial investment in stamps and computer equipment.
One of the rarest type of jeeps hubs are the Kurland hubs. I’ve only had one pic of these hubs (thanks to Ted Jordan) until yesterday when Richard Darr forwarded me a photo of a set of hubs he acquired. This led me to a quick dive into the internet, which yielded the following.
A variety of searches related to “Kurland” and “Kurland Motors” yielded results in both Los Angeles (a city whose name appears on the hub) and Denver. In fact, there were Kurland Motor companies in Los Angeles, Denver, and Grand Junction, Colorado (also known as Kurland Junction Motors).
The Denver location was opened as early as August 1946, as an ad in the Windsor Beacon out of Windsor, Colorado, mentioned the new Universal Jeep arriving for delivery (soon).
I couldn’t location much information about this Denver Willys distributor, other than Kurland Motors was instrumental in the launch of the Mile High Jeep Club in 1956 and that Kurland Motors, at least for a short time, marketed Kurland-branded bumpers about that same time.
Regarding Kurland Junction Motors, I was able to locate this ad from February 22, 1948, (The Daily Sentinel, GC, CO):
Now, were the Denver/Grand Junction Kurland dealers connected to the Kurland Motors of Los Angeles that also sold Willys-Overland vehicles? If they were related, I have yet to find a connection. But, at least I was able to unearth more information about the LA Kurland.
CREDIT: December 05, 1948, issue of the Los Angeles Times
As the article suggests, the Transport Motor Company lost some key personnel. Perhaps Transport Motors had decided to exit its Willys-Overland relationship?
At some juncture, it appears Kurland launched a line of free-wheeling hubs. These hubs were stamped with 1) KURLAND, 2) Los Angeles and 3) Patent Pending. Unfortunately, I could find no patents related to the hubs. In fact, the only information I could find related to the hubs was a reference to a CJ-2A being sold with a set of the hubs.
November 10, 1955, Independent News, Long Beach, CA.
Here are the only pics I have of the hubs:
CREDIT: Richard Darr
CREDIT: Ted Jordan