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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 .
Given the page number of “78”, I’d guess this ad was in a magazine of some kind. I’m not sure if it was a pre-Berg-catalog ad or just part of its advertising strategy.
View all the information on eBay
Blaine share this auction of a series of Ride-the-ducks DUKWs (and DUKW-like vehicles) to be auctioned in July. As the video below demonstrates, Ride-the-Ducks was a huge tourist attraction until 2015 when one of the DUKWs suffered a mechanical failure, careened across aurora bridge traffic into bus, then teetered on the edge of the bridge (hanging over a spot is pretty close to my aunt’s houseboat on Lake Union). The accident and the resulting litigation doomed the company, resulting in it declaring bankruptcy in April of 2020.
https://www.murphyauction.com/Auction/Details/8254
Here’s one of the vehicles that’s being auctioned:
Two articles in the Austin American shared the news, both with a photo,that a calvacade of jeeps would be visiting Austin, Texas, Calvacades were also planned around the world for 1954, with jeeps visit 25 countries outside the United States.
This first article appeared in the April 21, 1954, issue of the Austin American-Statesman and featured a CJ-3B fire jeep:
This second article appeared in the April 22, 1954, issue of the Austin American-Statesman and featured a CJ-3B climbing a vertical wall:
This was a surprising find. Bulletin 256 by Koenig touted add-ons for the DJ-3A. I can’t imagine many DJ-3A owners purchased a winch. I can’t think of any DJ-3As that I’ve seen with a body extension either.
The website carver.wicklocal.com did a post about Jeep Funny cars, referencing the ‘godfather’ of jeep funny cars Ed Length, from Long Beach California (a name unknown to me, but then I haven’t followed the jeep funny car circuit).
The writer manages to dodge a reader’s question about what company made the first jeep (my nod is to American Bantam of course); instead the author references the first consumer jeep.
The “Secret Weapon” built by Ed Length and driven by Bob Wolford.
Another ad that includes the “billions of miles of service” phrase. This ad appeared in the December 1959 issue of Successful Farming.
View all the information on ebay
This February 1947 ad promises the farmers can use Hydraulic-LIft Implement with the Universal ‘Jeep’.
View all the information on eBay
“THIS IS A LARGE ORIGINAL 1947 ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE UNIVERSAL JEEP THAT YOU CAN USE ON HYDRAULIC LIFT IMPLEMENTS, MANUFACTURED BY WILLYS-OVERLAND MOTORS IN TOLEDO, OHIO. AD IS IN GREAT CONDITION AND HAS EXCELLENT GRAPHICS. AD MEASURES 12 7/8″ X 10″.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $125.
Tom spotted this toy for sale on Craiglsist. Another of these toys and box sold for $118 (plus an 18% buyers premium). A different version of this toy came with a search light (and sold in 2018 for $92).
“Made for Marx Buddy Charlie, GI Joe, and other 1/6 scale figures.
Jeep is in extremely good condition. Box in very good condition with cardboard inserts. Only real box damage is on a end flap. Tear on corner.
$125 firm.”
In the January 14, 1952, Newsweek put out an article about the jeep’s versatility. There are some interesting tidbits, such as the Chinese’s nickname for the jeep was “the vehicle of 10,000 capabilities”. The jeep was used to spear barracudas in the Virgin islands, play tag in Yakima, ski via jeep-joring in New England and Ontario, Canada,, and in Burma it was claimed that a jeep was once used to pull an elephant’s tooth.
This photo and caption was also included in a seemingly random area of the magazine, despite the fact that the same image appeared within the article.
UPDATE: More articles and better images have been added.
Originally published in November of 2014: Winter time means snow and ice for many folks. For people with jeeps, it means time to break out the skis, tow-rope and jeeps for some jeep-joring. Just mount yourself on some skis, tie the rope to the jeep, give a driver thumbs up and you’ll be jeep-joring behind a jeep like several generations before you. After all, how dangerous could it be?? **disclaimer: if you decide to do this and get hurt, this was not my idea. I’m only reporting it ….
Ski-Joring has been around for hundreds of years, though whether it started in Asia or in Europe is less clear.
When did jeep-joring begin? There’s evidence it was occurring as early as the winter of 1946-1947, in Ontario. These three articles suggest that the sport continued for at least seven years. The Violet Grafton image below made the rounds in a large number of papers.
Most of the Violet Grafton images were long and narrow, but this one was cropped differently:
January 29, 1948, issue of the Chicago Tribune. Violet Grafton from Greenwich, Connecticut, is pictured.
