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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 .
According to NWJEEPN.com, an offroader made the mistake of going around a locked gate in order to explore some dirt roads in Clark County, WA. He was caught and punished. As part of his sentencing, he had to publicly apologize via the below YouTube Video. That seems a novel use of YouTube.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXGe9FBCE8
According to the University of Colorado, in 1943 Glenn Miller was asked to “organize a group of outstanding AAF bands to boost morale. Each would contain musicians especially selected from the draft. Each would be trained to play both inspiring marching music and outstanding dance band music. He envisioned himself as a morale and band builder. While working to achieve his objectives, Miller encountered frustrating opposition from some officers within the military bureaucracy. He did, however, have powerful allies in Washington, who helped him to circumvent red tape.”
Called the “Band of the Training Command of the Army Air Forces under the direction of Capt. Glenn Miller” and stationed at New Haven, Ct, Miller continued to run into some problems. “A famous, if exaggerated, story soon circulated wherein a military official scolded Miller for ruining traditional Army marching music, saying that Sousa marches were as perfectly fine in 1943 as they had been in 1917, to wit Miller reportedly replied, “Tell me, Major, are we still flying the same airplanes that we did in 1917?”
Despite continued flack from those who disagreed with Miller’s plans, Miller continued to make changes. A newsreel eventually captured a practice session. “The newsreel showed off what was called the ‘jeep band’. That is, the marching band’s big drum sets and drummers that were carried aboard jeeps and driven alongside the musicians as they marched on the Green or at the Yale Bowl. The AAF apparently thought Miller was doing the right thing because he simply kept on doing it, much to the delight of the young people in the services who were marching and listening to Miller’s “updated military music”.
This image comes from the University of Colorado Music Department. I searched for other images on the net, but didn’t have any luck.
You might have seen one or another of these images illustrated by Normal Rockwell, but did you know there’s a story as well? Published in the January 29th, 1944, edition of the Saturday Evening Post, the story was written by Wilbur Schram, who went on to be called the “father of communication studies” in the United States. The story appears to be a fun, fictional tale of a jeep named Wilbur and his exploits. Unfortunately, I could not find any copy of the full text anywhere on the net.
Here is the best snapshot I found on Flickr about the article.
Here are closeups also found on Flickr
Claus forwarded this story and pics today from South Africa. As I told him, marriage can be a rocky road, so it only makes sense to start out newlyweds in a jeep! You might remember Claus’ brother’s build, which can be seen here.
Claus writes, “The past weekend my brother was asked, by one of his friends, to provide his jeep as their wedding car. Apparently the jeep was centre of attraction and completely shadowed the newlyweds hehehe :-). It even was part of the decor at the reception hall.”
Craig spotted this cool image of an unusual “Eat More Bread” delivery truck. He believes it was shown at the Chicago Auto Show in 1960. I looked through the Chicago Auto archives, but didn’t have any luck finding other examples of it.
I found another example of this rig in “The Story of the Jeep“
According to the CJ-3B Page, Willys-Overland considered a large delivery truck back in the erly 1940s, but apparently decided not to pursue them at that time.
Sadly, Keith filed a post-tornado special report today. He noted that while he, his wife Patsy and their son survived the storm as it blew through Chattanooga, his truck wasn’t so lucky. To make matters worse, he was just about to install a new starter and get it running, but until he completed that fix he kept it uninsured. So, place your antenna flag at half mast and wish Keith and his family well.
I ran across these images today of a rusted CJ-2A. The photos were taken in 2008 by Dave Scottin Heathcote, Ontario, Canada, and posted on Flickr. Check out the governer throttle along with the 3 datatplates. I think this sitting in a junkyard or in an area with other rusted vehicles. If you scroll over the map on Flickr, you can see exactly where it is. I think there might even be some useful parts on this, too. Given the governor throttle, I wondered if it might have a rear PTO (Click on the 3rd photo and I think you will see the top of a cutoff PTO lever). You can even almost make out the serial number on the data plate (click on image 2).
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock, Ar, only exhibits one jeep (shown below), but they do have a variety of WWII Jeep photos in their archive, many of which include captions. Here are 8 of them. The photos are part of the Allison Collection of World War II Photographs, the captions of which come from the ACME wire service.
According to the Museum’s website, “James Allison, a sports writer working for the Houston Press, noticed that many photographs not printed in the daily newspaper were routinely discarded. He received permission to save these images, and by war’s end he had amassed a collection of more than 4,600 photographs. In August 1977, Allison donated his collection to the Arkansas Museum of Science and History”.
Craig shared this unusual FC with me. If you missed this featured FC at theFCConnection, click on the image below to see and learn a little more about this custom FC-170 Power Hoe.
Alex spotted this jeep-as-gathering-spot courtesy of photographer George Silk and Life Magazine. The image was taken in October 1945. I wonder if the film shot by the cameraman on the left still exists.
