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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 .
This 1973 slide that was on eBay is taken from behind two DJ-3A Galas/Surreys. In the background are some DJ-5 Galas/Surreys.
Blaine shared this vintage photo. It’s undated, but the Jeep wagons are early enough that I would guess it’s a late 1940s or early 1950s photo? It was posted to the Our State website. The article is about early North Carolina drive-in culture.
The wagon on the right is obvious, but the one forward and to the left is kind of hidden.
JR spotted this photo in an Air Force Commemorative Facebook Group.lt looks to me like the ship is shown near San Francisco.
UPDATE II: I got curious about the origin of this photo. I wondered if the story behind this marathon could be found. After examining the wagon closely, I noticed just to the right of the fellow with the hat that Hill Motor Company was in ——S, GA. After some searches, I discovered that a Kirven’s store was located in Columbus, Ohio. Unfortunately, I could find no article associate with the photo on the internet or within newspapers.com.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
I wish I knew more about the story behind this photo.
One more article on the Colorado Calvacade, this time from the July 23, 1960, issue of Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel. The newspaper reported that the Cavalcades had escalated in popularity to the point that instead of one grand event, it was divided into four weekend events.
This report on the 1959 Jeep Cavalcade was published in Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel, August 25, 1959.
When looking over the 1960 Jeep Cavalcade brochure, I noticed it was the 3rd annual event. However, the 1959 brochure doesn’t mention it being the 2nd annual event. A newspaper clipping from 1958 solved that question. It turns out there was a 1958 advance trail exploration in 1958 to prep for the 1959 event, though it seems to have been more of a low key event when compared to the 1959 and 1960 cavalcades. This short newspaper article in the June 1, 1958, issue of the Fort Collins Coloradoan explains it:
This article appeared in Grand Junction’s Dailys Sentinenl on August 23, 1959:
UPDATE II: Hans shared this photo of a Willys Rail truck’s speedometer. The Auf Schiene appears to translate as “on track”, meaning the interior speedometer should be used while driving on a track.
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UPDATE: This article features the third Delaware & Hudson Hy-Rail Jeep Truck. It appears to be either #152 or #162. The article appeared in the July 30, 1957, issue of the Press and Sun Bulletin out of Binghamton, NY:
UPDATE: This post was first published September 25, 2014:
Joshua Regula-Morris has a neighbor who had an MB in Germany. The first photo shows him on his Jeep in 1946. The second photo shows the text on the back of the first photo. Apparently, some Germans restyled the jeep, resulting in photo #3. Joshua’s neighbor swears this is the same jeep. Before leaving Germany he sold it to a friend. You can just make out the shackles at the front below the bumpers. Unfortunately, there aren’t any photos from the side.
UPDATE: I thought this was a good post to revisit. I’ve added an obit to the post at the bottom.
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Originally Posted November 18, 2013: Australian Bill Pidgeon (Wikipedia) had a successful career as an illustrator, painter and correspondent from the 1920s through the 1970s. A three-time Archibald Prize winner, one of Bill’s descendants (Peter Pidgeon) has created a wonderful website devoted to Bill’s life. Among the items the site includes are drawings and photos of jeep trains encountered by Bill in the Pacific war-theatre during his trip as a war correspondent for The Australian Women’s Weekly. In his ‘war letters‘ are some detailed observations about daily life in Borneo following it’s release from Japanese control.
One of Bill’s more interesting observations was recorded in Borneo. On August 16th, 1945, he wrote:
From Labuan another four and a half hours of sitting on a barge like a redhot waffle iron will bring you to the area occupied by the 24th Bgde. This is the land of the celebrated jeep train. Steam engines used to haul the train from Weston to Jesselton but on their hurried way out the Nips did their best to incapacitate the locomotives and the RAAF filled the boilers full of holes. So the engineers put iron tyres on the jeeps and shoved them on the rails and hooked the trucks behind.
Here is an example of an illustration and photo published on the site. There are others from an August 4-6, 1945, letter:
An additional illustration sketched by Bill that might interest restorers includes a detailed look at designs and colors used to mark one jeep train.
Obituary from the February 18, 19i81, issue of The Age, out of Melbourne, Australia:
