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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 .
Tim contacted me to note that he published more images about Willys and Fidel from Cuba on willysjeep.com. Here is a little history of Fidel and Willys along with a gallery of images. I previously published a post about Cuba here. Tim continues to publish some truly unique items!
Here’s a sneak peak of an ambulance. I haven’t come across too many later model Willys Ambulances.
Here’s a couple images from the Library of Congress showing President Roosevelt cruising the American troops in Morocco.
Here’s one image: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01227
Here’s a second image: morocco2: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01229
Gerald forwarded me some classic offroad postcards he owns. He says he’s got some more and I look forward to see them! These three cards take us across the country.
We start at Cape Cod:
Here is a card from South Dakota:
Finally, here’s a shot from the Oregon Dunes.
I really like the composition of this image. One thing I had not seen before was a gun mounted to the windshield. I guess they didn’t drop the windshield?
“Four men in a jeep at the Dusty Hollow Training Center included the following members of an airfield security detachment in Hawaii. Front seat (left to right): Private Lester H. Howell, Statesville, North Carolina and Private First Class Thomas Irvin, North Ashville, Tennessee. And rear: Private Arthur W. Blakemore, Saint Louis, Missouri and Private First Class Donald Wilson, Sanford, Florida” — Library of Congress
These images of maneuvers out of Fort Riley, Kansas, are some of the most calvary-like jeep pics I think I’ve seen. I suppose the older army cavalry hats contribute to that, too. These are all shot by photographer Jack Delano and hosted at the Library of Congress.
I seem to have the wrong LOC links, so I’ll have to grab them tomorrow and add them.
According to the Library of Congress, there was a serious scarcity of crude rubber, so reclaimed rubber made from scrap was required to meet demands. All Americans were encouraged to donate used or worn out rubber articles to the nation’s scrap piles.
As part of that campaign, Judy Canova, star of stage and screen, opened her personal salvage drive for scrap rubber in September 1942 by donating her personal slingshot to the drive. Behind here is an image I’ve seen before, but I’ve never seen it used as part of the ‘Save Rubber’ campaign.
Many thanks to Tim from the WillysJeep.com site for sharing these unusual images. He notes he has many more. I suspect over the next few months as the site grows it will become an important library of information. Thanks Tim!
The timing of these photos is fascinating, as early 1959 was the ending of the Cuban Revolution and the assumption of control of Cuba by Castro. Based on a few searches I just completed, it appears Fidel was a fan of jeeps and there are multiple references of him riding in a jeep.
And, in the last photo, that is Fidel himself.
Here’s a pic I’d like to get. After recieving the pics from Tim, I did a little research. Here is a video of an image of Fidel and Che Guerva posing in a Jeep in April of 1959. Unfortunately, I do not understand what the narrator is saying.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-rg8DEFuhE
Some of the folks over at the ww2talk.com website had a discussion regarding the Museo Storico Piana delle Orme – Latina (Italy). The museum describes itself as a “historical theme park designed to accommodate one of the largest and most diverse collections in the world: planes, tanks, locomotives, wagons, radio, weapons and hundreds of military vehicles, agricultural tractors, threshers, trams and coaches, tools and thousands of objects of all types and sizes. Dedicated to the twentieth century, the Museum is a journey through 50 years of Italian history. 14 themed to tell the traditions and culture of the peasant, the great works of improvement, the Second World War but also to show the vehicles and means at the dawn of industrialization and great toys with which children entertained themselves.”
For the purposes of ewillys, the highlight of the trip might just be the opportunity to check out these two modified flatties a little closer (ok, hopefully we could find many more highlights as well!)
In the foreground, we have a MB that has been converted into a tow truck. Behind, and to the left, is a jeep with a water tank(?) on the back of it. Maybe a water transporter? This photo was taken by “Captain Bill”.
Doing some research on Warn hubs this morning, I ran across this image on Warn’s corporate website. This may very well be the original Warn Motor’s Service station in Seattle, Washington, where Arthur Warn developed his early ‘Summer Hubs’ as Mike refers to them. Note the signs atop the roof, “Jeeps” and “Warn Motors”.
If there were just one of these trucks, i would call it a custom one-off project. However, two of these suggest to me this was a kit of some kind? It kind of looks like the prototype for the Willys we have named a Tender.
I wish I had found a complete picture of this truck from Camden, NJ, but it appears we’ll have to make due with a partial image. I think that’s supposed to be a wooden typewriter on top. Here’s the original link.
“Sitting on the wall are Mr. Robison’s nephews and niece, Tony, Annamarie and Joe Di Paola Jr. In the background, parked on the Haddon Avenue side of 964 Pine Street is the Willys truck belonging to Robison’s Typewriter and Cash Register Repair.”
