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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 .
UPDATE: First posted October 15, 2017.
The February 1955 issue of Kaiser Willys News showcased a mail carrier who put 138,000 miles on a wagon in the Idaho/Yellowstone area.
These two Toledo Blade articles, one from 1991 and the other from an unknown time, discuss Al-toys and their upcoming sales. If anyone has a truck, wagon, Jeepster, or fire jeep Al-Toy they are considering selling, let me know!
This article shows Jim Cook’s collection, which includes two different fire engine Al-Toys.
UPDATE: Thanks to Jan for pointing out that on page 4 are two photos of a 2A with a driver’s side spare tire. That would suggest that this issue was printed later than around mid-1948. Given the Santa highlight on the cover, I’d say the Fall/Winter of 1948 prior to the introduction of the CJ-3A. If that’s the case, then maybe these came out every six months?
Thanks to Jan in the Netherlands for sharing a scanned version of the late 1940s issue of ‘Jeep’ News Volume 1, Number 6. The “Cristie’s” at the top of the banner is a reference to Cristie’s Garage out of Monticello, New York.
I wonder if the Mahl Loader shown in a photo on Page 6 out of Minnesota is the one that was restored here.
This June 28, 1970, article form the Lexington Herald describes tours of Kentucky’s Red River area via a modified FC-170. The business was started by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bowen with a VW bus, but it’s easy to imagine that a better vehicle was needed.
I looked for additional articles about this endeavor, but didn’t have any luck locating anything.
Rick Krueger is hoping to pull together some information for the folks at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. So, if you think you might have some information that would help Rick, email him at das.krueg @ gmail.com (remove the spaces around the @).
Rick wrote, “I have a line on Larry Hughes son Cameron. Dean Richards, Lonnie Richards grand father was a friend of my fathers and Gary Lowes. Dean and Gary played an important part in a boating accident I was in. The name Toy Hall has come up as Commander on a certificate I have found for and award to SNORE in the 70s. So any info from Lionel would be great. Also tracking down a ambulance buggy snore donated to the posse in the 70s. The ORMHOF seems interested so I would like to pull as much together as possible.”
MILE-HI Jeep Club History: Among the online collections at the ORMHOF are some great old photos and history from the Mile-Hi Jeep Club (How is there no PNW4WDA history/race-history here?): https://ormhof.org/mile-hi-collection
Here is one example of what is posted there. This photo shows the inaugural issue of the Mile HI Club’s Jeep Club News in December 1956.
PHoto Credit: The Mile Hi Jeep Club and the ORMHOF
This November 22, 1941, article in the New York Daily news about a British strike force in Libya that used some jeeps. The jeep pictured appears to be the original Ford Pygmy.
This article appeared in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper on August 08, 1949. The newspaper titled the photo caption “Morality Jeep”, though it’s not clear that the police department ever revered to it as such. It seems a mischaracterization of a patrolman who used a CJ-3A to patrol the beach.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This is a reprint of the first page of the March 1963 Jeep News. Notably, it discusses the two main reasons behind the change. 1) Kaiser Jeep was meant to identify the company as ‘one of the growing Kaiser “family of industries”‘. 2) It was meant to align the company with the ‘Jeep’ trademark and insure ‘Jeep’ was applied to the entire line of products around the world.
Chris shared this article from September 09, 1954, about jeeping in Virginia. The article’s page was rolled a bit when scanned, so the title isn’t completely clear, but I believe the headline should be “Jeep Jaunts Over Rugged Mountain Trails is Now Popular Sport in Gap”. Thankfully, better pics from this article were posted to Facebook.
In 1969, a local group in northern Utah launched the Golden Spike Jeep Rally, an event that occurred in conjunction with the Ogden Pioneer Days in Late July. I know for sure the event took place in 1969 and 1970, but don’t know how long it lasted.
Events included hill climbs at Rainbow Gardens and an Obstacle Race at Mount Ogden Park, both Saturday and Sunday.
This photo and caption were printed in the June 27, 1969, Hill Top Times (Hill Airforce Base):
This article and photo was printed in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on July 23, 1970.
A photo from the May 30, 1959, issue of the Eugene Guard showing the FC-170 “EL Borrego” with the Boyds.
UPDATE: This series of articles was first published in 2015. I’ve updated with several additional articles and photos.
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(First published February 15, 2015) This interesting collection of news articles captures Howard & Ora Boyd’s 1958 trip in an FC to South America. The first article was published prior to the trip. The second was published during the trip. The third was published following the trip. I was only able to find one photo and it was poor at best. It may have been that the Boyd’s got the idea from the Schreiders, who did nearly the same route three years before them.
Howard Boyd died in 1993, but Ora Boyd lived until 2009, dying at the age of 106, meaning she was born around 1903. Living much of their lives near Eugene, Oregon, according to her obituary their year-long jeep trip was one of her all-time favorite memories. The obituary was published in the Talent, Oregon, Historical Society newsletter, so I’ve written them to see if we can learn more.
1. This October 31, 1958, EugeneRegister-Guard article discusses trip preparations. The Boyds had a custom camper built for their FC (though no articles mention the model of the vehicle — it looks to me like an FC based on the pic below). They named their jeep “El Borrego”.
2. November 09, 1958 Eugene Guard .. brief article:
3. December 14, 1958, from the Eugene Guard:
Jeep races used to be a near weekly event during the summer back in the 1970s. Below are examples of Pacific Northwest 4Wheel Drive Association (PNW4WDA) races held between 1967 and 1970 near my local Eastern Washington community.
It’s hard to believe gived the growth in the Tri Cities (an area consisting of three cities–Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, all separate by rivers) in southeast Washington that races were held near Columbia Point. Now, that area is either wetlands, parks, or homes. Here are several articles with names I’m familiar with. These races were held in conjunction with the annual Water Follies celebration, an event still being held, though without jeep races, though the unlimited hydros still run.
From the June 4, 1967, issue of the Tri Cities herald:
An article later in the year contained some great images (July 16, 1967 Tri City Herald):
The results of the race were reported in the July 24, 1967 issue of the Tri City herald:
The July 20, 1969, issue included this pic from the racing:
Two days later, the July 22, 1969, issue of the Tri City Herald published the results:
