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About eWillys
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.
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 .
On April 20, 1997, the Toledo Blade devoted an entire section of its newspaper to the jeep history, going all the way back to the construction of the Jewel sewing machine factory in 1885. While it isn’t a perfect history (for example Jeep did not copyright the name JEEP in 1946, they tried, and failed, to trademark it at that time), it’s still interesting with some photos and a historical time line.
This photo appeared in a September 06, 1943, promoting the jeep as a tractor.
A 1943 an interview with Barney Roos appeared in a Palm Beach newspaper that explored his automotive history. In the article, Roos promoted the jeep as a practical alternative to the standard tractor. Another article in the Milwaukee Journal seconded farmer’s optimism regarding the jeep (there were many articles promoting the jeep as a farm tractor. Here’s a September 06, 1943 article).
A year later, two Canadian Agricultural specialists were much less confident in the jeep’s potential, suggesting the jeep drove to fast, the transmission was not strong enough, and the jeep lacked power to be a good farm vehicle. Willys Overland must have agreed with those researchers, because they addressed those issues by installing lower gears, which both added power and slowed down the jeep. They also updated the transmission to the T-90.
I’ll begin with the 1944 Canadian article first as that is comparatively short.
By April 1942 newspaper editors weren’t sure what to call the new fangled quarter-ton bantam-willys-ford invention. The problem was highlighted in this Sarasota-Herald-Tribune article which surveyed editors’ uses of different descriptive words. Note the naval editor’s response at the very bottom of the article.
Eventually, a decision was made. In May of 1942 newspapers announced the armored division officially named the quarter-ton command/reconnaissance car the ‘Peep’, while the half-ton armored car was called the ‘Jeep’. The Milwaukee Journal published two photos to help readers distinguish between the two.
That’s a Ford GP at the top, while at the bottom is what I believe to be an early Dodge Command Car. You can view other earlier examples like the one above at the Command Car site.
This article in the Pittsburgh Press, in May of 1942 confirms that the names “jeep” and “peep” had been transformed from slang into legitimate words that could appear in dictionaries.
As late as 1984, some WWII vets didn’t know why they called the jeep a peep. According to this article in the Spokane-Review, Patton’s 3rd Army Armored Division continued to call the jeep a peep throughout the war.
The August 11, 1958, issue of the Sydney Morning Herald featured a long review of the CJ-3B, whose parts were imported into Australia and then assembled there. You can review the article at Google news as it original appeared or read my re-arranged version (for space purposes) below. The reviewer’s biggest complaint was due to the way the jeep is converted from left to right-hand drive, leaving the gearshift to the left of the transfer case shifters.
From the August 11, 1958 issue of the Sydney Morning Herald Page 5.
A February 1956 article in Willys News told the story of a special promotion in Wenatchee, Washington. Drivers who brought their jeeps could get into the local baseball game for free.
