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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 .
Prior to the finalization of the MB Jeep, The American Bantam, Ford, and Willys all created pilot and prototype jeeps in an attempt to win Army contracts. Bantam built the very first jeep, the Bantam BRC. They also built the BRC-60 and BRC-40. Ford built the Pygmy, the Budd, and the GP. Willys built the Willys Quad and the Willys MA. Checker appears to have built one based on Bantam parts. Finally, are rumors of a jeep by York-Hoover, but I’ve never nailed down actual pictures. See this post: http://www.ewillys.com/2010/03/14/york-hoover-all-terrain-prototype/
I don’t think I’ve shared this specific jeep-trailer photo. It was posted by Morihisa Ochi on the G503 Facebook page. He’s posted a number of interesting WWII-jeep photos.
Mario posted this ad to Facebook. It was published September 22, 1941, in Time Magazine. It’s unique in that it shows three of the prototype jeeps .. The Bantam BRC-60, The Willys MA (2 of them), and the Ford GP. The ad was created by DeVilbiss Spray Systems of Toledo, Ohio.
This video was part of the press release information by Ford that introduced the new Ford GP. We’ve seen much of this footage previously.
“This black and white 1941 demonstration film, produced by Ford Motion Picture Laboratories and narrated by Michigan sportscaster Harry Wismer, shows U.S. Army Truck, ¼ ton 4×4 Command Reconnaissance vehicles in action at and around the Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan (TRT 0:23).
Opening titles (0:07). Dedication: “This film is respectfully dedicated to the officers and men of the United States Army in the name of American Industry…” (0:27).
A trio of Ford 4×4 Reconnaissance Cars or GPW “Jeeps” exit a Ford River Rouge Plant garage in single file. Edsel Ford, president of the Ford Motor Company delivers the initial order of 1,500 U.S. Army cars to then-Brigadier General Charles H. Bonesteel III, speaking into a WXYZ radio microphone (0:45). Continue reading →
This April 21, 1943, ad in the Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas) encourages kids to join a jeep club designed to raise money through war bond sales. It includes an illustration of a Ford GP.
Published March 28, 2021: Here’s another, earlier jeep photo, including a dedication by Charles Payne, related to Senator Claude Pepper in a Bantam BRC-40. According to the Florida State University Digital Archives, Senator Robert Reynolds is driving the jeep, Senator Claude Pepper is in the passenger seat, and Charles Payne and Harold Crist are seated in the back. The photo is dated May 1941.
Also, according to a June 02, 1968, column by Larry King in the Miami Herald, there was a video taken of Senator Pepper riding up the steps and it was to be shown on TV on June 30, 1968. I was unable to find the video on the internet.
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ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 09, 2012: This pictures tells the tale of Senator Claude Pepper‘s bid for re-election as a Senator from Florida in the 1950 race. Like his jeep, Senator Pepper’s campaign crashed that year as well.
PHOTO CREDIT: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/36090 CAPTION: Addressed to George Smathers from his friend Carl L. Hahn, an accompanying note says, “Here’s what is left of the Pepper machine in Palm Beach County – Souvenir of your successful 1950 campaign.”
The accident led to a lawsuit against the driver and Senator Claude Pepper. The appeared in the August 04, 1950, issue of the Palm Beach Post:
This 1942 Americar Brochure includes a page that shows the Willys MA. I dropped out of the bidding at $30. I’ll keep my eye open for a cheaper version of this brochure.
The following images might show the entire brochure in the correct order. Note the page showing the Americar’s “Willys Chassis” … anyone know how similar this was in size to the wagon chassis?
The War Production Board produced several different “Father’s Day” posters (other posters at the gov archives), including this one with an illustration of a Bantam BRC-60. It also included a letter, though it’s not clear to me how the letter and poster would have been displayed (newspaper? magazine?). Father’s Day fell on June 21st in 1942.
A side photo of Smiley, John Henkels ‘new’ Ford GP.
The January 30, 1944, Sunday issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune made John Henkels and his son front page news for the purchase of their 1941 Ford GP from Wilensky’s auto parts. What a cold drive back to Fulda, Minnesota, that must have been!
This ad appeared within the classified ad section of the October 04, 1946, issue of the Minneapolis Star. It was posted by American Motor Sales, which was located at 1220 West Broadway. Whether the company actually had Ford GPs for sale isn’t clear; most likely, it was just standard MBs or GPWs.
A few days later, the Downtown Chevrolet Company advertised in the October 09, 1946, issue of the Minneapolis Star that they had 100 surplus jeeps available for customers:
Subsequently, an ad was placed by Twin City Motors, which also claimed to have jeeps (either GPWs or FORD GPs or both):
So, how did these companies obtain the jeeps? As we saw yesterday, there were some bidding opportunities that allowed Hyman Berg and others the opportunity to purchase multiple prototype jeeps. So, perhaps these Minneapolis-based companies also scored some prototypes that way?
What we do know is that the government was selling jeeps to veterans (previous stories highlight sale in Hawaii and California). And, those jeeps sold pretty quickly.
For example, in late 1945, the government’s War Asset group put 10,000 jeeps up for purchase by veterans. Those 10,000 jeeps were promptly sold (November 30, 1945, the Star Tribune):
A month later, an article from the Dec 08, 1945, issue of the Minneapolis Star, announced that another batch of 10,000 jeeps had been made available as of December 1945: Continue reading →
This Berg’s brochure is interesting in that it contains no references to the CJ-2A or a civilian jeep, suggesting that it came out between 1944-1945 (to me it looks a little earlier than this Berg mailer). Within the flier, Berg claims Berg Truck & Parts Co. was begun in December of 1942 to sell JEEPS. He also notes that the company had appeared in news reels, magazines, and Life Magazine.
Here’s the front page of the brochure:
This is the back page.
When opened, you’ll find this third small page. Since Berg is offering standard jeep parts for sale, it can be assumed that this flier is at least from 1944. Note the trailer chassis ad, too.
When flipped over, the brochure offers an array of Ford, Willys, and Bantam jeep parts.
When fully opened, there are even more military-related parts, but no word of civilian parts:
This is how the back looks when fully opened.
Interestingly, while Berg’s Truck Parts may have opened in 1942, Berg didn’t receive any jeeps until November of 1943 and it was only 16 jeeps (likely aall were prototypes). Here’s a report of those first jeeps from the November 27,1943, issue of the Chicago Tribune:
A month later, in December of 1943, this press photo showed the ‘King of Jeeps’ himself Hyman Berg loading up one of those jeeps, a Bantam BRC-40:
