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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 .
The two All American Wonder books go for around $38 a piece by themselves.
“Getting out of the WW2 hobby and have a collection of jeep books (most deal with WW2 jeeps) that I used to restore my 1945 Ford GPW jeep. If your already a jeep enthusiast, or contemplating perhaps getting into the hobby, this would be a great set of books for you.”
“This is a Vintage aluminum Jeep Willy cigarette lighter incised Baier on the front and Ges Gesch beneath and manufactured in Germany. In heavy cast aluminum, this unique WWII lighter measure 2 3/4″ long, 1 1/2″ high and 1 5/8″ wide. The lighter is in good condition with 4 rubber tread tires that spin and the rubber is appears unused. There are very small/short, shallow cracks radiating from the hubs on the front tires and on the spare.
The aluminum is a heavy guage and is in good condition for its age with some scratching, a few knicks and minimal tarnishing. The lighter does need some cleaning however I’ve left it untouched. The bottom panel slides out to reveal a clean compartment holding cotton material and allowing acces to the wick and filling with fluid.
In the actual lighter cavity on top of the lighter you will find a relatively clean compartment. The flip lid on this compartment operates easily. I have not tested the lighter and cannot speak to its usability.
This lighter was owned by only one gentleman, a WWII vet who acquired it while stationed in Germany.
These lighters were manufactured during WWII. The lighter is a 1948 design by Walter Baier who also patented. These lighters were meant as souvenirs for soldiers stationed primarily in Germany. It was designed to commemorate the Berlin airlift/blockade.”
“I have the jeep you never see on the road its 1946 CJ 2a that has a rebuilt motor 0 miles on it but you will have to install it but i will also give you a spare motor i also have the rebuilt trans 0 miles on it. It has a nice soft top inc. There are lots of new parts for it but all you have to do is install the rebuilt motor and lot of parts but i almost have all parts to put it fully back together but once your done you will have an aweasome historic vicheal that im only asking 3000 for”
“I am selling a 1943 Ford GPW. The D.O.D. is April of 1943. This Jeep has 3 combat rims and many “F “marked parts as well. It was bought several years ago with intentions of restoring it, but my work schedule has prolonged the project and I have chosen to sell it.”
I received a copy of the book “The American Jeep In War and Peace” By Kurt Willinger and Gene Gurney today that I bought on eBay. Between the purchase price and the shipping I don’t think I paid more than $7 total. With more than 350 illustrations, the book contains some drawings and some photographs I’ve never seen elsewhere.
One of the photographs I hadn’t seen shows a Jeep jumping over another jeep in a large Tokyo stadium. The captions reads “A rodeo put on by the military command in Tokyo in November 1945 would not have been complete without a demonstration of jeep-jumping”. After reading that, I jumped on the Googler to see what I could find. I didn’t find much in the picture department, but I learned plenty about Lt. Dick Ryan and his Army Rodeo. For example, I found this post by Wade Burck at The Circus No Spin Zone:
Army Rodeos were staged by Lt. Dick Ryan throughout the South Pacific. Many Rodeos were held for the entertainment of servicemen stationed in overseas bases–including Brisbane, Sydney, Grafton and Townsville, in Australia…Port Moresby, New Guinea; Hollandia, Dutch Indies and Manila…and a final victorious show in Tokyo on Armistice Day in 1945. Dick Ryan a Lieutenant in the United States Cavalry had an interesting and varied career. He was a circus rider, rodeo performer, Hollywood stunt man, motion picture double and finally the owner and producer of his own world famous rodeo and stunt show.
One of Ryan’s signature events was jumping a jeep over another one, as shown in the picture above. According to the US Military Forum (here and here), this image is photo of Ryan jumping a jeep in Brisbane, Australia.
And here is a program from a November 1946 event in Japan that was auctioned in 2007:
Not every one was a fan of the rodeo though. I found an excerpt from a diary written by Herbert L. Martin and published in a book in 2003 where Herbert recorded traveling eighteen miles to see “the much publicized rodeo at the Meiji Stadium in Tokyo” on November 11th, 1945. (This could mean that Herbert saw the very same rodeo in the picture at the very top of this post). Herbert wrote, “To be frank, the rodeo was a flop. The cowboys had no wild steers. They were tame and evidently tired. . . . the bronco busters had no vicious broncos either.” The only good news Herbert recorded that day were two football scores: “Army over Notre Dame, 48 to 0; Navy over Michigan, 33 to 7.”
Finally, I guess Lt. Dick Ryan made enough of an impression on the troop entertainment circuit, that Dick Haynes would play him in the movie “Four Jills in a Jeep“.