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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: **Status Unknown** Was $26,000. The pics shown at the bottom are from an older ad, but are more comprehensive.
“49 Jeep Willys CJ2A show quality, great restoration project, every piece professionally done. SBC 383 stroke motor, turbo 350 transmission, custom 9” rear with 4.11. Stainless steel and chrome every where. Not for off road but could make it that way, more for cruising. Clean title in hand. Selling because I bought a new house”
Older pics:
We’ve been extra busy here tending to Ann’s mom. She’s in home hospice and is bed ridden, so Ann and I are trading off evening shifts, with some help from family members during the day. She’s somewhat lucid, better during the day and worse at night and in the morning. We don’t know if she has a day or a week to live, but she doesn’t appear to have long. She’s kept us fairly busy throughout most of the pandemic (since about Nov 2019). Hopefully, she passes soon in her sleep. This is part of the reason eWillys continues to be on hiatus.
Blaine shared this vintage photo. It’s undated, but the Jeep wagons are early enough that I would guess it’s a late 1940s or early 1950s photo? It was posted to the Our State website. The article is about early North Carolina drive-in culture.
The wagon on the right is obvious, but the one forward and to the left is kind of hidden.
JR spotted this photo in an Air Force Commemorative Facebook Group.lt looks to me like the ship is shown near San Francisco.
Scott shared this link to a Watercolor painting by C. Baij. It shows American Soldier Uncle John 507 PIR; 82 ABN in France. He spotted it online at the Las Laguna Art Gallery.
UPDATE IV: Here’s another Knox, this time owned by Clint. It appears to have a few mods:
UPDATE III: While searching for any info on Knox trailers, Brandon ran across this post. So, he sent in some pics of his Knox trailer. He recently sold it.
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UPDATE II (From July 13, 2021) : Here’s another example of a Knox trailer that Jared recently purchased:
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $300
Glenn spotted this top for sale, most likely sold by Sears and made by Meyers. Hopefully, someone can use it.
“Nice aluminum top with doors, door mounting pieces and windshield header. It’s in nice shape, not beat up. This will fit a Willys CJ2A, CJ3A, WWII Willys MB or Ford GPW. Hard to find in this shape. Looks to be a Sears tops based on photos I could find.”
UPDATE II: I got curious about the origin of this photo. I wondered if the story behind this marathon could be found. After examining the wagon closely, I noticed just to the right of the fellow with the hat that Hill Motor Company was in ——S, GA. After some searches, I discovered that a Kirven’s store was located in Columbus, Ohio. Unfortunately, I could find no article associate with the photo on the internet or within newspapers.com.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
I wish I knew more about the story behind this photo.
UPDATE VII: A set of NOS Free-Lock hubs included documentation stating that by December of 1973 Free-Lock had become a “Quality Division” of Dualmatic Products Company. So, I believe this suggests that Free-Lock was acquired by Dualmatic, so now the questions are 1) when did this happen and 2) why didn’t Dualmatic use the branding sooner than circa 1970 (there was a gap between the end of Free-Lock in 1959 and the re-emergence of the brand circa late 1960s or early 1970s).
UPDATE VI: I located a set of Free-Lock hub instructions that are a pre-view for a later set of near identical Dualmatic instructions. This is clear documentary evidence that Dualmatic was linked to Free-Lock.
UPDATE V: I recently packed many of my father’s tools to bring them back to Prosser. I was a regular user of them when working on my bicycles, then my jeeps. So, I thought I knew them pretty well. That is why I was so surprised and did a double take when I removed this tool from a drawer and read the name stamped on it: FREE-LOCK WRENCH …
What??? Where’d that come from? I once asked Dad about Free-Lock hubs, but he didn’t know anything about them. So, I don’t know how he obtained it.
Anyway, given the primitive nature of it, I’d have to guess it was a first generation version of the wrench. As seen below, a second, more elegant curved-design with a better branding stamp was likely introduced after this version.
Here’s a reminder of the other version of the Free Lock Wrench:
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UPDATE IV (From February 12, 2017): This page contains two later model Free-Lock hubs that resemble Selectro hubs. My theory is that Free-Lock might have evolved into the Selectro Company: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/07/08/selectro-husky-dualmatic-overview/
UPDATE III: Thanks to Steve, we’ve discovered an additional version. It is now number 5, which seems to be an evolutionary step between 4 & 6.
UPDATE II: Thanks to Frank Day and his grandfather Merton, who saved this rare piece, here is a scan of an eight page brochure related to the Free-Lock corporation.
UPDATE II: Dinesh obtained these Thor-Automatic looking hubs, but on the cover they read Allstate Power Matic rather than Thor. I suspect they are Thor hubs rebranded for Allstate. Here are some pics:
Here is a the interior portion of a set of Thor hubs:
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UPDATE (May 24, 2021): The October 1963 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine include this Thor-designed product to make shifting the transfercase more convenient. It moves the shifter from the passenger-side of the transmission to the driver’s side. I imagine there are few, if any, of these shifters out there.
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Originally published April 9, 2017:
More information on some of these companies can be found here: http://www.ewillys.com/2019/07/08/selectro-husky-dualmatic-overview/
White Manufacturing Co. (also known as White Automotive and Whitco over time) was started in the late 1950s by Richard T, Bingman and partners. The company progressed at a modest level making, among other things, aluminum floral display stands. Eventually, White allied with Kaiser and began making tops. White filed for incorporation in 1959. One of the company’s earliest products was a white soft top for jeeps.
The next year, in 1960, Richard T. Bingham filed a patent for a pair of locking hubs. One set would automatically shift into gear when it sensed the axles were being powered (i.e., when the transfercase was shifted into four wheel drive). The second set of hubs added a dash-mounted button to allow for control of the hubs from the driver’s seat (assuming I have interpreted the patent correctly!).
The interesting thing is that Bingham never assigned the patents to the White Automotive Company. Instead, the patents and hubs ended up being used by Thor Products, which also operated out of Colorado Springs (though sometimes the address is Manitou Springs, a small town just west of Colorado Springs).
This suggests that Bingham had some time of relationship with Thor, but his exact connection to Thor isn’t known at this time (my guess is that it was a subsidiary or sister company of White).
1. The Thor auto-matic hub patent vs. the finished device:
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