emailNeed to contact me and don't have my email? Click on email button.
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 .
“1953 Willy’s CJ3B. Jeep was completely rebuilt in 2016. All running gear is replaced or rebuilt. The engine, trans, and running gear have 17,048 miles. That’s around 2000 miles per year. Jeep is loud and quick with tons of power. I have it geared for driving around town and running errands. The jeep has never been off road or wheeled.
The body of the Jeep is an extremely rare Parkette Body. A small amount of these were made in the 70s. They are light and known for their toughness. Seats in the tub are moved back 4” to accommodate a taller driver. I am 6’4” and fit great with the CJ5 tilt wheel.
Mechanically the Jeep is perfect. Cosmetically its not perfect, but gets thumbs up and smiles wherever I drive it. Could use a paint refresh and tub lining, but I personally like it with some character.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $350. This was listed in Loganville, GA, in January of 2024. The price is dropped and is now for sale in Batesville, MS. It looks like the 305 engine was removed, hence the lower price. Thanks to Brad for updating us.
This body appears to be a Parkette style body (with the site swooshes) with a Bobcat type hood, but assembled together as a single drag-like body.
“Has a Ford 9” rear end on it. Pretty heavy so good scrap. I do have a forklift to load on trailer.”
===============================
Ad from Jan 5, 2024, in Loganville:
“X dirt dragster. Has no suspension. Has no transmission….Ford I beam front end. Ford 9 rear end. Ford steering wheel and collom and Gear box ford….Chevy small block 305 ci engine and headers and solid motor mounts……rusted locked up drum brakes on all 4 corners. This is an unfinished project….read this. the carburetor and distributor is not included …..I can part out…..located in Loganville GA”
Listed as a 1952, it’s not clear if this is actually a 3A or a CJ-3B chassis (or something else). The body looks to be a very rare Parkette CJ-3B body kit.
“Cj3b, high hood, 350 chev. Holly hi rise, weber carb, accel hei, turbo 400, b&m, cj5 running gear, everything underneath is rebuilt
Painless wire kit, best top safari top in great shape, l have a brand new extra passenger door, new seats moved back4″,tilt steering, all gauges work, 12 gallon gas tank, new warn hubs, new rear driveline, never wheeled, stored inside
I have driven from Prineville to Portland numerous times. $11000. The only trade would be a very nice Dual Sport.”
(06/22/2021) Given the front clip, this might be a 3B chassis, though the Parkette body is a low-hood version.
The seller is correct about Paul Parker and the body. But, I believe this is the first version of this particular style that I’ve seen. It lacks the side stripe, has fender extensions, has a little different PARKETTE design on the back, has an extra wide lip around the rear, and looks like it has a side step. Very interesting.
“Rare, rare, rare. 48/49 Willys Jeep with Parkette fiberglass body. Believed only a handful made while Paul Parker was back in Georgia. This one is a bit odd as it doesn’t have the “line” above the fender but it does have flared fenders; the Willys nose panel is original equipment. Not sure it’s on the right size frame at the moment but we do have an original Willys bare chassis on the property we can work into the deal.
Engine/trans present. Very cool project. Needs finishing. No title. Bill of sale only. If the ad is up, the Willys is available.”
Ann has dubbed the yellow racer “Little Miss Sunshine”, due to the yellow color. I don’t know if that’s the end-all name, but it’s a fine name for now.
Yesterday, I decided to remove the body so I could get a better look at the condition of the cage and the suspension.
Let’s take a look first at the rear suspension. The suspension in the rear consists of 2.5″ ranch springs that have been outboarded, to which a sway bar and arms have been added. In the pic below you can see the sway bar behind the axle and the arms in front, connected under the frame. The springs are outboarded six inches. For example, the spring holder in the back consists of a 2×4 rectangular tube, positioned horizontally (under which the spring holder is welded), was welded to a 2×3 tube positioned vertically, which was welded to a 1/4″ plate that was then welded to the frame.
The front of this rear setup is similar, only for additional strength, a 2.5″ tube was welded to the spring holder and frame, which is then welded to the side bar that sits outside and under the body.
One of our goals before leaving was to put in Ann’s garden. So, prior to leaving for MN, we expanded the fencing (primarily to keep the dogs in and so they can chase out any critters), laid the dirt for corn and squash, laid gravel over the rest of the dirt, and put in elevated planters so that Ann does’t have to bend down. We’d hoped to move the propane tank, but that will have to wait now until Fall. It’s all temporary so we can see how we like the location.
Last Friday mom’s place went up for sale. On Wednesday, (as Ann and I were racing back from Minnesota) the home went under contract. It came down to a developer who wanted to develop the land (all cash deal) or a couple with a daughter who wanted to live in the house and offered to take mom’s cats. It was an easy call, as mom would have wanted the cats cared for, so we agreed to the deal with the couple. So, a huge step forward in finalizing the estate.
And now for the road trip to MN, here’s what happened.
Our drive to Minnesota was uneventful. We drove 1000 miles the first day under perfect skies, with no storms. Because I was a little paranoid about blowing a trailer tire, we kept the speed art around 70mph for most of the trip. The next day we drove an additional 500 miles in similar beautiful weather, landing in Little Falls, Minnesota, for the evening.
The next morning we stopped by Thielen Meats in Pierz, as recommenced by Dave F. It was a great recommendation (voted the #1 meat market in Minnesota and celebrating its 100th anniversary this year). We bought some beef sausages, smoked mozzarella, a whole smoked white fish (yum), and some smoked pork ribs. Everything was great (we should have bought more).
Photo Credit: Thielen Meats
A short time later, we arrived at Dave’s place. Dave and I have been communicating about this racer for several years, but for all the reasons you already know, it wasn’t until this spring that it was practical for us to go fetch the jeep.
UPDATE: We began Wednesday in Dickinson, ND. We stopped in Montana to visit Dan and April’s new bison ranch, then planned to stop in Missoula for the night. However, our concern over degrading weather on Thursday between Spokane and Missoula convinced us to push through to home. We arrived at 3am, Thurs morning, pretty bushed! I will give a full trip update once I recover from our drive.
We had a good time talking with Dave in Minnesota when we picked up the race jeep. He showed us around his collection of jeeps, which was a surprise! We leave from Dickinson, ND, this morning and have about a day and half left of driving, so more to come, including our story of the TICK invasion!
Map of our drive west this week. We plan to return that same route, unless a weather change directs us differently.
Early Sunday morning we head for Minnesota on our quest to retrieve the Parkette bodied racer from Dave. If all goes as planned, we’ll be in Mora on Tuesday late morning.
Unfortunately, it is pouring rain this morning here in Prosser, so trip-prep on the trailer will have to wait until the expected sunnier weather this afternoon.
Given we’ll be pulling our trailer there and back, we won’t be doing much sight-seeing. We do plan on meeting with a reader in Montana on our return trip. It turns out that one conversation between him and I radically changed his family’s life and I couldn’t be more happy for them. More on that later.
In about a week and a half I will be making a quick trip to Minnesota (about an hour north of Minneapolis) to finally pick up a wrecked former racing jeep with a fiberglass Parkette body. David Franz has been great about storing this while I found a time to snag it.
The timing of this hasn’t been finalized, because mom’s title issues have been solved to the satisfaction of a title insurance company, so we’ll be listed her place this coming Wednesday, which means renting a U-haul to complete one last cleanup, but that will only take one day.
So, if you need something moved between Washington and Minnesota, I may be able to trailer it on my way to or from Minnesota.
Steve Carter mentioned that, coincidently, this race rig is a sister rig of sorts to my racing jeep. Mine sounds great and feels read to race, but it is just too tight of squeeze in the driver and passenger seat. Rather than rework the space, body, and cage with my race jeep, my plan is to drop the cage and body below onto my racer, which will give me more room (the body and cage are both wider). This also has a better clutch/brake setup than mine.
Rare Parkette Bodied east coast jeep with, possibly, a rare bobcat tear drop hood. It’s a bit expensive for a project.
“Needs steering linkage and carb clean has small block 350 munchie 4 speed front and rear lockers built for mud racing been sitting awhile the body is fiberglass very light needs a good bath other than that it would make a great toy or weekend cruiser clean title pm if have any other questions 7000 obo ”
UPDATE: Richard Darr from Washougal Classic Jeeps owns a Bobcat body that still had a pair of the fiberglass gas tanks. Here are two pics of each tank. He told me they fit really well inside the bobcat body. He’s working on reproducing the tanks in aluminum for himself.
Here are the pics of the passenger side tank. Above you can see a Bobcat body.
This is the top of the passenger tank.
This is the bottom of the passenger tank.
Here is the driver’s side tank:
This is the top of the driver’s tank.
This is the bottom of the driver’s tank.
===================
Published March 17, 2021: For a great price, I bought some 1973 issues of Four Wheeler off of eBay. In turns out that the July 1973 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine had a special section devoted to new fiberglass products. Even better, Fred Weis’ Bobcat business introduced three new products in that issue, answering a couple questions that I had.
Before I begin, there are several posts about Bobcat bodies and the related Parkette bodies. At some point I will combine them into a longer narrative, but, for now, here’s a quick timeline:
1969– The First Bobcat body: Fred Weis built his first body, an approximately 150lb body using plywood for strength, per this February 1970 article in Four Wheeler Magazine. 1970– Lighter Race Body: Fred builds a lighter body design more for racing, dropping the body weight to around 100lbs. One these first bodies was used successfully by Roy Williams during the 1970s for racing. (This weight info comes from a September 1973 ad shown below):
1971- Announces the CJ-3B Body: An Advertisement in the PNW4WDA’s Region 1 contact booklet included an ad from Fred indicating he was making CJ-3A AND CJ-3B bodies.
It might seem strange to see the “Not a copy!” phrase at the top of the ad, followed by “The Original Fiberglass Replacement Body” within the ad. I believe this reflects Fred’s frustration at Paul Parker rebranding the Bobcat body with side stripes and calling it a Parkette body. Assuming that explains the inclusion of the phrases, this puts the introduction of the Parkette body around 1970. The 1970 timeline also fits the purchase of a Parkette by Jim Carter, which must have happened around 1971 or 1972.
Now for our current post. In 1973, Fred introduced perhaps the most iconic item he ever produced, the Bobcat hood. I don’t know how or why he designed it the way he did, but it became a signature piece. Below is the July 1973 listing in Four Wheeler Magazine.
First, you can see that Fred was experimenting with a new type of body style. It appears he increased the size of the lip around the edge of the body’s rear, perhaps to strengthen it so he could lay thinner glass. It’s likely that this was the style of Bobcat body I bought back in 2008:
The fiberglass gas tanks were a surprise to see. I’ve never run across these. They likely failed to hold gasoline safely. It would take a special resin compound to be effective over the long term, at least that’s according to this motorcycle thread.
Finally, we have the brand new fiberglass Bobcat hood. Whether this came before or after the Bobcat teardrop hood isn’t clear, but it would seem to me that the teardrop is so much less sophisticated of a design that I could imagine he made some of those first before creating the classic Bobcat hood. Here’s a great example of the hood: (see more examples of the low hood and high hood versions of this iconic hood)
Also included in the July 1973 fiberglass section was this ad. It seems Willamette Wheel was offering the Bobcat body for sale, without labeling it as such in the ad. However, a close look at the tailgate clearly shows it is a Bobcat tailgate.
It’s not clear how many other parties were working with Fred, but at least one, Don Prine, managed to get his business card inserted into a CJ-3B version of the classic hood:
As I collect more 1970 Four Wheeler magazines I hope to learn more about the Bobcat and Parkette timelines, though I’ve yet to find anything printed about the Parkette body (no ads or articles yet).
