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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.
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 .
Maury shared this unusual booklet. I can’t imagine many of these survived.
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“Complete booklet, with no missing pages. A guy I know cleaned out a dealership years ago, and I got this from him. It is pocket sized and measures 2.5 inches by 6 inches. Box 11.”
This trencher brochure from Auburn Machine Works was on eBay before I snatched it. Given it features a CJ-3B, I figure this is a 1953 or 54 brochure. There’s no form number.
UPDATE II: Here are two more Willys Make Sense ad that were featured in Sunday newspapers (seller indicates both were from 1951):
This one is currently on eBay for $20:
This one is currently on eBay for $20:
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Originally posted May 29, 2019: Here’s another Willys Makes Sense ad from the February 13, 1951, issue of the Evening Star newspaper that differed from the others.
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Original Post: May 21, 2019:
In 1950, Willys-Overland launched a Willys Makes Sense advertising campaign. Unlike past campaigns, such as the 1948 City and City ads, which were about encouraging the sales of wagons and positioning the wagon as a luxury vehicle, the Willys Makes Sense appears to have been organized to re-imagine how the public should view the brand.
Before I get too deeply into this, I’d like to note that the way I’d prefer to write this article is to document specific reasons behind Willys-Overland’s decision to make such a big change. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to enough financial material as I’d like (especially annual reports). So, conjecture and theory will have to do for now.
BACKGROUND: After WWII, pent up demand meant lots of sales for automakers. That could explain, in part, why post-war sales were pretty good for Willys-Overland. For example, sales increased from almost 79,000 jeeps in 1946 to 159,000 jeeps in 1948. But, in 1949, sales plunged to almost half, coming in at 86,000. I don’t have details into why sales dropped so much, but likely parts or material shortages or labor disputes could have had an impact. Certainly, the recession of late 1948 – late 1949 didn’t help sales at all!
Future sales might not have looked too good for 1950 and beyond either. As of 1950 the US produced 76% of automobiles, but given the post-war rebuilding/resurging of industry world-wide, I expect automakers must have realized that international competition would return soon (by 1955 US market share would drop to 67%). This may have stimulated management to clean up their branding as soon as possible to protect against increasing competition (remember that Willys-Overland had expected to sell 25% of their autos internationally, based on the 1946 Fortunate Magazine article).
Another issue Willys-Overland was facing was that going into 1950 the company still didn’t have a registered trademark for the term JEEP (wouldn’t get it until June of 1950). Added to that, the company was not only producing 4WD 1/4 ton jeeps, trucks, and wagons, but also 2WD trucks, wagons, Jeepsters, and an upcoming automobile. Such a portfolio of non-4WD vehicles must have concerned management that it wasn’t just a “jeep” company; so the challenge of how the company should represent itself to dealers and consumers had to have become an issue.
Finally, in a similar vein, up until 1950, the company had been positioning itself as the ‘Jeep’ company, with ads that emphasized the Universal ‘Jeep’, the ‘Jeep’ Truck and the ‘Jeep’ Wagon. Perhaps with the introduction of the Jeepster (note that the company did not call it the ‘Jeep’ Jeepster nor was there any ‘Jeep’ branding on the introductory brochure), the branding issue must have really came to a head. Because of the entrenched nature of Willys-Overland’s efforts to become ‘Jeep’, management may have felt that a company-wide retooling of the company’s branding was in order.
Perhaps one, two, or all of these issues resulted in the 1950 rebrand of the company as a WILLYS manufacturer with a wide range of 2WD and 4WD vehicles for sale. (For a look back at 1952, see Derek’s post “When the CJ-3B Was New“).
NON-JEEP BRANDED ADS:
Willys-Overland began 1950 with an ad that felt similar to past ads, but excluded the ‘Jeep’ brand. For example, in January of 1950 Willys published this ad in the Saturday Evening Post. Note the reference to ‘Jeep’ has been replaced with a small ‘Jeep’ badge.
January 07, 1950, ad in the Saturday Evening Post
As did Colliers Magazine on January 21, 1950:
This June 27, 1946, ad by the Little Motor Company in Alabama’s The Baldwin Times Bay newspaper is one of the better full-page adds that I’ve seen.
I like the full-layout image of the country and jeeps on this brochure. It’s form number is DM 62-07.
Here’s the full image:
These eight ads featuring wagons have a good starting price of $14.95. You can use the links below to date the ads.
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“EIGHT original 10×13″ magazine ads in very good condition.”
I”m guessing this ad is from 1956 given it’s sharing the news of the new CJ-6. The seller has incorrectly dated this to the 1930s.
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“Kaiser-Willys Jeep AD. Condition is “Used”. Shipped with USPS First Class.CJ-6 4wd 1930s”
Lots of text on this Willys Jeep Truck ad.
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IN ENGLISH: Jeep Trucks: Work with Less Cost
The ‘Jeep’ Trucks have been designed to lower transportation costs and to give safe performance under the toughest working conditions. They consume less oil and less gasoline, the longer they last longer, and their functional design makes them easier to preserve and repair.
Four-wheel drive models, with a capacity for 1 ton of payload, are built “on purpose” for heavy duty off the road. Conventional rear wheel drive models can handle 3/4 to 1 ton of payload and their economical performance on the road is unmatched.
In both types we offer a wide selection of standard body styles, all with fully enclosed cab, suitable for any climate, and in the four-wheel drive models, the motive power take-off is optional.
Below you’ll find Press Release Photos #11 & #13. The seller did not have #12, so at this point I’m left to guess what #12 was. My best guess is that given #11 shows a half top and #13 shows no top, that #12 may have been an image that included some version of the full top.
Photo #11 shows the half or front top:
Possible Photo #12: These images were published in an article on the introduction of the jeep. The top photo is press photo #13, which adds weight to the bottom photo being #12:
The original photo caption for the bottom photo would likely have been identical to #11 and #13’s captions, except that the last sentence probably read, “Here it is shown with both tops up“.
Photo #13 shows the jeep without a top:
Press Photo #14? Finally, there’s this photo which shows the windshield down. It could easily have been Photo #14 as it was taken in the same location, but I have no evidence such a photo was included in the press kit.
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.topspeed.com/cars/jeep/2016-jeep-wrangler-75th-salute-concept-ar173805.html
If this was actually included in the press kit at photo #14, the caption for the photo would likely have been identical to #11 and #13’s captions, except that the last sentence probably read, “Here it is shown with the windshield down“.
Barney sent me a Warn Locking Hub brochure which turns out to be a match for a similar Warn Lockomatic Hub brochure I already had. These are rather small (about 4″ in diameter), so I’m surprised either one survived as well as they have.
One thing that’s evident from these brochures is that the Lockmatic hubs lacked the rings (or perhaps indents or groves are better terms) on the lower portion of the hub that the Locking Hubs had.
This photo shows the fronts:
Here are the opened brochures:
And these are the backs:
Barney from Barney’s Jeep Parts sent November 1961 edition of the Jeep News our direction. The FJ-3A makes a big splash with a variety of images on page 4. Several Jeep Clubs, including California’s Auburn Jeep Club, Denver’s Mile-High Jeep Club, and Washington’s Trailer Breakers Jeep Club get mentioned. One article highlight’s Buddy’s win of a Surrey and Sailboat from the Del Monte Contest and includes an image.
There’s also a mention of photos and writeup about the Jeep Jamboree in the December 1961 issue of Argosy Magazine, but I cannot seem to find the issue on eBay.
This was labeled press photo #10. Like the other press photos, this memorable family picnic photo with the jeep and camper appeared in multiple publications. The marking on the bumper is X32.
UPDATE: I thought the one had sold, but it’s back on eBay, with a price drop down to $33.49 (Was $49.99).
(02/29/2020) Chris spotted this odd Willys Calendar. It’s got an imprint of a horse head on it, but we didn’t understand why that might be. It appears these were produced for the Ohio Willys Sales Company, of Cleveland, Ohio.
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“6 5/8″ TALL X 3 3/4″ WIDE
ALL PAGES ARE THERE
CONDITION AS PICTURED – PLEASE ZOOM IN AND LOOK AT ALL PICTURES.”
Photo #8 from the July 1945 Willys-Overland press kit has appeared widely.
Jeep in back has no “X”. I think it is 39, otherwise could be 59.
Photo #8 from the July 1945 Willys-Overland press kit shows a PTO-powered post-hole digger.
Maury spotted this Power-Lock Brochure on eBay. I bought one of these a couple months ago from the same seller (scans below):
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Photo #7 from the July 1945 Willys-Overland press kit shows a PTO powered mobile wood saw.
This matchbook is interesting in that there’s no dealer name printed on it. We’ve seen another example of this same matchbook earlier this year.
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For comparison, this one was on eBay in 2019 with Wasson Motor Sales printed on it:
There’s not specific year printed on this CJ-5 brochure out of Switzerland. I’m guessing circa 1958 given the blue jeep logo.
This photo, marked as photo #5, shows the versatility of the jeep by demonstrating how it can become a mobile spraying device.
This four-page brochure “Willys Jeep Feuerwehrfahrzeuge” comes from Switzerland. It’s got some vehicles modified for fire departments. These are some cool rigs. Page 3 shows a unique crew-cab FC-170 with a back cab separated from the front.
UPDATE: One of these rare brochures is currently on eBay.
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Original post from October 2020: This unusual brochure came from Switzerland. The form number is OFS-9-57-X, with the X indicating it is an export brochure. This brochure contains a surprising amount of text. On the very last page of the brochure is a small image of another brochure, one I haven’t seen (see the very bottom image of this post).
This is the fully opened section of the brochure.
Joe Drew outfitted a series of wagon modifications that are highlighted in this brochure. I tried to learn more about Joe Drew, but didn’t have any luck. This is form number: 4x463SW-M2-50M-8-48. It is a tri-fold brochure that also folds out to create a single large image.
This is the page when the tri-fold portion is fully opened.
This is the full center page:
This is the back side when the brochure is fully opened:
This is the final press release from the July 1945 press release kit. Customers could rest assured, according to the release, that the new peace jeep would “embody many comfort facilities” compared to the war-time jeep.
