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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 .
Nice shot of Joe’s Super Service Station in Hillman, Michigan. The photo features a jeep truck and a CJ-3A that could both be from the same year.
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This issue of Jeep News is interesting in that the whole middle section focuses on the rise in jeep clubs. It isn’t an exhaustive list, but rather simply a list of clubs in contact with Jeep News, with a heavy emphasis on western clubs.
Note the CJ-6 hardtop on page 7. It’s a custom top built by Koenig. I don’t have it in my records, so keep a watch for it. It’s probably still out there somewhere, most likely still in Texas. Note also the scale model FC-170 giveaway and certificate with each FC-170 purchase on page 2.
This 1955 brochure form W-201-5 highlighted the CJ-3B as part of the advertising standardization push by the Kaiser Willys marketing team.
UPDATE: Here are a couple more articles introduction the Jeep Surrey. The first one notes that women will like it for its fashion while men will like it for its fine engineering. I’m less convinced that the term ‘fine-engineering’ should be applied to any of the DJ-3As.
The second was widely disseminated in various arrangements and reminds us that “A similar model, the “Jeep” Gala, was introduced to the export market early this year .“ This documents that the Gala was the export model and the Surrey the domestic model.
This first article was published October 08, 1959, and comes from Utah’s Orem-Geneva Times:
This October 04, 1959, article published in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
1954 Form KW-1706 Brochures, early (orange) and late (green) versions.
UPDATE: For a few years now I’ve noticed that there were two versions of the 1954 Form KW-1706 titled ‘Jeep’ FARM POWER, one having an orange theme and one have a green theme. Since I owned an orange copy, I wasn’t in a hurry to get a green copy. Still, I was curious about why the newly formed Kaiser Willys Marking Team would publish a brochure, with the same form number, in two different colors, as that wasn’t a customary practice.
A few days ago I found a good price on the green version. When it arrived, I compared the two brochures. At first, I couldn’t see any differences. But, after examining the text, I discovered the reason behind the color change.
A small section on both brochures is titled “NEBRASKA TESTED”. Apparently, when the original orange brochure was produced, the jeep had only completed a tractor test (#432) using a jeep powered with an L-head, yet the company had applied to take the test using an f-head. At some point after the brochure was published, the f-head test (#502) was completed (which did show increased horsepower).
So, the company updated the brochure’s “NEBRASKA TESTED” text and changed the brochure’s color scheme, probably to make it easier to know which old brochures should be set aside and/or destroyed. At least, that’s my theory.
So, here’s a look at the two blurbs side by side.
Comparison of early (orange) and later (green) versions of the 1954 ‘Jeep’ Farm Power brochure.
Here’s a full look at the green brochure:
I’d never heard of Berens before spotting this 48-page catalog on eBay. It appears they were a California distributor of jeep parts. The company carried all kinds of stuff.
UPDATE: I was finally able to get one of these off eBay at a reasonable price. It’s form W-1831 from 1955 introducing the new CJ-5. The back page (bottom pic) has some discoloration. The 3rd pic is a foldout, so it’s much bigger than it appears.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was auction.
Blaine and Terry have identified this jeep as a Fix-it-All jeep. It’s missing multiple parts. Here’s a pic of how it should look:
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Blaine spotted this unusual plastic jeep that neither of us had previously seen. The fact that it is stamped “JEEP” on the hood and has a front weight are two unusual features that caught our eyes. Anyone recognize it? (this auction site has multiple premiums that will add to the cost).
https://bid.bidfastandlast.com/ui/auctions/50594/3630732
In March 1962, two different articles highlighted the introduction of the Jeep line of Tonka Toys.
1. Toys and Novelties Magazine: The article in this magazine noted that part of the reason the Tonka company had the financial and physical capacity to produce a wide variety of toy jeeps was that it had recently gone public.
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2. Playthings Magazine: Given this article is very similar to the top article, I’d guess both were written from press releases.
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You can also learn more about Tonka jeeps at the CJ-3B Page.
As reported in this post, in 1962 the Tonka company launched the jeep models many of us owned as kids (and some of us still own as adults). It didn’t take long for Tonka to introduce specialized packaging as well. The August 1962 issue of Playthings Magazine highlighted three different Dispatcher Tonka Toys, with Hatari-themed boxes, that were for sale in the lobby of movie theaters while Hatari played in theatres.
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The article appeared on this page:
Harmen-Jan of the Netherlands shared this video of farm life footage filmed in the Netherlands between 1920 and 1960. At the 15-minute-mark there is footage of a WWII jeep piling what I believe is hay(?) and at the 19-minute-mark there is a brief look at the same jeep pulling an overloaded wagon. In between (and before and after both marks), plenty of back-breaking-work is documented.
UPDATE: The article below is one of a number of articles highlighting the “JEEP” Tractor from Minneapolis-Moline Implement Company: The NTX. One or both units were also tested at Holabird, so the term ‘jeep’ used to describe a vehicle didn’t originate with the Bantam, Ford, or Willys prototypes.
Published in the Lansing State Journal, Lansing, Michigan, August 22, 1940.
According to a Hemmings article, the name ‘Jeep’ originated with Sergeant James O’Brian in August of 1940:
The UTX went to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, but earned its place in history in August 1940 at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, when Sergeant James T. O’Brien of the 109th Ordnance Company of the Minnesota National Guard noted the overall proficiency of the tractors, especially when pulling a stuck howitzer out of the mud. Inspired by the “Eugene the Jeep” character in the Popeye comic strip, O’Brien first hung from the tractor’s radiator cap a sign painted with the word “Jeep,” then painted the word “Jeep” itself on the flanks of the tractor.
Minneapolis-Moline chronicled the christening in a wartime advertisement: “This new MM army vehicle was not a crawler, tractor, truck nor tank, and yet it could do almost anything and it knew all the answers. Because of this, it brought to mind the Popeye cartoon figure called ‘Jeep’ which was neither fowl nor beast, but knew all the answers and could do almost anything.”
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Originally Published December of 2014:
More photos of this NTX on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/observethebanana/542560053/in/photostream/
However, the short comings of the NTX coupled with the introduction of the Bantam BRC in late September doomed the 6 NTXs produced to the role of a jeep footnote.
It doesn’t mean the NTX isn’t worth anything. An NTX in 2012 fetched $29,000 at an auction.
UPDATE: Vince shared an article from autoblog.com that provides more information on the Rainbow Sheikh (Sheigh Hamad bin Hamdan) who built the world’s largest running jeep. It had been many years since my last post on the subject, so it was time to update this post.
In 2010, reports were that Guinness Book of World Records had recognized the jeep as the largest running jeep in the world; however, I could not verify the record through the Guinness web site. Recently, a huge CJ-5 built by the same Shiekh for his offload museum may have surpassed the flat fender.
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/05/31/worlds-largest-working-jeep/
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Published in April of 2009: I thought it was just a fake keep prop of some kind, but apparently it’s being built on the framework of a large quarry mining truck.
Neat press photo of a jeep exiting a glider at Wold-Chamberlain Field in Minnesota. The photo was taken February 27, 1945, by ‘Ted’ at 2pm.
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“Jeep rolls out of nose of large glider after coming into a landing”
On June 24, 1941, a syndicated article claimed that friends of Ward Canaday said he was the father of the jeep:
The Windsor Star out of Ontario, Canada, published this article blurb on June 24, 1941.
This news didn’t sit well with friends and former employees of Frank H. Fenn, President of the American Bantam Car Co. They wasted no time, quickly countering the notion that Canaday was the jeep’s father by explaining via telegrams why Fenn was the real father of the “Jeep”.
On June 27th, 1941, the Press and Sun-Bulletin published the responses in the following column.
And, just for fun, here’s another example of a Bantam BRC photo, taken less than a week after it arrived at Holabird. The first Bantam Scout Car wasn’t a secret for very long!
Published by the Seminole Producer, Seminole, Oklahoma, October 07, 1940.
Each photo (photos front and back, so 4 photos total) is 4.25″ wide. The glasses are just under 4.25″ wide.
Unable to travel much this year, I’ve had a little extra cash to investigate the odder eBay finds. These Roy Rogers photos are a good example of that type of purchase. I’ve learned that if you see something on eBay that has been with a seller a while, put it on your watchlist. Sometimes the seller will respond with a discount offer. In this case, I countered with an even lower offer, explaining that I didn’t collect Roy Rogers stuff and only wanted the images for the one jeep image. That seemed to work, as the seller accepted my counteroffer.
My eyes failed me … I never did get the image to look really 3D. I also didn’t want to disconnect the glasses from the photos.
Once delivered I was surprised by two things. First, the 3D viewer was much smaller than expected, but then I realized, duh, they are for kids. For me to view the image wasn’t all that easy through the tiny glasses (4.25 inches from end to end). It also didn’t help that my eyes (I’ll be 55 on Friday) are a little too old; I needed to wear glasses when looking through viewer at the focal length required, but that whole thing became awkward and I never could get the full 3D effect.
All three items were still connected as they originally were. Above them is an 8.5″ piece of paper to give a sense of size.
The second thing that surprised me that the glasses were still attached to the two images and the two images were still attached to each other, meaning these images and viewer had never been used. All three items still folded up into a neat little, compact package.
I just don’t know how stuff like this has survived more than 50 years!
Is Freddy Holmqvist someone that was famous? Does the Swedish caption provide any clues?
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“Swedish students after passing exams, Freddie Holmqvist driving home
1946-05-07
sodra latin, Stockholm, Sweden
Photo size:
6″ x 8.2″ inches”
In the ‘sometimes it’s better to be lucky’ department, eBay blessed me with a huge win the other day: 10 Willys News issues from 1960 and 1961 for only $20 (and free shipping)! Here’s the first one. It includes a lot of DJ-3A Surrey articles, a note about future President Lyndon Johnson checking out a Willys truck for his ranch, and more. The 1/4 ton jeeps (CJ-5s and CJ-3Bs) take a back seat to the FCs, Wagons, and DJs in this issue. There’s also articles demonstrating how dealers felt TV shows were helping to drive sales, which is likely why Willys Motors moved forward with other TV show and movie tie-ins.
This March of 1962 brochure (form 62-03) includes a chart that highlights the performance claims of the engine vs. other engines of the day. It was part of a series of brochures from Willys Motors during 1962 that had ‘wing’ pages that opened horizontally. It’s hard to capture that sense using a scanner, but using a phone Madi those wings more apparent (see the second pic).
UPDATE: I called this a saw when it was actually a peeler.
This photo out of Sweden shows a CJ-5 with a ventilating windshield with a bark-peeler trailer behind it.
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“THIS IS AN ORIGINAL VINTAGE PRESS PHOTO. ONLY THIS ONE COPY AVAILABLE ORDER SOON SO YOU DON’T MISS OUT
The forest in the center. Jeeps and Barkers
1955-09-16
Sweden
Photo size: 6.6″ x 9.2″ inches”
UPDATE: This was on eBay in March.
(03/19/2020) I’ve never seen one of these. The seller has a variety of jeep-related toys and Willys stuff for sale. The seller also has a variety of toys hanging in his shop.
“Cardboard boxcar USA Army Jeep Little General PUSH l car, circa 1960s, made by the General Box Company in Illinois.
VERY RARE. NOT MANY SURVIVE.
$90.00 OR BEST OFFER”
Check out Bob’s PTO powered ice cream machine. Well done Bob!
Fort Custer, Michigan, appears to have been a testing ground for Ford and Willys prototypes. Along with the articles below, there are press photos posted from years passed. You’ll also note that some of the press photos have captions that are printed identically, but pencil-marked up differently. It’s possible someone was selling those as originals when they may not have been.
Here’s an article and a photo showing a couple Ford GPs being run hard, originally printed in the March 09, 1941, issue of the Battle Creek Enquirer:
It didn’t take long for the offload vehicles to become a hit with soldiers. This article appears in the March 25, 1941, issue of the Detroit Free Press:
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And, just to set the record straight, at Fort Custer a jeep was a jeep and not a ‘peep’.
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These press photos have been gathered from older posts. First, a couple Willys MA photos from eBay:
This was posted on ebay in June 2017: “1942 Photo WW2 Era Fort Custer MI Versatile Jeep Military Push Ball Game Rare. You are bidding on an original Press Photo from a newspaper archive. The photograph measures 6×7 inches and is dated 9-25-1942.”
Charles shared these photos of the Battle of the Bulge, along with a series of Belgian stamps commemorating the Bulge.
This May 17, 1961, ad that appeared in the Boston Glove for the Jeep Wagon has art that feels more like a late 1940s ad than a 1960s ad. On the same page as this ad was the photo at the bottom.
