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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.
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 .
This story deserves a much longer telling, but let me cut straight to it. I’m in Seattle to work on Rusty. I dropped my iPhone in a bowl of Pho Soup. Not good. I rushed home and set it up to dry. Shortly afterward, I removed Rusty’s heater, only to find someone had built an expansive home inside the heater. This explains some of the missing cushion from the seats. As I was taking pics with the Nikon, the battery died. So, I turned to my computer, but the photos were much worse than I imagined. Not a great tech day.
On the bright side, I tested the heater fan and that works. Also, my phone seems to be drying out … finally.
As you can see below, the inside of the heater is almost entirely filled with stuff:
And this is how it looked after that stuff was removed (and after my iPhone started working a little better). I now need to remove debris from the fins and repair the lower tube.
I also disassembled my speedometer. The rod that powers the pointer had broken. I will see if there is any way to repair it. The part looks awfully like later speedometers, so there may be hope for replacing it, but I first have to disassemble the front plate from the mechanism. Based on what I’ve read, it might never work quite right. But hey, it doesn’t work quite right anyhow!
Dan Horenburger and I in front of his Streamline FC Motorhome, April 12, 2014.
On November 10th, Dan Horenburger passed away. Many of you know him for his unique Forward Control collection, which he showed off at the military FC show this past September, and some who got to know him, knew him for his warm smile and friendly disposition.
Dan and my paths crossed in multiple ways, from Wisconsin and carousels, to Wurlitzers and jeeps. He kept tabs on our travels and often shared advice on what we should see. He once explained how he’d cut his teeth on trading and hustling by reselling items from the Saddleblanket company in El Paso, which made that a must-stop place for us to visit. When we visited his LA place in 2014, he was generous with his time, sharing his various passions. He’ll most certainly be missed.
I’m told Craig Brockhaus and Jesse Ybarra are assembling a more complete remembrance of Dan that they will publish soon. Until then, here’s a short obituary of him:
According to this page, the Associated Press captured this photo of “Old Faithful” on the island of Bougainville in 1944.
Recently, Jeep shot a commercial highlighting a little known fact that a jeep named “Old Faithful” was awarded an honorable Purple Heart for its service in Guadalcanal and Bougainville during WWII (not to be confused with a jeep that was named “Purple Heart“). The jeep was later put on display at the Marine Corps Museum, but, according to an article in Adweek, it disappeared and its whereabouts remain unknown.
Old Faithful was a Willys built jeep that served four Marine generals through the Guadalcanal campaign and the Bougainville invasion. Old Faithful was officially awarded the Purple Heart for “wounds”–two shrapnel holes in its windshield received during the Jap battleship shelling of Guadalcanal on October 13, 1942.
Old Faithful, the first American vehicle ever to be so decorated, was retired from active service by official Marine Corps order on December 22, 1943. Faithful to the last, this jeep’s motor, which has never been overhauled, purrs as smoothly today as it did on the historic day of August 7, 1942, when it first rolled onto Guadalcanal’s famous Lunga Beach. During its duty in the Pacific area,
Old Faithful served as official car for many distinguished leaders, including the late Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Adms. Chester Nimitz and William F. Halsey, Vice Adms. A.W. Fitch, and J.S. McCain, Marine Corps Commandant Lieut. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, his successor Lieut, Gen A.A. Vandegrift, and many others. In 1944, Old Faithful, after a long journey, arrived in heaven and now reposes in the Marine Corps Museum at the Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Va.
Also in 1944, the Marine Corps Chevron included this photo and article on “Old Faithful”:
WAR RELIC’ “Old Faithful,” retired after 18 monthsservice in the South Pacific as a command oar, was displayed in San Diego’s War Bond drive. It is being inspected by Majs. Granville Mitchell (left) and Douglas J. Preacher.
Battle-Worn Jeep Back In U. S. On Bond Tour
“Old Faithful,” first Marine jeep to be landed on Guadalcanal and among the first on Bougainville, was exhibited at the Plaza War Bond center in downtown San Diego this week in connection with the Filipino Day program.
The jeep was retired on Bougainville recently after having traveled more than 11,000 miles of jungle terrain as a command car. During its 18 months’ service “Old Faithful” served four Marine generals as well as carrying every ranking Marine officer and visiting official on the two battle-torn islands.
Previously, the jeep had been awarded a “Purple Heart” for holes in its windshield, received when a Jap battleship shelled Guadalcanal. It is on its way toward becoming a museum piece at the Marine Corps Museum, Quantico.
These two brochures, one from Koenig and one from Ramsey, show two early platforms for installing a rear PTO winch. These brochures were part of a 1947 Willys Overland equipment book.
Christian has posted over 100 photos from last summer’s Willys Am Tegernesee Camp 2016 in Germany. Here are a few of them. You can see them all in this gallery:
One hub I’ve never seen in the wild is the Viking Hub, a 1968 product developed by Don Chapman at the Viking Automotive Equipment in Gardena, California. Before he moved to California, Chapman was active in Colorado’s offroad community and was involved in an offroad accessories in Colorado as well, most likely Dualmatic or Husky (anyone know the relationship between the two?), which were both based in Longmont.
Here’s an ad for it. Looks like a nice hub:
Four Wheeler Magazine did an article on the product and included this exploded view:
This looks to be a four-page news piece directed at salespeople.
“original non color folder , 8.5 x 11 folded , 17 x 11 unfolded , this is volume 1 #3 of “Jeep Merchandiser” . Published by the merchandising and advertising department for Jeep salesman”
Another four-page news piece directed at salespeople.
“original non color folder , 8.5 x 11 folded , 17 x 11 unfolded , this is volume 1 #4 of “Jeep Merchandiser” . Published by the merchandising and advertising department for Jeep salesman.”
This package introduces the Merchandiser to the Jeep sales staff. I can’t tell how many pages it is.
“Original dealer’s part color folder , 8.5 x 11 folded , 17 x 11 unfolded , this is volume 1 #1 of “Jeep Merchandiser”. Published by the merchandising and advertising department for Jeep salesman , also included are two advertising bulletins introducing the Jeep Merchandiser , all items are in the original cardboard binder , 9 x 11.5.”
Jerry was having some fun the other day. He writes, “Took this picture the other morning and added the caption “Why soar like an Eagle when you can drive two of the coolest Jeeps on the planet?””
He then noted, “The MB was overheard asking the JK8 — “Who’s you Grand Daddy?””
Thanks to Glenn for forwarding this article. Four Wheeler Magazine reported yesterday from the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) that OMIX-ADA reps had spotted a parts dealer from China named Unity 4WD Accessories selling parts that violated patents O-A owned. They quickly notified authorities, who then contacted the Federal Marshals, who seized the goods and shut down the booth. Read more here:
This event follows an article I read last week about a guy who developed the Forearm Forklift and has been selling it on Amazon, only to have counterfeiters copy his product and sell it on Amazon, too. They’ve used the same name and even his photographs, ones that include the guy’s family!
Maury spotted this story of a guy who built a custom plane. As he considered different engines, he finally sleeted on a L-134 to power it. Learn about his plane and the engine on the Kaiser Willys blog:
[Editorial note … Friday’s updates have been superseded by this piece. It began as a comment on another site, but roiled into a full essay. Most of you eWillys readers won’t care, but it was something I wanted to say and this is a place where I can say it. Next updates will be Saturday morning.]
I have read with immense interest the stories of the MacBook Pro 17 inchers, those folks that are waiting, against all odds, for another 17” MacBook Pro to appear, something that will require nothing short of a miraculous conception (the comments by these folks are just an example).
I have felt your pain for several years. The recent release of the underwhelming new MBPs, better described as Macbook Airs with MBP colored lipstick, added to my growing frustration with Apple. That event, along with other 17 incher stories, inspired me to write this, not for Apple, but for those folks, in solidarity of their anguish. I feel at this point, we are the true crazy ones, not for any genius we might have, but for holding on when hope seems so far away.
I still use a mid-2010 17 incher I purchased in January 2011. It’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. At this point I am hard pressed to believe there is a better, more stable, more flexible, and more dependable laptop ever produced. I use it seven days a week (I am a workaholic, sorry honey). I have authored three books (last one over 500 pages), written 30,000 posts on my (not all gloriously rich, but still …), received and answered over a hundred thousand emails (not including spam), manipulated tens of thousands of images, created videos, and built dozens of websites.
I’ve done all this without having a single issue with my mid-2010. Even though my fifty-one year old eyes have aged (I now need reading glasses to see the screen), my laptop still feels as useful as the day I bought it.
At this point, I don’t need another laptop; yet, I would greatly appreciate one that is newer, just for dependability sake.
But, that’s my beef. The product I want no longer exists. I keep asking myself why I came to this dead end. Unsure of how it what happened, I decided that since Apple looked back during their recent presentation, so will I. I’d like to believe that having used Macs since 1986 (my first was a Mac 512ke), I may have some perspective on the history that landed me at this no-man’s land.
Scott just bought this Navy CJ-3A. He was hoping someone could help him learn more about its history based on the Navy plate.
He wrote, “Underneath all that reddish paint is a layer of grey then metal or grey and then o.d green. Windshield bracket last coat is o.d green before I hit metal. It has tags and navy stencil on the tailgate. I need some help figuring out what this jeep used to do. Oh and I got it running with little tinkering. Here are the pictures of the tag and tailgate stenciling. I noticed on the tag where it says USN the ” U ” has what seems to be a ” V ” over it, I’m guessing human error.”