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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 .
David shared this unusual hub with me. It’s not one I recognize. I *think* it is some form of a summer hub, perhaps adapted from a locking hub. Note the welds on two sides of the six-sided metal plate atop the hub.
Bill Norris let me know that the new Holy Toledo calendars for 2024 are ready to sell. Go here to learn more: https://www.dispatchermagazine.com/calendars
UPDATE: Solved the oil spillage issue. The oil was coming from the back of the engine where the oil gauge line attaches to the engine. I had made the hose a little too long, so it didn’t tighten down correctly. Trimming the line fixed the issue. So, I got to drive around the property yesterday instead of doing updates for today ….
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Gassing up the racer.
The good news: I rolled the racer out of the garage, put in some gas, and tried to start it. Naturally, it didn’t start straight away. After fiddling with it, finally figured out that the manual choke needed to be opened (the choke was never hooked up on the old racer, so I never thought about it). Once I adjusted the choke, the jeep started right up! So, I will be adding a choke cable.
Unfortunately, while looking for the starting problem, I ran my forehead into the tall air cleaner bolt. It was only a large scratch and some blood, so not that big of deal. I was more made than anything. This highlights the problem with the bubble in the eye; sometimes it screws with the depth perception.
Starting the racer.
The bad news: Once it started, it sounded as great as it did last year. However, for some reason the fuel pump didn’t stop pumping prior to starting the engine (that’s how I remember it working). This suggests to me that maybe something isn’t sealed correctly, so it’s not building the pressure needed to shut off the pump? I will have to research the pump to double check this. I’m sure the fix will be fairly simple.
Discovering the rear main seal likely needs to be changed.
The ugly news: The worst issue was underneath the jeep; I discovered that a significant amount of oil was leaking out the back of the engine. My guess is the rear main oil seal needs replacing. Ugh! It was fine when I parked it last summer (and this highlights the risk of “ran-when-parked” jeeps!). I’ll let it sit for a day or two and see if things magically right themselves.
That pretty much ended my garage time yesterday.
I have been wanting a set of 5 lug aluminum rims that match the six lug aluminum rims for the racer. Yesterday, while fuming about the oil leak, I went on FB Marketplace and did some searching for local motorhomes (pondering the idea of getting a gently used, older motorhome to take to races). After looking through ads, on a lark, I entered a search for Desert Dogs. Lo and Behold, these three popped up for sale for only $400! Check out all that barely used tread!
Even better, the dogs were mounted on the style of rims I had been seeking! I made arrangements to get them, which meant driving to Boise today.
It turns out they had been an extra part of a Suzuki Samarai purchase.As a bonus, they threw in another desert dog, though it doesn’t have much life left.
This rim has a little cosmetic discoloring and the tread is slightly different, but no bid deal. On the left you can see the other rims. The COOP tires on the green rims will be transferred to the other matching six lug aluminum rims that I have.
UPDATE: This post originally highlighted Paul’s Warn hub counter display model. Now, this post will highlight several different demo or display hubs with sections removed for dealers. Anyone seen images of other examples?
1. Cutlas Selective Hub: You can see a brochure for this early Cutlas hub here. This was on eBay (last priced around $450), but sold away from eBay. See more pics of this here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175866727203
2. Dualmatic 2-lever Watson-style Display Hub: This hub has a Dualmatic sticker, but is the type sold under the Watson brand (Watson-branded hubs & Dualmatic hub lever variations). This display hub was also on eBay, though I don’t remember the price. It probably sold off ebay as a package with the Cutlas hub above. See more pics here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175866718846
UPDATE: Unlike the other Hub Lok hubs made for jeeps, this Hub Lok hub model was designed for early Ford Broncos. It is listed for $149 on the Bronco Graveyard website. I can’t confirm if these are rare or not.
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Originally posted on June 8, 2023: The seller of these Hub Lok hubs for jeeps sold the hubs with the original installation and operation instructions! The manual accompanying the hubs confirms that the Hub Lok hubs were sold by Dana and/or Spicer, which is what we thought, but lacked physical evidence as proof.
An original dash sticker? Probably not another one of these around!
Jordi bought this CJ-2A with an interesting hardtop (the plates indicate this is a jeep outside the US) and posted pics to Facebook. To me, this top looks most like a Station Wagons, Inc, body. The suicide doors and certain elements are extremely close (especially in the Pop Mech ad), but not exact.
Popular Mechanics Ad from the January 1948 issue of Popular Mechanics, pg 266. This ad appeared in the February 1948 issue as well.
Jason posted these pics of a jeep-looking fiberglass body with some unique aspects to Facebook. The hood is lower than usual vis-a-vis the fenders, the rear fender wells have a flare modeling into it, the rear mid-section looks slightly longer, it has a step with a runner along the entire side, and the rear has a unique flare on the back. Also, it is interesting that the top edge around the back is about as thick as a Bobcat or Parkette body.
According the discussion on Facebook, “I was told by the owner there was a local guy he in nh that was big into fiberglass I guess he also built cobra body’s and he made a few of these.” I suspect there aren’t many of these around.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $50.
Some idiot put the wrong link in this post … fire him!
This is missing the windshield.
Blaine spotted this really neat model of a Jeep CJ-5 Camper setup. It’s pretty neat model and unique model that I believe is about 3″ long. It is shipped from Mannheim, Germany. In the post below this one, there’s some history about the camper inventor.
https://www.nasshan.com/en/autocult/ac09017-jeep-cj5-universal-camper-1969-usa
UPDATE: Originally posted February 20, 2021:
Charles “Chuck” Prater’s (1928-1913) jeep camper has been discussed in the past, but pics of his prototypes are less well known. Chuck must have been a curious kind of guy, because when he was an employee at the circulation department of the Palm Beach Post in Florida he invented an automatic paper bagging machine.
How he got involved with jeeps isn’t well documented, but in the 1960s he developed a unique camper setup that allowed a camper to be ‘hitched’ to the back of a CJ-5. He showed off his prototype to the Palm Beach Post in July of 1968:
July 07, 1968, Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach, Florida.
From the CJ5camper.com website we have this additional photo of the prototype, year unknown. You’ll note that the camper in the pic above seems to lack the blue color added to the pic below, so this may have been taken after the Palm Beach Post photo?:
The Palm Beach reported a few months later on September 25, 1968, that Kaiser-Jeep agreed to manufactured Chuck’s camper idea:
For reasons unknown at this point, Chuck waited almost two years later (August 24, 1970) to file his patent (approved August 15, 1972). The patent included several illustrations. Below is one of them.
At some point after he filed his patent, Waldron Motors presented Chuck with camper #1. Curiously, the caption indicates he patented the idea, then sold it. However, the information above suggests he sold the idea, then patented it?:
This newspaper clipping was posted to thegentlemanracer.com’s site.
Being the inventor he was, Chuck didn’t stop inventing after the development of the camper. He expanded on his basic camper invention with a similar dump trailer idea. This article comes from the cj5camper.com site and is undated:
I searched but could not find a patent or another other information about the dump trailer.
According to his brother-in-law Sam Williams (see his comment in this post), Chuck built another camper that fit the CJ-7, one which Sam owns.
Mike shared this unusual camper. The shape of it reminds me of the late 1940s Book mobiles (or see below post). The box on this truck appears a little taller than the book mobile boxes, so this truck and the book mobiles may be unrelated.
The truck is listed as a 1954, but the grille suggests it is earlier. It’s unclear whether the camper on back is original to the truck (special order for example) or whether someone added the camper later. That said, the interior faux wood and carpet screams 60s or 70s to me. The “Jeep” radio would have also been added at a later date. Note the Warn hubs are IH branded hubs.
The jeep sports a “Rednor & Raine” Jeep sticker from Trenton, NJ, which as of 1965, was a jeep only dealer. This also has a Princeton Theological Seminary parking permit, which is still an active institution.
https://westslope.craigslist.org/cto/d/durango-1954-jeep-willys-purpose-built/7659761315.html
UPDATE: This was originally posted June 18, 2020:
April 1954, Dane County, North Carolina: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll36/id/336. The jeep was painted green.
March 1950, Dane County, North Carolina: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll36/id/331
An April 15, 1948, newspaper article in the Winona Republican (Winona, Minnesota) claimed that there were roughly 377 bookmobiles traveling the United States, out of which only one was a jeep.
Two years later, by 1950, the jeep was proving more popular for use as a bookmobile, because it could access rural areas more easily than other vehicles. I doubt there are any records on how many jeeps were used as bookmobiles, but at least one appeared in multiple photos and articles: The Dare County Jeep Bookmobile.
Dare County purchased it’s first jeep in 1950, hence all the photos and news articles on this post. According to the library’s history page: “After the war, the library continued to grow. In 1950, the first bookmobile was purchased – a green Willys Jeep converted for this purpose began making regularly scheduled runs. As there were then no bridges from the mainland or to the Outer Banks, all trips involved ferries. Georgia Harwood retired in 1956, succeeded by Jean Turner Ward, who served as librarian for the next fifteen years.”
This full page article with photos was published in North Carolina’s News and Observer on April 23, 1950. It appears the new jeep bookmobile had just been put into service.
This next article, which predates the above article by 13 days, was published in North Carolina’s News and Observer on April 23, 1950.
North Carolina’s News and Observer on April 10, 1950.
Dare County’s digital archives provided additional photos:
Two new hats showed up in the mail today. I asked family members, but they didn’t send them, so it must have been one of you guys?
My thanks to whomever sent them. Ann was sure a fan of them! I will get some use out of them (if I can get them away from Ann).
Blaine shared this pic of a ‘mystery’ 4WD at low tide (I’m assuming in the PNW?). I don’t recognize it (and the bad, but improving eye, doesn’t help), but Blaine does. Can you guess it?
I’m guessing someone had a bad day before time and water turned this to rust.
Though the issue doesn’t explicitly say it is the January issue, given it discusses things happening in the future in January of 1967, I believe it is the first issue of 1967.
Maury found this Jeep V6 Emblem with a green-white-gold/yellow color-scheme on eBay. Anyone know on what models it appeared?
You can comment here http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/117161/page-3#post-1797410 or comment below.
Ann fired up her Cricket yesterday and printed out some labels that also act as instructions for starting and managing the jeep. She also add “ON” and “OFF” labels to make clear what switches need to be pressed. Starting the jeep is a five step process:
In the first pic, the “2-” for the fan label is hiding behind the switch.
UPDATE: I just purchased a set of these off of eBay. The box has a little tear, but the pen and pencil are in good shape.
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Originally posted January 26, 2021:
Mike shared this September 6, 1957, announcement sent to all dealers about the new Eversharp ‘Jeep’ pens, pencils and sets, now available with the Forward Control ‘Jeep’ FC-170 illustration.
More progress made on the racer this weekend. The floors are installed and mostly bolted. The pedals are all in place. The steering was in place, but I was unhappy with the final angle of the front support bearing, so I plan to redo that support so that it angles differently. Hopefully, I will get that done and installed today.
Here’s how the rear top crossmember that holds the rear fire extinguisher looks. The two holes on either side are the shoulder strap attachments.
Here are the three pedals (with the steering drive shaft disconnected from the quick-turn unit).
One thing I still need are a brake and clutch pedal pad. Any recommendations on what I can use that has a similar mount point and size? (these were from the yellow racer .. I didn’t like the other racer’s pedals). These look to be rubber casings over metal pedals, but both pedal bolts are in bad shape. this is the good one …
The master cylinders are attached (the brakes are ready to go). I have to get an adapter to connected the clutch line to the clutch master cylinder. Everything is fitting well. I have to say the fire wall turned out better than I thought. Remember, I flattened the old firewall from the yellow racer and re-bent it into the shape I wanted.
Here side view of the gas pedal setup. One thing I learned from my first race jeep was that having a firm, stable gas pedal was greatly beneficial when racing, due to the bouncing. I could plant the bottom of my foot firmly, while using the top of my foot to feather the gas. This setup is based on what I built for Biscuit, but heavier duty.
Bill shared this article about Mahindra’s EV Prototype called “Thar.e”. Some folks seems to like the design, but I can’t say I’m a big fan. To angular for my tastes. I expect it will have 4 wheel drive or All wheel drive, but those details haven’t been released (or so indicates the article below).
https://carbuzz.com/news/meet-the-mahindra-vision-thar-e-the-willys-jeeps-wild-electric-descendant
Bill shared this Hagerty article about the jeep history: https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-appeal-of-the-willys-jeep-knows-no-borders-no-barriers/
As a general history it isn’t too bad, though the author mistakes patents for trademarks in several cases. One photo caught my eye that I don’t remember seeing was taken in 1944 in Paris France. In the photo, a jeep is parked in front of Restaurant L’Ambassade.
After some sleuthing, I figured out the address is 18 rue Norvins, 75018 Paris France. The restaurant changed names at some point to Restaurant Le Consulat. It’s located in the heart of France in the Montmartre area, not far from Moulin Rouge and the Arc de Triomphe. Google Earth wouldn’t let me get positioned where I wanted, but I got fairly close to the original camera angle.
You don’t get the sense from this photo, but the location is at a juncture of several roads. Here’s an overhead screen shot.
UPDATE IV: “J” was able to locate and purchase one of these rare sandman GPVs.
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Originally posted Aug 19, 2023, UPDATE III: Jay shared some more pics!
UPDATE II: After 10 plus years, we finally have a photo of an actual GPV Volkswagen-jeep! Thanks to Jay for sending this photo. I hope we can get some more!
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UPDATE Jan 18, 2013: I found a second brochure that identifies this as a Sandman GPV
Has anyone ever heard of this Volkswagen/jeep model? It doesn’t seem to be a VEEP. Other searches yielded nothing about this unusual rig.
View all the information on eBay
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BROCHURE #2
“original non color folder 8.5 x 5.5 folded , 17 x 5.5 unfolded . This Jeep replica used a Volkswagen chassis . Produced by General Purpose Vehicles , Sandman Sales , Fortworth Texas.
Helpers helping …
Despite the sauna-like temps, and with ice-water-bottles in front of my sho- fan blasting at full speed, I nearly completed the wiring (a couple things left to do). The principal goal was to secure it to the firewall to limit movement while racing, which should keep connections intact and stop cables from rubbing to bare wire. (On the yellow race jeep I could see where the battery cable had rubbed through the protective outer layer at some point, then it had been patched).
I decided to add a second jumper connection which solely handles the lights. I’ve now got most of the wiring in place in case I want to later add headlights and turn signals. I still need to add a switch to power the gauge lights and rear driving lights (in case I need them for some reason). I also didn’t think about adding a fuse for the rear lights until just now .. oops.
Ann helped me put the body into place to make sure the wire dropped under the lip of the cowl from the rollbar:
Yesterday, we had our only heat spike of the season, with temps hitting, but thankfully nothing like 2021 and temps of 116! Today will be 107, followed by around 104 tomorrow. Saturday, the highs will drop to a comfy high 80s. So, without air conditioning in the shop, not much progress will be made.
I’m currently working through this rats nest and how I want the new wiring junction atop the firewall to be strung. The firewall top sits up to 1.5″ under the cowl in places, so no wires have to go through the wall. There’s also not much rewiring to be done, as I didn’t have to make many changes.
The remaining floors are about ready to be reinstalled, but I want to make sure everything else is in place before I add them.
Oops. I was 2″ short on my fuel line. I replaced a rubber hose at the fuel pump side, which gave me enough room to attached this valve.
