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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 .
This August 1964 brochure is part of the first reprint series, but I don’t know what corrections were made from the first run of this brochure. Absent from this family of jeeps are the DJ-3As (and siblings), CJ-3Bs, FCs and any FJs Kaiser jeep may have been producing.
This is the first page. It isn’t a surprise that Kaiser was promotion the new Cherokees and Wagoneers:
This is the back page of the brochure:
The brochure opens up horizontally to reveal this page:
It then opens up wider to reveal this tri fold page:
Finally, it opens vertically to reveal the family of jeeps. Note that it includes a top section in the lower right corner, highlighting Meyer-style cabs, though in 1964 it appears the cabs may have been marketed as “jeep” cabs or Orrville cabs, since Meyer didn’t purchase Orrville until 1965.
UPDATE II: wilpenney brought up an important point. Page 2 of the Feb 1960 issue of Jeep News (shown at bottom) distinguishes between the “Ashtray”, with the semi-circle whirly part that includes cigarette holders, and the “Hostess Tray”, which lacks the semi-circle part. (Perhaps I am the only person who didn’t realize the difference — I was calling them both ashtrays?)
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UPDATE: These two February 1960 documents reference the “Corner the Market” contest also referenced by the February 1960 issue of Jeep News, as well as the January 1960 issue and the April 1960 issue (I don’t have the March issue).
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Originally Published June 03, 2020:
This issue of Willys News shows that Jeep dealers were experience continued growth. This issue also suggests that the ashtrays and cuff-tie-links were introduced in 1960. Anyone have the full page 1959 Nieman Marcus catalog ad of the newly introduced DJ-3A Surrey mentioned on the last page?
At the bottom of this post is the Bumblebee jeep that became a transformer in one of the transformer movies. A couple days ago, Frank sent me another example (only an image) of a transformer jeep, which led men to a few more as well. I don’t know who created this wagon–>transformer image, but here is a link to where I found a copy: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/290904457152965781/
And then there is this one. It seems to be a Mitsubishi-jeep–>transformer:
And, we have this one with a newer jeep:
And, if you got to this link, you can see even more of them. I had no idea!
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August 24, 2019: Tim discovered that this is back up for sale. The auction is set for August 31, 2019. Starting price is $20,000.
https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-lot/Bumblebee-2018-Screen-Used-Hero-Willys-Jeep-W-L_A3540B7B53
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Previous post from August 2018 with updates:
On August 25th, the jeep (GPW frame with MB body?) used in the upcoming Transformers was up for auction. It’s unclear whether it sold or not (I suspect not). The starting bid at that time was $19,000.
As you can see in the pics, this MB isn’t all stock. It appears to have a GPW front crossmember. Another pic, from the top rear, suggests it has MB toolboxes.
In the movie, the Bumblebee character starts off as a jeep, but soon becomes a VW, remaining a VW for the remainder of the movie.
Tim shared these photos from Willy’s Car Wash (). The sedan delivery wagon appears to be an advertising element. Apparently, the business also had a dog wash station? After looking at Google Earth (see bottom pics), this place seems worth a visit if I’m ever nearby!
I found this imagine online.
Here are two images from Google Earth:
I’ve made some assembly progress. The tank is installed and hooked up (which took me a short while to remember exactly how I fit it into that tight space, lol), the battery is setup, the upper wiring is in place, the rear sway bar is installed, the rear lights are installed and wired and the gauges are in place.
Currently, I am focused on setting up the wiring. I saved the previous wiring, since little will electrically, so it shouldn’t take too long to alter some wire distances.
The Summer 2023 issue of Dispatcher Magazine arrived in my mailbox yesterday. That cover photo is beautiful (much better than my lousy scan would suggest). The issue includes an unknown-to-me story of how the Olympics helped sell the Jeep Comanche.
Bill shared Daniel Strohl’s last article for Hemmings, which is less an article and more of a wish list of articles he had hoped to write, but, for various reasons, couldn’t. One of those article was the FC-150 Commuter Van, but he never uncovered it. You can read his “Untold Auto Stories” below:
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/untold-auto-stories/
Barry shared this cool video showing a Salvage Workshops great find: five jeeps and parts.
Bill shared this nice story about a group of students who rebuilt a family’s jeep after the owner died.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/08/06/jeep-mechanic-coronoa-students-porter/
Roberto shared these recent sketches of a brake assembly.
Chris was wondering if anyone knows more about why this postcard describes these vehicles as “Phantoms”, especially when the look more like Ford GPs than Bantam prototypes?
Toby purchased a 1966 CJ-5 from an original owner and found this letter inside the owners manual. Note the last paragraph (no coverage for squeak and rattles, lol).
Bill shared this article about some modern-day jeeps you might not want to purchase. I really can’t say how accurate most of this article is, as I’ve never owned or driven any of these.
This is wrongly captioned as a 2015 Wrangler in the article.
Roger Martin attended this year’s Toledo Jeep Fest this weekend. He brought along his 1947 CJ-2A, an M-677, and his FC Fire Truck. He also took photos of the jeeps at the show, along with some merchandise for sale and a few of the parade.
Roger Martin shared the news that a Roof Palomino group exists on Facebook. Given their rarity, I wouldn’t have guess that.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1733489436893878/
UPDATE: Andy Reached Alaska!
The intrepid explorer overcame his obstacles and made it to the Alaska border the other day. Congrats on the continuing journey!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/136590813628973/permalink/1330828404205202/
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Originally posted May 30, 2023:
Andy, from Argentina, standing in his engine compartment at Washougal Classic Jeep while Richard and Jake work on his engine.
Recently, through Facebook, I was made aware of Andy, who is driving his Willys wagon from Argentina to Alaska. I lack many of the details, but I know that by early May Andy had made it all the way to Oregon when his engine finally gave out. Unable to go any farther, he and friends reached out through Facebook to find someone would could help him fix his engine (a couple posts on this FB page).
Richard Darr of Washougal Classic Jeep, near Vancouver, Washington, volunteered to help. While Andy stayed with a friend in Tigard, Oregon, Richard towed the vehicle to his place, diagnosed the problems:
“The engine has some serious issues for sure and the cracks have us spooked as well but we are going to try and breathe life back into this engine to hopefully finish the journey to Alaska. We really don’t know if the cracks happened recently or been there for quite some time. We are going to put a new timing set in and reseal the valves, clean out all the blockages in the cooling ports and new head gasket and top it off with a tune up and see what happens. Drive it around locally a bit to see how it takes. If it seems healthy enough to send Andy on his way then off he goes.. if not.. then we will have to switch gears and come up with a replacement engine or something. Jake and I are happy to do what we can to get Andy to the finish line of his more than 8 year Trek.”
After a couple weeks, Richard and Jake were able to repair the engine enough that Andy decided not to invest in another block. They test drove the wagon recently and are satisfied it is ready. Andy test drove it as well and says it is more powerful than it has been since Bolivia (I can only guess something happened to the engine there?). So, Andy is prepared to take off towards Alaska again.
Jake and Richard testing the wagon’s rebuilt engine, with Jake driving.
During the process, did require Richard to spend $400 of his own money (plus all the time). I’m going to send Richard $200 to cover half his expenses. If anyone wants to donate as well, you can send money directly to me through PayPal (Payment@ewillys.com) and I will send Richard an additional check based on any donations (he doesn’t have PayPal). If you have any questions, just email me: d@deilers.com.
UPDATE: The weather was perfect, cloudy, not so hot, and windless, for painting the chassis outside.
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It’s been a busy few days. I completed the sidebars and netting, then washed the frame. It’s drying awaiting a new coat of paint. While I’d prefer to disassemble and properly clean and paint everything, that’s just not possible at this point.
There’s nothing much fancy about the side bars. A bolt secures the back of the bar and acts as the pivot point. A 3/8’s pin holds the front in place and is pulled to release the bar so a person can enter/exit the jeep. The netting is held in place at the front by a seat belt buckle. Undo that, then pull the bottom bar forward slightly, and the bottom of the net comes loose, then a person can swing the netting onto the top. (note, this phone was taken before I welded a short horizontal tube which will hold the back of the top netting bar in place .. the orange clamp was just to figure out where the tube should go).
With the bars and netting done, the mods are pretty much complete. Now, to clean, paint, and assembly. Hopefully, everything goes back to gather as it did before …
Here’s the chassis a little cleaner. My goal is simply to cover the green and paint the bare metal.
The front tires will go on some aluminum rims, while there will be desert dogs in the back. The back rims remain undecided. I’d rather not use the hurricane finned rims for the rear, but don’t want to crack them. I have some other aluminum rims for the back, but they are six lug, while the rear axle is now a five lug drum.
Frank shared this video showing the creation of a small jeep that can drive and park under its own power.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvBJ_dVAElK/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
Steve shared this amusement ride kiddie jeep that’s for sale. It looks like it was once part of one of these kiddie carnival rides: see video –> http://www.ewillys.com/2012/10/02/old-jeep-carnival-ride-found-in-2011-at-garage-sale/
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/atq/d/ford-city-rare-vintage-willys-jeep/7649405693.html
“FOR SALE: A RARE VINTAGE WILLYS JEEP AMUSEMENT PARK/CARNIVAL RIDE/ KIDDIE RIDE. From The 1950’s & 1060’s. Heavy Steel Construction. The Steering Is Controlled By The Front Bar. Pretty Solid except For Some Rust Hole Spots On Rear. No Damage. Restore It Or Use As Is. Last Photo Is Of One I found On Internet That Looks Pretty Close To It.”
Tom shared this nice looking combo of pedal jeep and matching trailer. I can’t remember seeing a trailer that matched a pedal jeep.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/945374793235131
“Purchased in Branson, MO. came from a museum. Excellent ’50’s pedal car Jeep with matching trailer. Looks like the originals from WW2 or Korean Wars. Perfect for the military collector.”
I believe this is the first Advertising and Merchandise Bulletin that I have owned (or even seen). I bought several of these together on eBay. The particular one details the “600 series” of tri-fold brochures available during 1960 (which is one of those nagging issues I’ve always wondered about .. how many brochures were made). So, this answers that question. There were only 13 in that series.
When I get a chance, I’ll add links of images to this post.
Over the weekend I had time to bend the side bars and create the initial mounting brackets for the side bars. But, my metal saw blade for my evolution chop saw (which has been great) gave out due to an unanticipated dust bag mount project–to help deter flies– for the cows.
I had planned to do updates last night, but, as seems to be a regular occurrence, life got in the way, again. But, thanks to Bill, I found this interesting adventure through the Darien Gap from 1972.
Grace Wiggins posted these hubcaps to Facebook hoping to get a lead on who made them.
Given the rather ‘sloppy’ serif element at the top of the “J” I’d say these weren’t factory. And, I would be shocked if they were made in the US given Willys Motors and Kaiser Motors’ trademarks.
If does look like they are large enough to fit over most 4WD hubs, which would suggest they weren’t for 2WD models, but I could be wrong.
Here’s another Men’s magazine that depicts a jeep on its cover.
View all the information on eBay
“Man’s World Magazine 2nd Series Vol. 15 #6 VG 1969”
