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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 .
Well, I’d planned to do updates, but the weather was perfect for sanding and patching the race body’s big holes with fiberglass (and smaller holes with fiberglass putty), so that took priority. I might be able to have all the body prep done by tomorrow evening.
With the highs around 90 degrees, it’s not too hot, so this week is perfect for prepping and painting the body and front clip.
After one of the nicest April, May and June I think I’ve ever experienced, our summer highs in the 90s have finally arrived. However, work goes on when it can.
We have settled on a temporary color, Kubota Orange. It’s the rattle can color that we think looked the best. I don’t want to do a nicer paint job just yet, because I don’t want to take the time right now to get the body and front clip completely smooth (in case I want to do the mounts differently). Instead, I want to get the jeep running, so that I can test the anchor points to make sure they hold like I hope they will and that the front clip doesn’t rub on the body.
Yesterday I made four of the six front clip mounts, with the final ones to be made today. Here’s the orange on the fender (only two coats). It’s a little darker in person.
When we first got the new kittens last March, we couldn’t get them fixed due to both of them having respiratory issues. Unfortunately, once better, we couldn’t book their spay appointments until July 6th. This wasn’t ideal, but what we didn’t know was how unideal it would be, because for the last month one or the other kittens has been in heat, and meowing, and wanting to go outside, and just little terrors in general.
So, we’ve been counting down the days until the spaying would occur. Finally, on Thursday, we took the girls into the vet.
At day’s end, we expected to receive weary cats ready for sleep and rest (we both have had cats in the past). According to the vet, we needed to keep the cats quiet, keep their cones on their heads (so they can lick their sutures), and limit their food. We were even optimistic when picking them up at the vets, because the techs said how loving the two cats were … hmm … yeah … right.
Instead, as soon as we arrived home and let the cats out of their travel, they became little hellions. We struggled, but successfully got the cones on their heads. Immediately, te supposedly docile and “loving” cats began writhing on the floor, which caused the cones to come off in seconds. And, as soon as they got loose, they were running around like they’d never had surgery. There was no “keeping them calm” .. their pupils were dilated, they obsessed over their food (which eventually we had to hide), they became obsessed with a milk bottle plastic ring, which for literal hours they both chewed and knocked around and carried places.
After recognizing that these two felines were high as kites and feeling no pain and obsessively focused on whatever they wanted, it became clear we needed a new plan to protect their sutures. So, I raced to the local Walmart to pick up baby onesies, which Ann then cut and roughly fitted over their bodies.
These two cats wanted nothing to do with the onesies and, moreover, it caused them to walk and fall over like their were super high. We eventually had to put a harness over one of the cats in order to keep the onesie on her body. Still, they attempted to wriggle out, so one of us at to watch them at all times.
Ann ended up sleeping with the cats in the cat room; however, the next morning she told me that the cats didn’t sleep. In fact, it wasn’t until the afternoon on Friday that they finally slept (as seen below).
‘Get cats’, they say; ‘they will be so fun to have around’ they say … hmmmph.
This children’s card includes a punch out jeep and soldier.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage Gibson Punch Out Fun Army Jeep & Men Boy Birthday Unused Card & Envelope. Card Is 4 5/8″ X 16″ Opened Up. Gibson Play Card.”
UPDATE: Tom just shared this Google view of how the site looks now. The indents of the oval track can still be seen. He added, “The Pin is in the center of the Mud Race Track. The camp ground is in the trees on the right. The view is looking south“
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Tom shared these images from the 1970 Ridge Runners Jeep Race. There’s a couple video clips of the 1977 race just below this one.
Tom added a few historical details I didn’t know, “the Ridge runners had a camp ground on the south side of Ahtanum Creek about half way between Wiley City and Tampico. They rented the land from a guy whose last name was Herkey. The Mud races were held there every Memorial day weekend. You had to ford the creek to get there.”
Notes: The pack hits the first water hole
The leaders plow through the mud and another splashes.
Plowing through the mud
2 jeeps drowned out
Spectators on the hill sitting on their jeeps
Spectators on the hill
Bill shared this video overview of the Mitsubishi jeep history.
I HAD planned on doing posts for this morning, but yesterday we discovered water near our water tank, which soon lead to discovering one of our pipes (in a wall) was leaking. So, holes were cut in the wall and leak verified (at copper corner piece joint). Several hours and one trip to Home Depot later, I was able to get everything fixed (thank goodness for push joints). Whew.
In lieu of updates, we’ll celebrate Roger Martin’s newest acquisition: A 1960 Howe-modified FC that was formerly in the Toledo Firefighters Museum. It run and drives and is in great shape! Congrats Roger!
I am typing this while recovering from a wasp sting that caused my right hand to swell (it’s been an odd health year for me!), which sent us to the local doc-in-a-box to get some steroids, which in turn helped reduce the swelling (after 24 hours). I’ve never had a reaction to a stinger like that, so it’s a bit of a surprise!
Last week I finalized the body mounts. Hinges attach the body to the back of the frame in two places. Two single bolts with large washers hold the mid section of the body to a plate on the roll bar. And, two bolts through angled aluminum hold the bottom front portion of the cowl to an angle piece on either side of the body. On the upper portion of the sides of the cowl some rubber taped to the inside of a bracket keep the cowl from shifting back and forth.
The front clip is proving a bigger challenge than the body. First, I had to cut out part of the the driver’s rear-side portion of the front clip because it was too narrow and hit the side of the body. So, I am creating a form and will lay some new glass down (along with patching a few other places).
Then, once the hood fits properly, I will have have to build special mounts for the front clip. The goal is to reduce the stress on the hood, as these things are often mounted with quick release setups that allow the body to flex, making it more prone to breaking and cracking and/or rubbing on the body.
Here are a few pics:
I decided to to throw a couple blocks (made from some of my grandfather’s wood) onto the hood that are a nod to the original hood blocks, but will also tie in a frame underneath the hood to help support and mount the front of the hood.
You can see part of where the hood is cut out. The form will allow for the new portion of the hood also down fender to flare outward more (or that’s the plan). 
During a roadtrip with family, Mike spotted this unusual jeeprod with a UFO topper on it, cruising in Roswell, New Mexico. The plates indicate the rig is from Texas.
After failing several times, I finally won a copy of this Hatari-themed jeep brochure. It is from number DM 62-03. Learn more about Hatari and Jeep at the CJ-3B page.
Here’s the front page of the brochure:
It opens horizontally to show this two page Hatari announcement:
It agains open up horizontally, both to the left and to the right, to reveal several different vehicles that appear in the movie, including a truck, a CJ-6, a wagon, and an FC-170.
On the back side of the brochure are some of the actors that appear in the movie:
I won this Al-toy on eBay recanted for only $39. It has a slightly broken bumper on the passenger side, but otherwise seems in good shape.
I have someone interested in selling this 50R winch (more info on the winches in general here). It lacks cable, but does spin. I know when these are complete they used to sell for upwards of several thousand, but I have no idea where the market on an incomplete winch like this might be. The seller isn’t worried about getting top dollar; but still wants a reasonable amount for it.
My *guess* would be in the $1500-$2000 range?
Also, any other details that would affect the value of this?
The winch does include the bracket. Here are two pics of it when it was in the bracket (and before he cleaned it up):
Darin Rolf posted these two photos to Facebook. It is an oddity for sure! It appears to be somewhere in Colorado.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/247270289549336/permalink/1320563978886623/
Roger Martin spotted this jeep-themed go kart.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/726123902854535
“4hp engine. Runs great. Has golf cart subframe the Jeep bodY is of wood. Only thing wrong with it is the chain pops off once in a while. Other then that you can ride it today.”
Maury shared this video from AMC Jeep. I was 18 when this came out in 1983. I’m sure I must have seen this on TV and I hazily remember the folks riding a bison, but don’t remember the full commercial.
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $10.
Andy shared these two Willys-Overland postcards. They are both marked “1952”, which seems accurate.
“2 vintage antique jeep post cards”
More information on this years Fall Willys Reunion & Swap Meet here: http://willysreunion.com/fwr23.htm
“Join us once again at the Auto World Museum 200 Peacock Drive in Fulton, Missouri for this year’s Fall Willys Reunion. Bring your Willys or Jeep to be displayed with other Willys from around the Midwest and check out the fabulous vintage car display at the museum. All reunion activity including the Saturday evening banquet will be held in this nostalgic facility.”
A big thanks to Chris for surprising me with this purchase from eBay. The post card shows CJ-5 #2, which ferried visitors up to Harney Peak in South Dakota.
UPDATE: There’s another one of these brochures on eBay.
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Original published March 20, 2023: This early version of the San Juan Scenic Jeep Tours brochure was pre-FCs. It was listed for sale on eBay at some point. Thankfully, the images were still available.
The price on this rare ad has dropped to $12.00 (with $7 shipping). I can’t recall seeing this one. The seller has four of these for sale.
View all he information on eBay
“Stewart-Warner
Willys Jeep Ad
1943 Original ad.
Up-n-at-em, Jeep!
Rare”
UPDATE: This post originally appeared September 28, 2013:
It’s a dirty business, but hunting down jeep stories takes me through all types of content. In this case, I had to search through several pages of bare female breasts and bodies until I found this story about a Yakima Jeep Rodeo from the March 1959 issue of Modern Man. I can report that accompanying the enthusiastic models were several other interesting stories . . .
Photo courtesy of the Cranberry Eagle: https://www.cranberryeagle.com/2023/06/07/the-chase-for-the-inaugural-concord-cup-begins-at-bantam/
UPDATE II: On June 11th, eight different teams launched the race for the inaugural Concord Cup. One of the cool features employed is the map, which allows folks to follow racers: https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/epicwillysadventure/ . It also includes a REPLAY feature which allows viewers to revisit the race for all the days.
I was finally able to find some pics of the finish on Facebook, which shows two jeeps crossing the finishing line, one after the other:
The winner was “Rusty Trombone” with Adam and Steve. Close behind, coming in second(?) looks to be “Roos Racer” with Scott and Joe.
You can see more photos here: https://www.facebook.com/EpicWillysAdventure/photos
It sounds like the event went well and those participants who did report on FB seemed to be having fun. When I saw reports on Facebook, I republished them on eWillys FB when I could. However, as a casual viewer, my tiny critique was the difficulty of figuring out what was happening, who was ahead and, even, who won (eventually I tracked down the info on FB). Timd32 had a similar sentiment when he wrote on OWF: “From what I can piece together on FB, Instagram and the sort they are doing awesome”.
Having done many travelogues over an eight year period, trust me that I GET the challenge! It is hard and time consuming to be a participant, then have post-drive fraternization, and also update readers with progress updates (my late nights-into-early-mornings in motel rooms with crappy wifi along the Alaska Highway attest to that fact), along with context for those readers who might, for example, not be aware of the event until day 3. In fact, when on the road with Ann, we tried to stop by 5pm so I could write updates (that would take hours), which is why we did little to nothing in the evenings (thankfully, Ann was usually worn out by then).
The only answer I can think of is a dedicated reporter along the way with a dedicated location for updates accessible to all, probably to a website (a surprising number of people still don’t use FB). Myself, I don’t use Instagram or TikTok.
Again, that’s just a little critique. I’m glad to hear participants had fun and that the race was deemed a success. Based on the Bantam Festival’s post, they’d like to see the event held again.
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UPDATE Posted Nov 9, 2022: Check on out this recent video that shares more information about this year’s Concord Cup.
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Initially published June 22, 2022:
The 2023 Epic Willys Adventure 4 was announced at this year’s Bantam Festival. This time, there will be new twists to the event, including turning it into more of a competition or rally. Text from the video post:
“@mrmaxbilt and @jonahmhodgkins laying out the details for EWA 4! Pseudo live. June of 2023 we will depart from @bantamjeepfest on a 2000 mile adventure up through New England in 40s-60s period correct Willys Jeeps! New twist this trip, it’s a race! A challenge. A rally. Each day, each rig, it’s driver and co-pilot will be timed from stop to stop, with an array of challenges to complete. All while keeping their Willys running and rolling. Best time overall at the end wins the coveted Concord Cup!
Applications to compete will open this fall and all the rules, regulations, and stipulations will be announced later this summer. Follow Epic Willys Adventure here on IG, on FB, and at epicwillysadventure.com for updates!”
Here’s the video: https://www.facebook.com/EpicWillysAdventure/videos/710182950204126/?_rdr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpicWillysAdventure/
Website: https://www.epicwillysadventure.com
A big thanks to Joe-in-Mesa, and wife Jan-in-Mesa, who found a couple toys and brochures at a great price while visiting the MVPA convention in Des Moines, Iowa, last week.
The Marx tin windup cowboy jeep has details that I haven’t seen on similar cowboy jeeps. I thought it was the best of the two, even though the windup spring doesn’t quite work.
The four-passenger Marx Jumpin’ Jeep in green and yellow is more familiar, with graphics in good shape as well.
I had neither of the two brochures they found, so that was a bonus (see the posts below)!
Here are more pics of both toys:
UPDATE: Thanks to Joe-in-Mesa, I obtained a yellow version of this same 1950/1951 brochure, though the form number (SD 73 M5 651-1CM the 651 may indicate this was published June of 1951) is different. The only difference between the two that I can see between this one and the brochure at the bottom is the color of the brochure (yellow).
Here is the front:
Here is the back:
The brochure opens vertically to reveal this page:
and then the brochure opens horizontally to reveal this page:
Here’s the back fully opened:
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UPDATE: Originally posted March 3, 2021, this post was part of another post about similar brochures of the period.
Finally, one more, similar Willys Sedan Delivery brochure, only it’s not as large or as colorful as the others. In fact, I’d call it a black, gray and white brochure. It’s form number is SD-M3-73–50M. Given it doesn’t label the Hurricane engine as new, it’s probably later than the other brochures, maybe 1951.
This postcard, currently on eBay, verifies the that the Shepherd of the Hills Farm, in Branson, Missouri, used to have a jeep-train (in this case a CJ-7) that ferried visitors around the property.
However, while the tram still ferries visitors, the vehicle advertised as a “jeep” on the website looks more like a Roxor …
