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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 .
UPDATE: Still Available.
(07/12/2020) Looks fun.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/315228506185780/
“1951 Willy’s Jeep replica. Wood body 18 1/2 horse Briggs motor. Fun toy for all ages. Hand made”
This April 30, 1957, article highlights the speedy service it’s red-themed jeeps and other delivery vehicles make possible. Attempts to learn more about this shop were unsuccessful, as there is a singer from the region named Wheeler Walker, so his stuff dominates the search returns.
UPDATE: This sold on eBay Sunday night for $57.01 Plus $8.50 shipping. It had some damage in the tail gate area.
“I am offering for sale, a 1950’s-1960’s, Jeep Dealer Sales Promotional Model, Cast Metal. It is in Very Good Condition, Original, 5 3/4 inches, rubber tires, opening hood, folding windshield, heavy, tip of left side of front bumper broke off. Not sure if it was a dealer sales award or what. Nice looking Jeep”
In his pursuit of CJ-5 Farm Jeep information, Barry shared the story of two CJ-5s jeeps used with a hay bailer out of California. The post includes many stills and a some youtube video from the jeeps in action.
https://www.farmjeep.com/robert-millers-hayfield-hero-jeeps/
https://www.farmjeep.com/robert-millers-hayfield-hero-jeeps/
Hell’s Half Acre Marker, Hell’s Half Acre, Wyoming … this photo was posted to the Historical Market Database, which I didn’t know existed.
The following two Polaroid photos show a CJ-6 available for a jeep tour of Hell’s Half Acre in Wyoming. The tour was located at Hell’s Half Acre’s post office, which opened in 1940. This page contains a photo of the post office from 1947; souvenirs were available, but no jeep tours at that time. The post office appears to have been leveled sometime in the 1990s or later.
View all the information on eBay
“2 Original Vintage Snapshot Photos Hell’s Half Acre Post Office & Hamburgers “
There is also this partial, color slide from 1960 that was likely taken about the same time:
View all the information on eBay
UPDATE: A newspaper article from May 20, 1950, published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, provides more information about the jeep-driving circus chimp named Nero. He passed away later in the year.
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Originally Posted January of 2013: This 1950 postcard shows some chimpanzees driving a battery powered jeep. They were part of a Chimpanzee show at the St. Louis zoo started in 1925. Chimps were taught to ride bicycles, tricycles, motorcycles, ponies, a Great Dane, and more. You can learn more about them in the January 8, 1951, issue of Life Magazine.
“VINTAGE POSTCARD – CONDITION: VG. DATE/ERA: 1950s-60s. Standard Size 3.5×5.5.”
View all the information on eBay
You can view some additional pictures at Jalopy Journal (scroll part way down the page). The quality seems good enough that they may be from Life Magazine, but I tried, but failed to locate their original source. Here is one of the images.
On December 13, 1950, several newspapers announced that Nero had passed away. Here’s an article from the Southern Illinoisan:
This 1961 photo of a lengthened CJ-2A pest control jeep with a sprayer unit can be found in the Wyoming Digital Archives. Given CJ-2L’s, those extended CJ-2As that appear to have been modified in Spokane and sometimes re-stamped as CJ-2L, were sold out of both Spokane and Montana (see ad examples at the bottom), it is highly probable this could have found its way from either location.
This particular jeep likely has a Porter-Reed aluminum half-cab.
View the photo in the Wyoming Digital Archives.
View this example at the Wyoming Digital Archives.
CJ-2L long-wheel-base and CJ-2A extended ads:
This January 1953 ad seems the clearest in terms of a long-wheel-base CJ-2A. Other dealers in the Spokane and Missoula areas carried “lengthened”, “extended” or “long-wheel-base” CJ-2As as well. I believe the ‘extended’ jeeps were likely ones with extended rears, though whether that meant a permanent extension or a bolt on extension is not clear to me.
Fields Motor Company was in Dishman, Washington, which has since been absorbed by suburban Spokane.
January 19, 1951, Spokesman Review
Here’s an example from 1949. Sandifur Motors was profiled earlier this year:
December 11, 1949, Spokesman Review
Here’s an example of one ad from 1951. Burhart was a dealer out of Spokane, Washington.
February 18, 1951, Spokesman Review
I have a two year gap between my 1961 issues of Jeep News and this one from late 1963. During that period, the name was changed from Jeep News to Jeep News International. The use of months as part of the dating system were dropped in favor of using a volume and issue number.
Not surprisingly, the introduction of Wagoneers and Gladiators changed the focus to the full-size jeeps, but there are still legacy jeep photos and articles.
This October 30, 1945, photo coverage from the Rocky Mount Telegram, out of North Carolina, highlights the start of the 8th War Loan drive. It included a photo of a Willys MA leading a series of elephants.
This May 10, 1951, article in the Abilene Reporter-News shows a newly acquired MB/GPW hoisting a circus tent for the Gainesville Community Circus. The jeep was modified to drive stakes, pull stakes, and hoist canvas. Though the circus had been active since the 1930s, this May event was the first time the circus had travelled outside the Gainesville, Texas, area, according to the article at the bottom of the post. Three years later, in 1954, the circus was destroyed by fire.
Six months earlier, this November 11, 1950, article appeared in Billboard Magazine:
Steve spotted this photo. It looks like the FC is about to pull a camper shell out of a garage.
View all the information on eBay
“Pleased to offer an original 1950’s photograph. Photograph measures approximately 5 x 4 inches and has wear consistent with age.”
The Statesville Record and Landmark newspaper out of Statesville, North Carolina, described in the December 29, 1955, issue how up to eight jeeps are used to make sure rural customers received their newspapers, summer or winter, through rain, snow, or sleet.
Bud Wilkinson of the Republican-American reported on this Willys Truck rebuild. https://wheels.rep-am.com/2020/07/my-ride-out-of-the-dump-and-into-the-willys-jeep/
A CJ-V35/U landed on the front page of the Leisuretime Magazine, published by the Gazette Telegraph out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, on August 07, 1965. It looks like the jeep has been modified with a taller radiator (and perhaps another engine), which apparently led to the lack of a hood.
For the story, the writer spent some time with the Mountain Airs Citizen Band Radio Club (not the catchiest of names). I didn’t realize that CB clubs were a ‘thing’, but there was even a magazine dedicated to that group of folks called S9. Here’s an example from 1966 (one in which the Mountain Airs’ name appears somewhere): https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-CB-Radio/S9-Magazine/S9-1966-05.pdf.
Below is the Gazette Telegraph article:
It’s a good situation when you have people to remove your jeep’s chains….
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“1951 Press Photo Korea, soldiers remove tow chains from Gen. MacArthur’s jeep. This is an original press photo. Central Korean front — Gen. MacArthur flew to the Korean Central front today on his 13th visit since the war. Marines are pictured here removing chains from MacArthur’s jeep after it was towed from Hongchon R. when it stalled while fording river. Gen. Ridgway is in rear of jeep (back to camera).Photo measures 9 x 7inches. Photo is dated 03-20-1951.”
This video shows the testing of a jeep and truck.
Steve spotted this photo at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukie archives.
https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/jbmurdoch/id/2016/rec/94
Photo Credit: https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/jbmurdoch/id/2016/rec/94 Archives. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries
This April 16, 1949, article in the Portland Press Herald highlighted critic complaints about several new sedan delivery wagons purchased for use as police vehicles. There was some concern that these new patrol vehicles would be unable to catch modern hot rods. In response, the police chief reminded his critics that this was an experiment.
You will note that there is a black blotch covering a small portion of the second part of the article, but I don’t think anything important is lost with it there.
At $1499.99, the price on this is a head -ratcher. But, it is an unusual and interesting brochure. It reminds me of the Willys airborne prototype called the Jeeplet or the WAC. Here’s a short video with some pics of it.
View all the information on eBay
“SUPER RARE 1960 KAISER WILLYS CONCEPT AMPHIBIOUS TRUCK ADVERTISING BROCHURE.”
The August 26, 1941, issue of Look Magazine included this large photo of a Bantam BRC-40. The caption, presumably written by the author of the article, Henry McLemorehistor reads:
“THIS MOBILE CHIROPRACTOR I am driving is a half-ton reconnaissance car known to the unit as a Peep or Bo-Peep. It’ll go 60 mph, packs two machine guns, a crew of four. It will take you anywhere, provided you can hang on–actually covering worse terrain than a tank. As soon as the Army has enough Peeps, they will replace motorcycles as dispatch and reconnaissance vehicles. Like all armored-division vehicles, the Peep has four-wheel drive and handles as easily as the highest priced pleasure car. The difference is that you sit on a thin cushion over a steel seat and buckle yourself down with an airplane safety belt. “
The above photo is from this two page spread:
This is the magazine cover:
UPDATE: I wonder if this electric jeep pictured in the November 05, 1943, issue of the Arizona Republic newspaper was the inspiration for the Jeep for Junior published in 1946?
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The post originally ran in 2014: These plans for an “Electric Jeep for Junior” come from a September 1946 Issue of Mechanix Illustrated Magazine.
Search ebay for original issues of the September 1946 issue of Mechanix Illustrated
UPDATE: This sold for $66 plus shipping of $15.
This unique lighter with an entombed jeep model has already reached $26 (+$15 shipping) with four days to go.
“What a great piece. During the 1950s and 1960s Evans teamed up with the Clearfloat Company to create various see through lighters with miniaturized items “floating” inside. This one has a miniaturized figural Willys Jeep.
The lighter is also marked “Dudley”. Likely, this piece was a gift from the Jeep Dealer of Dudley, Massachusetts to their Jeep Customers. If anyone knows more about them, please drop me a line and I will add it to the info.
The Jeep inside this great decor piece is superbly detailed. I have pictured it from all angles for your inspection. Since the craftsmen at Clearfloat made these lighters by hand, there are no two of them alike. This special piece is in excellent condition with a snappy action. The flint tube is clear and a it has a great spark from the new flint that was installed for your convenience.
Here is your chance to add this Good-Looking Evans Clearfloat Décor Table Lighter to your collection – Thanks for looking.”
I bought this magazine based on the cover, hoping there would be some good photos in side. Nope, the best part of the article was the magazine cover.
Roger Martin’s Southwest Ohio FC Gathering is taking place this weekend. He shared a few pics from yesterday.
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This article from the May 24, 1965, issue of the Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, follows the Salem Jeep Club’s trip with the Yakima Mountaineer’s Jeep Club (I’m not familiar with that club name) into the Cascade Mountains, specially the Ahtanum area west of Yakima.
