John spotted a flattie with an engine that has a serial number we don’t recognize.  You can see the pics below. As far as we both can tell, the engine should start with a “J” rather than a “V”.  Anyone know why?

If you like maps and history of the US, you’ll likely find this STATISTICAL ATLAS
OF THE NINTH CENSUS (1870) fascinating.  Even better, all the maps are available in 300 dpi (a 256mb download)!  It’s fun, in map-geek way, to see what cities were listed and which were left out (Ex … Olympia Wa shown, Seattle Wa not)

Below are a couple map examples.  Click on the map to get a higher resolution version. The first map shows a mapping of the woodlands.  At least in the western half of the US, with which I’m most familiar, I think that’s a pretty accurate assessment of how the woodlands appear today (though the trees are likely newer and shorter).

And here’s a geographical map:

I was looking for constublary pics, but instead came across this page full of restored old jeeps that were part of Bastogne’s 65th Anniversary Commemoration.

Here’s one pic.  There are many, many more at the US Militaria Forum:  http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=61626&st=0

A reader asked me the following “would the diffs from a 50’s willys truck bolt up to a jeep frame without modification?”  I didn’t know the answer off hand.  Anyone know?

Assume we are moving 50’s truck running gear to a pre 1970 cj-5, cj-3a, cj-3b, cj-2a …

Thanks,

– Dave

I’m updating the site tonight, so expect a few oddities and probably few posts this evening.

Thanks — Dave

A frustrated reader named ‘john doe’ emailed me tonight, leaving me an email with no return address.  ‘John’ was frustrated because many of the links related to vehicles for sale are no longer valid. ‘John’s’ frustration with this issue isn’t unreasonable; however, I keep the content for my purposes and for historical purposes (sometimes comments are attached to them for example).

To better answer ‘John’, and to remind readers, here is what I put in the FAQ section:

Craigslist Ads expire at different rates depending on where the ad is located.  In many cases, Ads are repeated.  In some cases, they aren’t re-listed even though the jeep remains for sale. So, I always err on the side of ‘for sale’ unless contacted by someone or unless the ad is deleted by the author.

The overall goal is to get a sense of how these old flat fenders are priced so that both buyers and sellers have a better sense of their local and national market.

Finally, in some cases these jeeps provided a teaching tool to show others something unique or unusual about the jeep.

So, to get the most out of this site, you are best off reviewing it every day or every other day to see what’s been added.

In addition, if you are looking for a particular jeep in a particular area and the search tool isn’t helping, just contact me (d@ewillys.com) and I’ll be happy to help you.

What I won’t be doing is deleting old content simply because it is old, though I do delete various posts when I think they no longer meets my needs.

What I would be willing to do is pay someone to build a better search tool so that posts can be searched by dates.  However, to do that I’d have to raise some money from readers, as I don’t have the experience to build that plugin.  If there’s an interest in this feature, and thus an interest in having me add a donation button to pay programmers to improve the site, then I’m open to that option.

Thanks,

– Dave

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $3500.

This jeep looks good.  It appears to have an updated motor of some type as I think I see a header coming down on the passenger side.  It doesn’t look like there’s a muffler attached to the header.

“I have a 1946 Jeep Willys that was left to me by my father. Unfortuntley, due to the present economy I can no longer store it. It was last restored in the late 80s. Its a great project for a serious car lover. I would also be willing to trade for something of similiar value. Perhaps an older bronco. I request serious inquires only due to the fact of sentimental value that it holds.”

Randy passed on this slide show to me.  There are a few jeeps, but mostly airplanes.  I thought the shots were amazing.

http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/IwoJima?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW06db_6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299163150448181842

UPDATE: (01/29/09) I wanted to thank Gary Wolf, the writer of the article, for responding to my email to him.  He told me he has forwarded the correction to the editors of Wired.

Yes, I read the same thing and about choked on my dinner. That statement was published in Wired Magazine’s most recent issue, February of 2010 page 29. (and yes, the writer of the story got a note from me)

In his effort to defend his theory that the internet was pretty dead in terms of launching new, wildly successful companies, Peter Thiel, co-founder of Pay-pal and the first investor in Face Book (yes, he’s done well financially, which in Silicon Valley turns you into a soothsayer — yes, I used to work there …  ) used the history of the automobile as an example of how all booming industries support fewer and fewer wildly successful startups over time.

Now, I’m not quibbling with his general argument, but he seriously undermines his credibility with one of the biggest inaccuracies regarding the Jeep that I think I’ve seen published.  To quote him accurately, he states “But the last successful car company started in the US was Jeep in 1941.” …. yeah … right.

I mean, it’s not like he’s off by a year or something; instead he’s wildly off the mark in multiple directions.  For starters, American Austin (called Bantam later) was launched in 1929, Willys Overland was originally called Overland and launched in 1903, and Ford was launched in 1903.  Secondly, no one company build the early jeeps.  In addition, no company was called Jeep until 1962 when Kaiser became Kaiser-Jeep.  We could even get picky, such as Bantam built the first jeep in 1940 rather than 1941.  And, I’m sure we could go on, but I think the point is made.

No need to login to view the submenus .. but I guess that temporary plan didn’t work anyway … fortunately I have no ego wrapped in my coding abilities!

Actually, I thought my logging in idea had worked for users, until a reader pointed out that he still couldn’t see the sub menus even after logging in (thanks Robert!).  It was then I  discovered that I was the only person that could see the submenus …. cool for me but sucks for everyone else 🙁

So, after spending the day beating my head against my desk for several hours, injecting caffeine, and playing basketball … and it was a good day for bball … I finally found the culprit (some javascript related to the slideshow in the sidebar).  So, for the time being there won’t be a slideshow of past posts, but there will be submenus.

Updates later (and I’ll answer some emails which i have ignored all day to track down this problem).

– Dave

I don’t follow brochure values at all and couldn’t tell you how rare, or not, these are.

“I have 3 brochures for sale. 1st is a WILLYS MOTOR INC. CJ-3B , 2nd is a WILLYS CJ-5 , 3rd is a KELLY STEEL-CAP brochure they are mint and selling for $100.00 each or $250.00 for all 3. thank you”

http://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/cto/1554811922.html

A reader asked if anyone is familiar with any vehicle using a 16.5 x 8.25″ wheel with 33 x 12.50 x 16.5 tire?  The reader has some rims that he was told were original, but he can’t find anything about them.

More pics here

I’m sure, if I stretch and twist, I can make this post about Willys, but, frankly, it really has nothing to do with them.  So, fair warning….

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As I’ve mentioned occasionally in posts, I like cooking and studying food related issues.  While I’ve thought about creating a 2nd blog related to these issues, I just haven’t gotten around to it.

About four years ago I asked myself a simple question, for reasons too long winded that I won’t go into them here, exactly what am I supposed to eat?  Along the way, I’ve read as many studies, books and articles as I could find that seemed reasonably interested in finding grounded answers, versus sources attempting to champion some superior form of eating.  Michael Pollan’s books were some that I felt met those standards (well, until his latest book anyway).

Michael Pollan

A few years ago, a journalist named Michael Pollan jumped square into the middle of the food discussion with a book called Ominvores Dilemma, which I felt was a very good first attempt at exploring the food system within which American’s operate and the viability of those systems.

In his second book on the topic, In Defense of Food, was less memorable, though still an interesting read.  This cemented his stature in the “what in the hell should we eat” consciousness of those interested in the topic.

In his third book, Food Rules, which I read last night, his journalistic senses went rogue (in my opinion), creating a book of food rules that I think, while generally helping most people,  are supported by a framework of vegetarianism that undermines the research credibility he gained in his first two books.  More to the point, the book ticked me off enough to write a review on Amazon.

I’ve published my review of the book below because, I suppose, I can; And, maybe, because some of you, maybe one of you, might find it interesting?

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My Book Review of Food Rules:

I found this book disappointing.  After reading this book, I had to ask myself whether the person who wrote the Ominvore’s Dilemma, which I felt was a well done piece of journalism, was the same person who wrote this book.  While Omnivore’s dilemma reflected an earnest attempt at investigation and analysis, this book appears void of many of the lessons learned from that book. While Mr. Pollan notes that much of the ‘science’ for Food Rules comes from In Defense of Food, I can’t say that the conclusions I reached from In Defense were the same as the conclusions Mr. Pollan spells out in this new book (which means I need to re-read In Defense I suppose).

Now, let me note that most of his rules make good sense and will likely help many average Americans improve their health. However, I cannot ignore the glaring faults of this book.

There are two major concerns I have with Food Rules, the initial supposition and the conclusion.  The first concern, his definition of a Western Diet, one of two core facts he simply states are generally accepted facts in the world of nutrition, seems more to serve his conclusion (eat lots of vegetables) than to be a real attempt at definition. If we truly don’t understand the problem, how can we develop a rational conclusion?  I believe his hypothesis provides zero insight, when in fact it could provide a great deal of insight into the specific problems with most of the food that ‘Westerners’, or more specifically Americans, consume.  Based on the studies, literature and lay materials I have read, I see nothing to indicate that his interpretation of the ‘western diet’ is an accurate reflection of any kind of generally accepted wisdom.

The second, and bigger concern I have is Mr. Pollan’s perpetuation, without a shred of discussion, on page 51, of the argument that “Vegetarians are noticeably healthier than carnivores and live longer.”  One of the problems with this statement as fact (there are several problems here, but I won’t get into them all) is that most people aren’t carnivores; they are omnivores.  For a writer who wrote a book with the word OMNIVORE in the title, I expect him, if anyone, to understand this is not a minor issue.

In fact, this vegetarian vs. carnivore perception exists throughout this book.  For example, his rule number 19 states:  If it came from a plant eat it; if made at a plant, don’t.  To put it bluntly, where’s the beef here?  There are problems with the way beef is created!  So, I’d change #19 to:  If it came from a plant or dined on plants, eat it.  If it was made at a plant or grown at a plant (aka CAFO), don’t.  The point here is that a large portion of ‘carnivore products’, such as meat and dairy products, that are sold in most stores are nutritionally deficient (in Omnivore’s Dilemma, he made some fantastic points about this) because they are as manufactured as some vegetarian products (processed cereals come to mind).

Moreover, going back to my omnivore point, most people in the US consume nutritionally poor starches (french fries, baked potatoes, etc) or refined foods (burger buns, rolls, etc) along with their poor quality meats which likely undermines some of the potential value of meat/fat consumption.  In sum, we have a huge portion of the American population trying to be omnivores, eating a federally encouraged ‘balanced diet’, but, instead, can only consume low quality meats, dairy products, vegetables and refined foods that represent the mainstream foods (in most stores and restaurants) available to most Americans. To classify these people as carnivores misleads people who are truly trying to figure out what they should eat, along with muddling omnivore and carnivore research undeservedly together.

Mr. Pollan can do better and has done better.  Hopefully, his next book will be better.

UPDATE:  Final word

After playing with this issue for days, I kept running into similar problems; no matter what code I used to create the submenu, it wouldn’t work.  For reasons as yet unclear, users that are not logged in can’t access the code to make the menu run.

So, I have a big reminder to people that automatically pops up on all subpages when users are not logged, reminding you/them to log into the site to view the subpages.  I’ve also reinstalled some side menu widgets as well.

Please let me know if you encounter any problems .. d@ewillys.com

– D

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I updated to the latest version of wordpress, which caused a couple glitches.  I’ve fixed most of them, but one strange issue is that when you aren’t logged it, you can’t see any sub pages.  Perhaps that’s been an ongoing issue about which i was unaware?

I’ll address this asap, but the front page works just fine.

Thanks,

– Dave

It’s been two years since I launched eWillys.  The growth during the first year was modest, though not unexpected, since I didn’t have much content and I never advertised the site. Below is what the site looked like originally. Clearly it’s matured.

Growth in 2009

In 2009,  traffic grew dramatically, increasing monthly from March through December.  The number of visits per month increased 437% over a 12 month period, reaching almost 70,000 visitors in December.  The number of Monthly Page Views jumped even more, growing 610% for a maximum of 338,000 page views in December.

I suspect the growth reflects increasing referrals from readers, better google results, and successful purchases and sales.  This has lead to more readers contributing their stories.  And, unlike the one complaint I had the first year, I had no complaints this year, which amazes me.  I must have pissed off at least one person?  Maybe I’m not doing something right? LOL.

Finally, the installation of some advertising has created just enough income to cover the hosting costs of the site for the past two years and the cost for the upcoming year.  And, especially in regard to the ebay content, the advertising is perfectly relevant to the site, so it’s a win-win for ebay, me and you.

International Participation

This year readership expanded beyond the US & Canada with readers contacting me from Germany, Columbia, Italy, Phillipines, Switzerland, India, Costa Rica, Israel, the UK and more.  We even got some pics from Afghanistan by US troops, demonstrating that the United States armed forces (probably unknowingly) are backing the eWillys effort.

Readers can now choose from over 5000 posts & pages to view and probably close to 10,000 images (I don’t have a good way to measure this).  I’ve done my best to categorize the posts and pages in ways that provide unique ways to view, learn and enjoy the content.  The eWillys main folder on my computer (which houses the entirety of the photos, movies, etc) has grown to 4.5 GB — reminder to self, back up computer!!

The Platform

During 2009, the folks at WordPress did a fabulous job of updating a stable, dependable platform capable of serving the large amount of content you see daily. They continue to provide significant updates to the platform (in fact, I have to make a major update soon), which has allowed me to easily organize data and provide new types of services at zero cost to me or you — that’s a price I can handle.

Despite all the improvements, there are still somethings I’d like to ad, especially in the content department.  So, there’s plenty of work left to do over the coming year.

The Future

Today, January 1, is on target to be the busiest traffic day ever.  That’s a great way to start the year. I expect to continue meeting the same level of service, tracking the sales/purchases of jeeps, and providing the types of stories I hope you find interesting.

In addition, this year I hope to move more offline with eWillys. For example, I’m investigating the possibility, with Randy’s prodding, of launching a magazine that covers old Willys.  However, instead of being about Willys directly, it would be about the people who own, like, dream or have caught the Willys sickness and their similar interests.  I’m still investigating, so my final decision has not been made.  But, my next step is to mockup an issue, which I have the software to build, and see if I can create what I want.

My second project for the year is to raise the seed capital I need to begin work on my Willys Exploratorium project.  This would include creating a 501c3 foundation and an LLC.

So, thanks to everyone for their interest in this Quixotic Project.  I know I’m learning lots from everyone else and I hope you are learning something new now and then as well.  Have a Happy New Year!

– Dave

Not sure which parade to watch on New Year’s Day?  Then watch the Rose Bowl Parade.  One of our reader’s, Kevin, tells me his daughter Alyson will be waving on float #83 (out of 91 floats) in the Rose Bowl Parade, so look for her and wave back!  She is Ms. Wheelchair California 2009 and Kevin’s a very proud papa, as he should be.  Congrats Alyson, Kevin and the whole family!!

In the middle of a football game on ESPN I just witnessed a jaw dropping ad:  The Taco Bell Drive Thru Diet.  While the fine print claimed it was not a ‘diet plan’, it is clearly being marketed as a Diet Plan.  I mean, are they serious?