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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 .
A May 1957 article from Willys News reported that the first FC-150 to Alaska was sent by plane. Unfortunately, to fit on the plane it had to be disassembled. Look how close that cab is to not fitting. Someone in Alaska sure wanted that FC badly!
This May 1957 Willys News article provides some interesting history about the Warn Manufacturing Company. Apparently there was some early resistance to using the first generation of the warn hubs, because jeep owners felt they’d purchased their jeeps for the four wheel drive capability. The initial hubs turned the jeeps into two wheel drive, which some owners felt defeated the whole point of owning a jeep. However, through education and marketing, the Warn folks slowly turned naysayers into advocates.
From a 1995 Field & Stream Magazine article:
These were the first locking/unlocking hubs Warn developed. These were advertised as early as October of 1953 in the Popular Mechanics:
Another ‘the jeep can do it all’ ad. This one was published on June 1, 1949, in Utah’s Deseret News.
Ted Jordan forwarded me the following photos of a rare American Bantam plow with serial plate he just acquired. He also forwarded several emails about the plow and Barry Thomas’ efforts to learn more about it. I’m sure Barry will continue to dig into this issue. You can follow his efforts at http://farmjeep.com & his farm jeep blog.
That got me doing my own research. There’s an interesting interrelationship between the Monroe Auto, Newgren and American Bantam companies. I’m sure some of you have information you can add to this, but for now the history below is what I managed to cobble together.
Monroe Auto Parts senior project engineer Ivan N. Schatzka helped the company develop a hydraulic lift in 1946. In the same year the Newgren Company became the distributor of the Love hydraulic lift, developed by J. B. Love. At some point Monroe Auto acquired the Newgren company (and discontinued the Love Hydraulic lift in favor of the Monroe lift?). By 1948 Newgren was advertising that its implements were operated in conjunction with the Monroe lift.
Meanwhile, American Bantam was struggling. During WWII American Bantam had annual sales around $25 million. In 1945 that amount dropped to $19 million. In a failed attempt to shift course and sell post-war civilian trailers, American Bantam sales plunged to $3.8 million in 1946 and further to $3.7 million in 1947. Unable to meet dividends, American Bantam struggled, and may have been close to shutting its doors.
For reasons that aren’t quite clear to me, on July 5, 1948, Monroe Auto Parts offered American Bantam directors a proposal. Monroe wanted to sell the Newgren Company to American Bantam. In exchange, the MacIntyre brothers, who led the Monroe Company, would take over American Bantam. Thus, Monroe was divesting itself of the Newgren company, but maintaining control of Newgren by gaining control of its new parent company, American Bantam. All of the common stock in American Bantam would become non-voting preferred stock. In exchange for the Newgren Company, American Bantam would pay the Monroe Company $600,000 in a new class of stock.
My theory is that Monroe’s management was not optimistic about the future of jeep implements, but were bullish on the auto part industry in general. Fearing Newgren could become a drag, due to its focus on jeep parts, they moved it to American Bantam. This put the Monroe company on a path to focus on the auto parts industry, yet allowed them to maintain control of Newgren by selling it to American Bantam.
This 1947 ad from the Boise City News includes rare references to a “Jeep Van Truck” and a ” Jeep Canopy Truck”.
This May 18, 1959, article from the Sydney Morning Herald announced the assembly of Jeep Ambulances in Australia.
This September 1957 article from Willys News highlights an 11 mile jeep race as part of the World Championship Burro races that year (Burro races are still held). The course was originally from Leadville to FairPlay over Mosquito Pass, but heavy snows shortened the course from Alma to FairPlay.
If I read the article correctly, Denver’s Mile High Jeep Club had 600 members in 1957? No wonder it was considered the largest jeep club in the world!
This map roughly highlights how far the race was. Cutting the race back to Alma shortened it considerably.
This Milwaukee Sentinel ad from May 25, 1947, filled an entire page. Part of the ‘Jeep is a Working Girl’ ad campaign Willys Overland published different versions of the ad in magazines as well. This ad also promoted a 1947 Jeep Caravan tour that included demonstrations of eleven pieces of equipment.
This August 21, 1946, article from the Toledo Blade introduces the Love Hydraulic Lift.
According to a February 1956 article in Willys News This jeep owner was using a jeep-a-trencher to launch his pipeline business.
An article in the July 13, 1951, issue of the Toledo Blade reported on three kids who climbed the fence at Willys Overland and commandeered some jeeps.
In July 1943 the Ordnance Department released a jeep to the Washington State College (now University) for farm testing. A year later the College produced a bulletin titled “The Jeep as a Farm Truck-Tractor for the Post-War Period.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a copy of that document online. But there’s a hard copy at the WSU library (which is only a couple hours from me). Anyone have copy of that?
In August of 1944 the Spokesman Review published this article based on the information.
This June 19, 1942, Milwaukee Journal article describes early farm jeep tests at the Auburn facility.
This September 1957 article from Willys News shared the news that the NYPD was testing jeeps for use in New York’s Central Park, Coney Island, and the Rockaways. I’ve tried to find subsequent photos of the green and white jeeps in color, but haven’t had any luck.
This April 14, 1941, article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shared an article about “American-China” support of the army’s new Blitz Buggy, a Bantam BRC-40.
This article appeared in the February 1956 issue of Willys News. No pics were added, but I thought the article itself was interesting.
The September 1957 issue of Willys News devoted a full page to Frank and Helen Schreider’s 20,000 mile trip from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America.
On April 20, 1997, the Toledo Blade devoted an entire section of its newspaper to the jeep history, going all the way back to the construction of the Jewel sewing machine factory in 1885. While it isn’t a perfect history (for example Jeep did not copyright the name JEEP in 1946, they tried, and failed, to trademark it at that time), it’s still interesting with some photos and a historical time line.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I2oxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6687%2C7138684
In the photo above Willys MAs are rolling off the assembly line.
The Miami News reported in 1956 that wives will love driving the new FC-150. I wonder if anyone bothered to interview any wives on that topic . . .
This photo appeared in a September 06, 1943, promoting the jeep as a tractor.
A 1943 an interview with Barney Roos appeared in a Palm Beach newspaper that explored his automotive history. In the article, Roos promoted the jeep as a practical alternative to the standard tractor. Another article in the Milwaukee Journal seconded farmer’s optimism regarding the jeep (there were many articles promoting the jeep as a farm tractor. Here’s a September 06, 1943 article).
A year later, two Canadian Agricultural specialists were much less confident in the jeep’s potential, suggesting the jeep drove to fast, the transmission was not strong enough, and the jeep lacked power to be a good farm vehicle. Willys Overland must have agreed with those researchers, because they addressed those issues by installing lower gears, which both added power and slowed down the jeep. They also updated the transmission to the T-90.
I’ll begin with the 1944 Canadian article first as that is comparatively short.
By April 1942 newspaper editors weren’t sure what to call the new fangled quarter-ton bantam-willys-ford invention. The problem was highlighted in this Sarasota-Herald-Tribune article which surveyed editors’ uses of different descriptive words. Note the naval editor’s response at the very bottom of the article.
Eventually, a decision was made. In May of 1942 newspapers announced the armored division officially named the quarter-ton command/reconnaissance car the ‘Peep’, while the half-ton armored car was called the ‘Jeep’. The Milwaukee Journal published two photos to help readers distinguish between the two.
That’s a Ford GP at the top, while at the bottom is what I believe to be an early Dodge Command Car. You can view other earlier examples like the one above at the Command Car site.
This article in the Pittsburgh Press, in May of 1942 confirms that the names “jeep” and “peep” had been transformed from slang into legitimate words that could appear in dictionaries.
As late as 1984, some WWII vets didn’t know why they called the jeep a peep. According to this article in the Spokane-Review, Patton’s 3rd Army Armored Division continued to call the jeep a peep throughout the war.
The August 11, 1958, issue of the Sydney Morning Herald featured a long review of the CJ-3B, whose parts were imported into Australia and then assembled there. You can review the article at Google news as it original appeared or read my re-arranged version (for space purposes) below. The reviewer’s biggest complaint was due to the way the jeep is converted from left to right-hand drive, leaving the gearshift to the left of the transfer case shifters.
From the August 11, 1958 issue of the Sydney Morning Herald Page 5.
This February 1956 explains how jeeps are used at a riding club at Iron Mountain, Michigan.
This 1967 article out of the Quebec Telegraph highlights a jeep accident during flaming that hurt star Christopher George of Rat Patrol.
A McHenry, Illinois, dealer created an obstacle course for potential buyers to test jeeps. The February 1956 issue of Willys News reported this.
