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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 1942 Americar Brochure includes a page that shows the Willys MA. I dropped out of the bidding at $30. I’ll keep my eye open for a cheaper version of this brochure.
Here’s the page with the MAs on it.
The following images might show the entire brochure in the correct order. Note the page showing the Americar’s “Willys Chassis” … anyone know how similar this was in size to the wagon chassis?
The War Production Board produced several different “Father’s Day” posters (other posters at the gov archives), including this one with an illustration of a Bantam BRC-60. It also included a letter, though it’s not clear to me how the letter and poster would have been displayed (newspaper? magazine?). Father’s Day fell on June 21st in 1942.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165318061
PHOTO CREDIT: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/165318061
A side photo of Smiley, John Henkels ‘new’ Ford GP.
The January 30, 1944, Sunday issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune made John Henkels and his son front page news for the purchase of their 1941 Ford GP from Wilensky’s auto parts. What a cold drive back to Fulda, Minnesota, that must have been!
This ad appeared within the classified ad section of the October 04, 1946, issue of the Minneapolis Star. It was posted by American Motor Sales, which was located at 1220 West Broadway. Whether the company actually had Ford GPs for sale isn’t clear; most likely, it was just standard MBs or GPWs.
A few days later, the Downtown Chevrolet Company advertised in the October 09, 1946, issue of the Minneapolis Star that they had 100 surplus jeeps available for customers:
Subsequently, an ad was placed by Twin City Motors, which also claimed to have jeeps (either GPWs or FORD GPs or both):
So, how did these companies obtain the jeeps? As we saw yesterday, there were some bidding opportunities that allowed Hyman Berg and others the opportunity to purchase multiple prototype jeeps. So, perhaps these Minneapolis-based companies also scored some prototypes that way?
What we do know is that the government was selling jeeps to veterans (previous stories highlight sale in Hawaii and California). And, those jeeps sold pretty quickly.
For example, in late 1945, the government’s War Asset group put 10,000 jeeps up for purchase by veterans. Those 10,000 jeeps were promptly sold (November 30, 1945, the Star Tribune):
A month later, an article from the Dec 08, 1945, issue of the Minneapolis Star, announced that another batch of 10,000 jeeps had been made available as of December 1945:
Continue reading
This Berg’s brochure is interesting in that it contains no references to the CJ-2A or a civilian jeep, suggesting that it came out between 1944-1945 (to me it looks a little earlier than this Berg mailer). Within the flier, Berg claims Berg Truck & Parts Co. was begun in December of 1942 to sell JEEPS. He also notes that the company had appeared in news reels, magazines, and Life Magazine.
Here’s the front page of the brochure:
This is the back page. 
When opened, you’ll find this third small page. Since Berg is offering standard jeep parts for sale, it can be assumed that this flier is at least from 1944. Note the trailer chassis ad, too.
When flipped over, the brochure offers an array of Ford, Willys, and Bantam jeep parts.
When fully opened, there are even more military-related parts, but no word of civilian parts:
This is how the back looks when fully opened.
Interestingly, while Berg’s Truck Parts may have opened in 1942, Berg didn’t receive any jeeps until November of 1943 and it was only 16 jeeps (likely aall were prototypes). Here’s a report of those first jeeps from the November 27,1943, issue of the Chicago Tribune:
A month later, in December of 1943, this press photo showed the ‘King of Jeeps’ himself Hyman Berg loading up one of those jeeps, a Bantam BRC-40:
UPDATE: The press photo at bottom appeared in the January 24, 1944, issue of the Minneapolis Morning Tribune (seen below). It seems that Harvey Wilensky must have also won a bid for jeeps about the same time as Hyman Berg did.
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Originally Posted November 16, 2013: This photo shows a lineup of surplus Ford GPs for sale. The selling price: $750 at Wilensky Auto Parts in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The starting bid for the collection of 677 photos starts at $1000. It does include a few images of jeeps, including a Ford GPA Seep, an MB, and a Ford GP named “Marie”.
View all the information on eBay
“An awesome circa WWII original photograph album with approximately (677) photos. (567) on album pages that can be removed and (110) other photos. Mostly WWII US Army/Military from an album that came apart. They include some great images with lots of examples below. The 1939 Rose Bowl Football Game (soldiers must have attended) USC University of Southern California vs Duke Bluedevils, Tanks and Crew, Black Officers and soldiers, Uniforms, Helmets, Jeep Willy, Trucks, guns, vehicles, Baseball 86th R.C.A., Boxing, pin up girl in bathing suit, airplanes, blimp, Pasedena, California, Radio City, Mess, Medical, 25th Armored Engineer Battalion, Hollywood Canteen, Toyko Express, Beer, Cigars, girls, ladies, getting married wedding pic, USA flag, UCLA pennant, large Santa Claus, milk crates, shovels, family, etc. An awesome group of 1940’s photographs.”
UPDATE: Originally published on February 02, 2014, the pop sci links no longer work, so I’ve now added the complete scan of the article.
This Bantam BRC-40 T2 article was published in December of 1941 in Popular Science (and possibly Mechanix Magazine) under “Tanks CAN Be Destroyed”. In it the author explores different machinery that can stop a tank. You can see variations from what could be the same photo shoot in this Bantam T2 & T2-E1 post.
Major General Jacob Devers made multiple appearances in newspapers across the country. On February 05, 1942, he announced at Fort Knox that the armored forces could begin personalizing their peeps, jeeps, tanks, and other equipment with names, though they could not be objectionable names. The order does not indicate approval to put names on the windshields, but apparently that became allowed at some point.
On October 17, 1942 (Appeal Democrat out of Marysville, California) the Major General was photographed with other senior leaders discussing issues while sitting in a jeep:
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Originally Posted March 13, 2018: Interesting discussion on peep vs. jeep within the caption. The caption claims it has been misnamed “peep”, but then claims it has been erroneously called a “jeep” and that a “jeep” is a larger vehicle (Command Car, though in this case it is a Willys MA). As we’ve discussed earlier, there was a great debate about the proper term for the vehicle.
“WWII Maj. Gen. Jacob Devers in Willys MB Jeep Original Press Photo”
In the May 25, 1941, issue of the Des Moines Register, Iowan reporter Donald Grant describes his first ride in a jeep (Ford GP). Also included is a short article about three Iowan kids who died tragically during the previous weekend.
The Argus-Leader out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, published this photo on November 28, 1941, showing a Ford GP backing up Sioux Falls’ City Hall steps. It includes another “75mph” claim.
This August 07, 1941, article in the News-Herald out of Franklin, Pennsylvania, underscores that Harry S. Truman was going to “blow the lid” off the “lobbying” actives of the OPM as a result of American Bantam being “frozen out” of a jeep contract. Truman showed them, lol.
It sounds like this report and soldier had a very uncomfortable ride in the “roman rack”. I am a bit surprised that the jeep garnered so many laughs. Note the BRC-40 in the top pic. The article appeared in The Morning Call, out of Paterson, New Jersey, November 22, 1941.
UPDATE: Here’s another floating jeep article that seems appropriate to add to this post. It appeared in the March 17, 1941, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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These two photos appeared in the August 10, 1941, issue of the Salt Lake Tribune. The jeep pictured is a Ford GP. There should be one or more press photos on eWillys, but I will have to combine them when I have more time.
No dates provided on this series of four photos that feature a Willys MA. This basic description describes them all:
Offered is an original WWII time period photograph. It belonged Lt. Salvador Joseph Cuttitta who was enlisted with the 6th Armored Infantry and trained with 1st Armored Division. He was then transferred to serve with the 5th Armored Division. There is some tape on the corners as seen. Picture measures approximately 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ inches.
This article was published in the October 26, 1941, issue of the Birmingham News.
This full page article published July 22, 1941, in Baltimore’s Evening Sun includes photos of Bantam BRC-60s and Ford GPs.
This is a second full-page article on the jeep, this time with two large photos in the May 04, 1941, issue of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
UPDATE: This article from August 28, 1941, published in the Daily News (New York City), describes the Bantam BRC-40 T2E1. This is the second generation of of the T2E1, (reportedly, the first generation of the T2E1 had a the full body, which itself was a derivation of the T2, an anti-tank jeep that had the gun between the seats; however, there apparently is some debate on how to define the versions).
Also mentioned below is the Ford Swamp Angel. I’ll have more info on that in an upcoming post.
This is a T2E1 from an angle I’ve never seen. It was published yesterday on the Quest Masters Museum Facebook page:
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Originally published May 31, 2020:
An article from 1941 appears to describe the T2E1 Bantams shown in photos below (a few more photos here also). The article describes the rifles as 47mm, while the photo captions correctly describe the rifle as a 37mm. Perhaps the difference is that the article was written in July, while the photos were taken late in August? So, maybe, 47mm rifles might have been initially considered? (47mm anti-tank guns were developed by France as early as 1931)
This article was published July 21, 1941, in the Lansing State Journal out of Michigan:
#1 Originally posted 01/31/2014:
This is likely a reprint, but still a good photo of the Bantam BRC-40 T2E1.
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#2 Posted August of 2018:
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay. This photo was floating one of the Facebook groups, but didn’t include the caption, which describes the passengers. This was originally published here Dec 23, 2014.
The question of the license plate came up on Facebook (as in, why does it have a license plate), while the question of “giant jeep” came up in a previous post on eWillys. The thing that’s been a head scratcher for me is that this jeep is carrying three grown men in the front, with space between the driver and the two passengers.
What is for certain is that in May 1941 Charles Payne (exec assistant to Bantam President Frank Fenn), was in Washington to promote Bantam’s efforts (see newspaper article at the bottom of this post).
So, thinking out loud, is it possible that the below verbiage is true, that Bantam made a “giant” or larger jeep to promote its effort to obtain a contract? It would explain why it has dealer plates (as it wasn’t owned by the military). Here’s a comparison with another face-front Bantam:
Photo on the left is a press photo with a standard Bantam BRC-40. The one on the right is the press photo with Congress men and Bantam Rep Charles Payne.
The angle of the jeep on the right going up the steps makes it appear a little larger, so that’s not helpful. One unusual aspect is that it seems to sit taller, with a greater distance between the tires and the front fenders; yet, the spring shacks still have more play in them than the photo on the left. However, all this could be the effect of being on the stairs with six people piled in it.
The license plate, unless enlarged, suggests that the jeep on the left is not giant, but rather a standard sized jeep. Therefore, my suspicion is that this isn’t a larger jeep. So, why the “giant jeep” comment was used by the reporter is still a mystery to me. Thoughts?
From the original eBay ad: “A Vintage1941 Original Photo depicting a Giant Jeep carrying politicians in Washington D.C. The vehicle was made by the makers of the U.S. Army’s newest midget to promote their new vehicle to the suits in Washington. The small four-wheel drive utility vehicles would become an icon of World War II. Original press stamp and caption with a MAY 25 1941 stamp date are on the verso.”
This photo was published in the May 26, 1941, issue of the Star Tribune out of Minneapolis, Minnesota:
This article from May 04, 1941, published in the Dayton Daily News (Ohio) provides additional information on Charles Payne’s visit, but doesn’t elaborate on the “Giant Jeep”, which may have been an Associate Press reporter creation:
This photo and article featuring a Ford GP was published June 09, 1941, in the Democrat and Chronicle out of Rochester, New York. It highlighted Major Harry Miller’s jeep modification, which added a 37MM gun to the rear of the vehicle.
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Originally posted February 07, 2015: This post emphasized the Camp Lewis connection.
This June 9, 1941, article from the Spokane Daily Chronicle notes the Ford GP belongs to a Fort Lewis unit visiting California for maneuvers.
Brian spotted this photo showing 4 Bantam BRC-60s rolling down a hill. This was posted to the Butlers Standard Eight Facebook Group. The text on the photo reads: “Bantam BRC 40s” Four of the 70 prototypes produced between September 1940 and December 1940. Despite what the text indicates, we know those as Bantam BRC-60s, not 40s.
Here’s a photo of a Willys MA in action.
“Offered is an original WWII time period photograph. It belonged Lt. Salvador Joseph Cuttitta who was enlisted with the 6th Armored Infantry and trained with 1st Armored Division. He was then transferred to serve with the 5th Armored Division. There is some tape on the corners as seen. Picture measures approximately 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ inches.”
Nice photo with some history showing 2 Ford GPs.
View all the information on ebay
“Offered is an original WWII time period photograph. It belonged Lt. Salvador Joseph Cuttitta who was enlisted with the 6th Armored Infantry and trained with 1st Armored Division. He was then transferred to serve with the 5th Armored Division. There is some tape on the corners. Picture measures approximately 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ inches.”
Associated Press Reporter Sigrid Arne was 47 years old when she rode in a Bantam BRC-60. By that time she was an experienced journalist, a fearless investigative reporter with the smarts to decode and explain New Deal programs to the point that the authors of the programs asked her to join their efforts. She traveled all over the United States, even buying a baby for $50 in Oklahoma at one point to expose how babies were being sold like groceries.
Her report on her first jeep ride sounds like she was thrilled/awed by her experience, but I’m unsure how she concluded that the Bantam had 9 speeds. Sigrid’s article landed in the Montana Standard on May 05, 1941, as well as other newspapers.
This ride wasn’t her last in a jeep, as we will see tomorrow morning.
