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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 issue of Jeep News is printed with Winter 1974 on it, but I think that refers to Jan/-Feb of 74 rather than Nov-Dec 74 and Jan 75. There are other issues (to be posted) that cover that time period.
Thanks to Illinois Larry, I discovered that I had only posted one of my issues of the Jeep News from the 1970s. It’s not clear to Larry (who has 10 issues) or I (who have 14 issues) just how many were produced, but between our collection, there were at least 15 issues published.
Here’s an overview of covers of what I have, followed by a photo of what Larry has that I don’t. Strangely, many of these lack the published year, so figuring out when some of these issues were published is tricky:
This is the cover page from what we believe is Larry’s Winter Fall-Winter 1981-1982 issue.
FALL 1973 Issue: This is the earliest issue I have and may be one of the first ones, if not the first.
This 12-page Jeep News issue was a harder one for me to find. It includes a couple advertising inserts as well.
This is priced at a ridiculous $275, so all I have are the pics from ebay.
View all the information on eBay
“RARE FIND, an original Kaiser-Willys News……Vol. 1, No. 3, published by the Kaiser-Willys Sales Division, Toledo, OH. Dated April 15, 1954 and featuring Kaiser-Willys automobiles of the era including Kaiser Darrin Sports Car, Kaiser Manhattan, Willys Aero, etc.”
UPDATE: First posted October 15, 2017.
The February 1955 issue of Kaiser Willys News showcased a mail carrier who put 138,000 miles on a wagon in the Idaho/Yellowstone area.
This is the first I’ve seen of these Kaiser Willys Sales Promotor bulletins, though it is unclear how many bulletins are provided. The ebay ad includes pics of the cover, a foreword, and issues number 1 and number 3. I’ve added additional ones found on the web at the bottom. I don’t think there is a whole lot of jeep info (seems more car oriented), but still interesting.
Apparently, these KW Sales promoters is a carry over from Kaiser Frazier, which also had a similar program. A CD of the KF promoters can be found here: http://circlekf.com/KFNut/forsale/sp.html
View all the information on eBay
“Kaiser Willys Sales Promoter Bulletins. From a closed down dealer, here is a book of sales bulletins for Willys and Kaiser Sales people.”
Other Sales promoters (examples 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8) found on the web here: https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/brochures_1954_kaiser
Finally, another Salesbuilder landed on eBay. This one is from January 1950. One of the interesting things to me was the 12-postcard campaign shown on page 17; I’ve only documented a handful of the postcards.
Here’s another wonderful early Sales News document saved and shared by Jan. Many thanks to him for these early pieces.
The initial article on the Station Sedan provides some additional history about it’s release and it’s position in Willys-Overland history (first six cal sold since 1932).
Page 7 shows a photo from the Paris auto show with a CJ-2A sporting a unique hardtop. Page 8 includes highlights the aluminum and steel hardtops from Worman. Page 10 introduced the City and City campaign and highlights W-O’s impact in the station wagon market. Page 16 has a photo in the lower-left corner that shows what may be a Woodie Top in action.
Thanks to Jan, we can have a look at the No. 4 issue of the ‘Jeep’ News. It’s unclear when this was published, but late 1947 seems most likely. The name Russ Borg is printed just above the ‘Jeep’ News name, though the H&R Repair Service out of Lohrville, Iowa, is listed on the back as a place to go for a free demonstration. The only reference I could find to Russ Borg was that he was involved with on in the Warner Brother’s movie studio.
Thanks again to Jan for sharing another early Jeep News magazine. This one is titled Milt. Henry’s ‘Jeep’ News. There is a reference to a jeep bought in early 1947, so my guess is that this was published sometime in mid 1947. The jeep-related company advertised on the back of this issue is Lincoln St. Garage, 7 Lincoln St., West Medway, Massachusetts.
Thanks to Jan for sharing this rare sixteen-page January 1947 issue of Willys-Overland Sales News!
I’m not very familiar with these nor do I know how many issues were released, but I assume this style of magazine was discontinued once the Salesbuilder magazines were created in mid-1948.
UPDATE: Thanks to Jan for pointing out that on page 4 are two photos of a 2A with a driver’s side spare tire. That would suggest that this issue was printed later than around mid-1948. Given the Santa highlight on the cover, I’d say the Fall/Winter of 1948 prior to the introduction of the CJ-3A. If that’s the case, then maybe these came out every six months?
Thanks to Jan in the Netherlands for sharing a scanned version of the late 1940s issue of ‘Jeep’ News Volume 1, Number 6. The “Cristie’s” at the top of the banner is a reference to Cristie’s Garage out of Monticello, New York.
I wonder if the Mahl Loader shown in a photo on Page 6 out of Minnesota is the one that was restored here.
Many thanks to long-time reader Dave Nelson for sending me this rare copy of ‘Jeep’ News. While there is no date stamp that I could find, there is a reference to an April 1946 study in one of the articles; yet, none of the jeeps pictured has the later 2A grille. So, I’m going to guess this is a summer 1946 document.
Also strange is that this wasn’t published out of Toledo. Instead, the mail address is listed as “Jeep” NEWS, Room 700, 305 East 45th South, New York 17, NY.
Finally, also strange, is that a colorized version of this was also produced and it included a reference to the magazine being Vol 1 No 1. If there was a second ‘Jeep’ News made, I have not seen it. My guess is that this was meant to be an advertising piece for dealerships, but it didn’t pan out, so was pulled after one (or a few) issues.
I published this last year
Evan Gillenwater posted the cover of this magazine to Facebook. He seems to think it came from Furgason’s Motors in La Grande, Oregon. The magazine was found at an antique store in New Hampshire.
Here’s the full issue from Dave:
Rick Krueger is hoping to pull together some information for the folks at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. So, if you think you might have some information that would help Rick, email him at das.krueg @ gmail.com (remove the spaces around the @).
Rick wrote, “I have a line on Larry Hughes son Cameron. Dean Richards, Lonnie Richards grand father was a friend of my fathers and Gary Lowes. Dean and Gary played an important part in a boating accident I was in. The name Toy Hall has come up as Commander on a certificate I have found for and award to SNORE in the 70s. So any info from Lionel would be great. Also tracking down a ambulance buggy snore donated to the posse in the 70s. The ORMHOF seems interested so I would like to pull as much together as possible.”
MILE-HI Jeep Club History: Among the online collections at the ORMHOF are some great old photos and history from the Mile-Hi Jeep Club (How is there no PNW4WDA history/race-history here?): https://ormhof.org/mile-hi-collection
Here is one example of what is posted there. This photo shows the inaugural issue of the Mile HI Club’s Jeep Club News in December 1956.
PHoto Credit: The Mile Hi Jeep Club and the ORMHOF
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This is a reprint of the first page of the March 1963 Jeep News. Notably, it discusses the two main reasons behind the change. 1) Kaiser Jeep was meant to identify the company as ‘one of the growing Kaiser “family of industries”‘. 2) It was meant to align the company with the ‘Jeep’ trademark and insure ‘Jeep’ was applied to the entire line of products around the world.
UPDATE: Happy May Day! Below are all the pages from this issue of the newspaper.
This unusual newspaper that popped up on eBay the other day. It was the seventh issue of the Northeast 4WD Racing News. There was no publish date, but one editorial puts this at roughly January 1976. It’s 14 pages published in a full-size newspaper format, so the pics are big! I’d love to see other copies if anyone knows of any (or knows how long this paper lasted).
(The images are extra large to allow folks to read the small text. Click on the image, then most likely you’ll need to click on it again to expand it to full size)
This is the front page:
UPDATE: Here’s one from the archives …
Originally Posted July 24, 2015: This Willys News article from July 1955 highlights an annual customer jeep demonstration in Plattsburg, New York. That’s the biggest teeter-totter that I’ve ever seen. We used to do something similar back in the 70s as part of payday events.
article continues below . . .
UPDATE: It’s been 9 years since this post has run, which just shows you how rare it is to see one of these for sale (see next post)
==========================
Craig Brockhaus saw the Boyertown Economy Delivery Comparison Post (see below) and forwarded both Boyertown and Montpelier Delivery Truck designs. Cool Stuff!
MONTPELIER DELIVERY TRUCK ARTICLE:
BOYERTOWN DELIVERY TRUCK INFORMATION:
UPDATE: This post was originally published din 2014. Since then, I learned more about Ted, but had spread it out across various posts. Ted’s trips, and his subsequent movies, have been added to this post.
First Published November 2014: In 1955, Theodore Bumiller set out for an around-the-world adventure in a Willys Wagon. He captured his trip in photos and video. I attempted to learn more about his trip, but I only learned that his daughter is now a noted author (maybe someone else will have more luck). I emailed her to learn more about her father’s adventures, but have yet to receive a reply.
Following the trip, Ted made his first film: a 30 minute movie titled “Around The World By Jeep”. He traveled around exhibiting it. The ad below, published in the January 3rd, 1970, edition of the Toledo Blade shows he was still touring and showing his film fifteen years after he’d made his trip.
Anyone ever seen the movie?
In the late 1950s, Ted created a second movie: “The Four Seasons of Scandinavia”, an exploration of the four seasons in Scandinavian countries. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t have anything to do with jeeps.
This article from the April 15, 1959, issue of The Sun (out of Stark County, Ohio) explains more:
Ted’s daughter Elizabeth wrote a book and included an acknowledgement to Ted and his wife Ruth Ann for teaching her how to travel and for inspiring her to explore the world. In it she mentions a third film by Ted, “Eternal India”.
This February 1962 issue of Jeep News includes two good photos on page four of the DJ-3A-based mobile bar that was at the Las Brisas resort in Mexico. I have a color photo of that, too. It might be fun to recreate one of those.
Page three shares a little info on a twenty-eight page dealer booklet entitled, “Your Ten Major Retail Markets”. That’s a book I’ve yet to see anywhere.
This 1979 March-April Volume 3, Issue 3, of Jeep Line, an employee newsletter, highlights the implosion of the Willys-Overland Administration building.
View all the information on eBay
“Here I have a
Near Mint
The Jeep Line
Vol. 3, No. 3
March-April 1979”
This December 1960 Jeep Service and Parts News is sixty years old this month!
Barney from Barney’s Jeep Parts sent November 1961 edition of the Jeep News our direction. The FJ-3A makes a big splash with a variety of images on page 4. Several Jeep Clubs, including California’s Auburn Jeep Club, Denver’s Mile-High Jeep Club, and Washington’s Trailer Breakers Jeep Club get mentioned. One article highlight’s Buddy’s win of a Surrey and Sailboat from the Del Monte Contest and includes an image.
There’s also a mention of photos and writeup about the Jeep Jamboree in the December 1961 issue of Argosy Magazine, but I cannot seem to find the issue on eBay.
This June 1951 Salesbuilder Magazine was volume 3, number 6. This issue includes a three page look at the Farm Jeep and Jeep Tractor vehicles and the Jeep-branded farm equipment. A large number of 1951 wagon-related advertising pieces are shown on the first few pages.
There’s also a number of Laurel C. Worman dealership photos, include pics of his Willys wagons on the front page and examples of his wagons stenciled with “Welcome Wagon” on the back page. Finally, thanks go to Barry Thomas for helping me snag this issue.
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.
