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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 .
Listed at $150, you can make an offer this one.
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“This is a vintage FC170 Jeep promotional ashtray. Jeep is in a fixed position. Chrome is in good condition with minor wear. A few blemishes on the underside. See photos.”
This tiny LRDG-styled lighter is something I’d been keeping an eye out for. It’s smaller than I expected, just slightly larger than a biz card (or in this case a Fred Smiley’s old club card, which is something that accompanied a different purchase). I forgot to take a photo of the bottom, but there’s no identifying information there.
This “J” logo with the Willys sign is odd, as the Willys sign is shown moved to the left. Usually, the “J” portion of the logo “hangs” off the Willys logo.
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“TEMPESTA JEEP WILLYS DODGE CAR MATCHBOOK COVER: DEXTER, MAINE MATCHCOVER”
Andy shared this one. Starting bid is $129.99.
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“Vintage 1950s RARE Dealership Promo JEEP Willys FC 150 or FC 170 TRUCK Chrome Ashtray”
The starting price for this unusual lighter is $49.99.
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“1959 Dundee Lighter promoting the FIRST CANADIAN BUILT JEEP® August 21, 1959. Back reads: WILLYS of CANADA Ltd, Windsor, Ontario. Scratches from storage. Blue, white and black enamel shows very little if any wear. Needs a cleaning. Being sold “As Is” as we didn’t have any fluid or flints to test.”
UPDATE: Price has dropped to $135.
Blaine shared this lighter and ashtray from Baier. This one seems to be one of the more common ones, with no map on top. Compare it with these twohttp://www.ewillys.com/2020/11/24/baier-jeep-lighters-sold-on-ebay/#more-400806 or this one http://www.ewillys.com/2011/01/08/a-flatfender-ashtray-and-lighter-woods-cross-ut-80/. And here is a list of all the ones I’ve documented: http://www.ewillys.com/?s=baier
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/atq/d/gresham-wwii-germany-ges-gesch-willys/7692050573.html
“Vintage WWII GERMANY GES-GESCH Willys JEEP Petrol Lighter & Ashtray Trailer. Very cool, made of aluminum with rubber tires. Under the top you would have kept your cigarettes. Measures 9 inch in length and stands 3 1/8 tall.”
UPDATE: This is actually a “hostess tray”, not an ashtray. As noted in the comments, the difference between an Ashtray and a Hostess tray is the semi-circle attachment that holds cigarettes (see here: http://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/uploads2/2020/06/1960-02-willys-news2-lores.jpg).
The interior of this hostess is black. Unclear if the black is original or not, but my inclination is that it isn’t. It’s listed at $109, but the “Make Offer” option is available.
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“Here is a really cool vintage, Willys truck Jeep CJ advertising metal ashtray. The ashtray is in good to very good condition. It measures about 6 1/4 inches in diameter. The top has been painted black. Sorry about the reflection from the light.”
UPDATE II: wilpenney brought up an important point. Page 2 of the Feb 1960 issue of Jeep News (shown at bottom) distinguishes between the “Ashtray”, with the semi-circle whirly part that includes cigarette holders, and the “Hostess Tray”, which lacks the semi-circle part. (Perhaps I am the only person who didn’t realize the difference — I was calling them both ashtrays?)
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UPDATE: These two February 1960 documents reference the “Corner the Market” contest also referenced by the February 1960 issue of Jeep News, as well as the January 1960 issue and the April 1960 issue (I don’t have the March issue).
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Originally Published June 03, 2020:
This issue of Willys News shows that Jeep dealers were experience continued growth. This issue also suggests that the ashtrays and cuff-tie-links were introduced in 1960. Anyone have the full page 1959 Nieman Marcus catalog ad of the newly introduced DJ-3A Surrey mentioned on the last page?
It’s unclear why this has an image of a jeep puling a boat on it with the phrase Concessionnaire “Jeep” at the bottom. Given the American Motors, I would assume the is post 1970. Douville, St-Hyacinthe is in Quebec, Canada.
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b
Thanks to Tom for sharing this one. This Baier lighter appears to lack the ashtray trailer. The tires are odd as well. (See a more original setup here)
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3416927958563592
“occupied Germany right after WWII. Made from solid aluminum. Still in very good condition.”
Here’s another jeep lighter from Great Britain. As you can see in the first pic, one of the cats was a BIG help with this post.
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“USA WW2 WILLYS MILITARY JEEP TABLE LIGHTER
110mm x 60mm x 50mm
THE LIGHTER PART IS REMOVABLE, THE LIGHTER CLICKS AND MAKES A SPARK, BUT FURTHER WORK WILL BE REQUIRED TO GET THE LIGHTER UP AND WORKING CORRECTLY AGAIN. SO PRESENTLY LIGHTER NOT WORKING.”
Today I only listed one-third of the jeeps I found for sale (and I didn’t look that hard to find them). There are a lot of jeeps out there for sale right now!
In other news, I finally snagged one of these CJ-5 ashtrays off eBay at a reasonable price.
This Wellingon Jr. stamped lighter sold at auction for $45 on eBay the other day.
This R.B. Macbride Ashtray sold on eBay for just over $20. R.B. Macbride was a long time vehicle dealer in Modesto, California, that didn’t get a jeep dealer agreement until early 1957. Here are photos of the ashtray.
This January 17th, 1957, article in the Modesto Bee shares the news about Macbride’s Willys Jeep dealership:
Later that same year, on July 17th, the Modesto Bee ran an ad for Macbride touting the new FC-170:
This lighter is located in Italy. I’ve not seen one of these 3B lighters.
“19x9x11 cm. THE LIGHTER IS EMPTY need to be charge”
UPDATE: **SOLD** For $90.79 on eBay
This is a cool, retro lighter featuring Time and Life and a CJ-5. Why would it feature both Life and Time logos?
“Good working condition with good plunger seal, clean chimney, good printed display.”
Maury shared a pic of four of his lighters. I don’t know the exact dates, but made my best guess as to the order they might have been manufactured. Maybe someone else has a better guess?
My guesses:
1) The Willys Motors is likely the earliest, possibly not long after the merger with Kaiser. It didn’t take long after the merger for “Willys” to take a back seat to ‘Jeep’, so my guess is 1953/1954.
2) The 4 Wheel Drive one is my guess for second, maybe 1954-56. Kaiser was ramping up the advertising and “4 Wheel Drive” was definitely a prominent element of that.
3) The yellow-blue logo is from 1957ish. That logo appeared on a number of brochures of that era, including this one from 1957.
4) I can’t tell if the red ‘Jeep’ light is plastic/glass or a combination, but I will guess that one is the newest one? It kind of feels like late 1950s or early 1960s to me.
Here’s a neat matchbook featuring a jeep with a post hole digger. It still has matches.
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“Post WWII vintage matchbook for Jeep – Fort Worth Willys Overland Co., Fort Worth, Texas. Willys Overland Motors, Inc. Toledo Ohio. Great image is very similar to the 1945 press release of the CJ-2A Post-hole digger demo.”
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was listed at $175.
(03/01/2021) This rare package includes a plaque and the original box (pretty cool box). The starting bid is $175.
“THIS AUCTION IS FOR A WILLYS JEEP MODEL FC 170 GOLD PLATED ASH TRAY IN ITS ORIGINAL BOX AND INCLUDES “CARE” INSERT.
WILLYS MOTORS INC. OF TOLEDO, OHIO
GOLD PLATED WITH 22K GOLD PLATE
THE ASHTRAY IS IN GREAT SHAPE WITH MINIMAL WEAR.
THE BOX IS IN GODD SHAPE ALSO WITH GOOD COLOR AND GRAPHICS.
50’S VINTAGE
A NICE, RARE, JEEP TOY”
Barney shared photos of this neat WWII Ashtray. Created in 1944, it celebrated the liberation of Holland prior to the end of the war.
Maury forwarded this “JEEP” pin that’s available on eBay. Does anyone have any history on the slogan “Joint Effort Extra Pay”? It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that this was some kind of Willys-Overland or Willys-Motors factory worker incentive program, but I’d want more evidence before concluding that.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage, JEEP FACTORY PIN (Joint-Effort-Extra-Pay) 1-1/2 x 3/4 Inches”
A web search yielded a second item with the same logo, except this time on an ashtray with the an accompanying “A W” logo.
The starting bid is $75 for this unique lighter. It’s one I hadn’t seen.
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“THIS AUCTION IS FOR A 5 INCH LONG WILLYS JEEP MODEL CJ5 CIGARETTE LIGHTER.
THE JEEP LIGHTER IS IN GREAT CONDITION
THE JEEP IS WELL DETAILED AND THE CONSTRUCTION IS VERY WELL DONE. ITS HEAVY.
THE LIGHTER SPARKS WELL.
THERE IS NO LIGHTER FLUID IN IT AT PRESENT.
A NICE, RARE, JEEP LIGHTER”
This looks to be a Willys-Overland produced matchbook that allowed dealers to add their names. In this case, Ike’s Haugland Motor Company out of Wheaten, Minnesota, added its brand to this matchbook. The interior of the matchbook was the biggest surprise to me, as it listed the 9 reasons why the jeep can do all it does.
This is priced at $750. This has a late 1940s-early 1950s Willys-Overland logo along with the cursive inscription of Liz Hunnicutt. I tried to matched Liz Hunnicutt with Willys, but I didn’t have any luck with Google searches.
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“Rare Zippo Lighter Willys-Overland Automotive Advertising 1937/1950
Pat. 2032695
The Insert is a 2517191
Good Condition with Good Snap
Inscribed Willys-Overland On One Side
Inscribed Liz Hunnicutt on The Other
VERY RARE LIGHTER – ESPECIALLY INSCRIBED WITH LADY’S NAME (POSSIBLE WAR TIME)”
UPDATE: Long story short, I bought the bottom two jeep lighters. The first winner of the auction didn’t pay, so when I saw them re-acutioned, I made sure to snag them.
This first one is the jeep lighter/ash tray combo and initially sold for $113.50 (plus $12.70 shipping), but the buyer backed out. My purchase price was a little less:
