Value ww2 jeep

[jacquesf]

What would one pay for a ww2 vintage american jeep in good roadworthy condition? jacques

[Dave Alexander]

In running order, minimum rust, unrestored, around $5,000 US.

[brooksbz]

trase

O know a guy who traded one for a US M-42 reinforced jumpsuit set about ten years ago. No joke. The jeep was fully restored.

[NickG]

Yeah $5K sounds about right here in the States for a jeep that needs work but complete...

A turn key "parade ready" completely restred one with all the whistles and bells probably $15K - $20K

I paid $1800 for this project about 15 years ago...(at the Pomona CA Great Western Gun show in the parking lot!)
A Willys built in March 1945, never left the States...Was used in a local orange grove (citrus farm) after the war.

Wrong windshield, wrong mirror, wrong upholstery, wrong tires, wrong air filter...
but original combat rims and original engine/drive train, so easy to fix...
Just have not gotten around to it. Drove it 3 times in 15 years...

[NickG]

Some interior shots, found the rear seat also...

[NickG]

Willys

[Seaforth72]

Vakle of WIllys MB jeep

I own a 1944 Willys MB (exc-Norway), have owned half a dozen or so WWII Willys MB, Ford GPW and Ford GPA jeeps and have been a member of the Military Vehilce Preservation Association since 1977. Member 954.

This jeep shown is a good restoration project. Body appears pretty solid which is a major thing.

It has data plates which if original and if it has aluminum frame tag (by front bumper on inside of frame rail, probably on right (starboard) rail as this appears to be a 1945 MB, and if the vehicle serial numbers match then that is good. Engine on an MB will NOT match those numbers (unlike Fords) and should be MB###### and should be higher thatn the vehicle SN (VIN) as Willys made thousands of engines for other uses. The only Willys jeeps with known original serial numbers are those made by WIllys in 1942 for Canada as they listed the engine serial number on the Canadian pattern dash data plate for Contracts CDLV-241, CDLV-242 and CDLV-505.

Best market for it is Europe.

In addition to the points mentioned:

• Lock out hubs
• Patch on left rear corner
• Wrong front bumper (no crank hole)
• M38 style tow rings
• Right step reattached with upward flange to body instead of downward (hidden)
• Missing Blackout Drive Light (BODL) on left fender

Value anywhere $3,000-5,000 depending on if original engine, running etc.

Colin

Yeah $5K sounds about right here in the States for a jeep that needs work but complete...

A turn key "parade ready" completely restred one with all the whistles and bells probably $15K - $20K

I paid $1800 for this project about 15 years ago...(at the Pomona CA Great Western Gun show in the parking lot!)
A Willys built in March 1945, never left the States...Was used in a local orange grove (citrus farm) after the war.

Wrong windshield, wrong mirror, wrong upholstery, wrong tires, wrong air filter...
but original combat rims and original engine/drive train, so easy to fix...
Just have not gotten around to it. Drove it 3 times in 15 years...

[Seaforth72]

Willys MB

Addendum: When I say best market is Europe, it is because they are very much in demand in UK, Holland, France, Italy, especially REAL WWII jeeps. They are even taking 1950s ex-French M201 jeeps and converting them to look like WWII jeeps.

There is also a market in the USA of course.

When advertising, please remember to say WHERE it is located. e.g. what city and state (California, USA it looks like). Not every jeep enthusiast lives just down the road and it is frustrating for a potential buyer to get excited and then find out a vehicle is 5,000 or 10,000 miles away.

By the way, if the original army paint is underneath that civilian paint, more owners now try hard to carefully uncover (NOT with paint stripper!) the original markings, especially the army registration number (mistakenly called "hood number" by most collectors.)

Places to advertise - Find the club nearest you on http://http://www.mvpa.org/

G503 web site http://g503.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=5

http://www.milweb.net

A driving jeep is ALWAYS worth much more than a non-runner of the same model and otherwise identical condition.

Colin

I own a 1944 Willys MB (exc-Norway), have owned half a dozen or so WWII Willys MB, Ford GPW and Ford GPA jeeps and have been a member of the Military Vehilce Preservation Association since 1977. Member 954.

This jeep shown is a good restoration project. Body appears pretty solid which is a major thing.

It has data plates which if original and if it has aluminum frame tag (by front bumper on inside of frame rail, probably on right (starboard) rail as this appears to be a 1945 MB, and if the vehicle serial numbers match then that is good. Engine on an MB will NOT match those numbers (unlike Fords) and should be MB###### and should be higher thatn the vehicle SN (VIN) as Willys made thousands of engines for other uses. The only Willys jeeps with known original serial numbers are those made by WIllys in 1942 for Canada as they listed the engine serial number on the Canadian pattern dash data plate for Contracts CDLV-241, CDLV-242 and CDLV-505.

Best market for it is Europe.

In addition to the points mentioned:

• Lock out hubs
• Patch on left rear corner
• Wrong front bumper (no crank hole)
• M38 style tow rings
• Right step reattached with upward flange to body instead of downward (hidden)
• Missing Blackout Drive Light (BODL) on left fender

Value anywhere $3,000-5,000 depending on if original engine, running etc.

Colin

[Dave Alexander]

During WW II jeeps were shipped to England dis-assembled in packing crates. In the '50s I remember them being sold out of warehouses where they had been stockpiled and never used. They cost 50GBP each, but you had to put them together. Believe it or not they had a hard time disposing of them.

[Seaforth72]

Eyewitness accounts of sales of surplus WWII jeeps in crates are scarcer than "hen's teeth." I would like to hear more from Dave e.g. year(s), places, business name(s)? I hope that Dave took photos with his Brownie camera!

In North America the usual version of the story is $50 jeeps in crates. Usually it is told via a friend of a friend ... untraceable and unverifiable. There were also lots of advertisements in the 1960s-1970s for surplus vehicles that mentioned such low prices but the concensus is that these were advertising come-ons. I have been in the military vehicle collecting hobby since 1977 and have yet to hear of a verified case of someone buying a surplus WWII jeep in a crate. One company in the USA offered a very substantial reward for a WWII jeep still in its original crate.

I have bought a WWII jeep for as little as $100 (sight unseen) and although it turned out to be a rare Feb 1942 slat grille one it was too far gone to restore and was sold as a parts vehicle. (MB119446)

Yes, jeeps were crated for shipment overseas to save space and reduce shipping damage. The only WWII jeeps still crated that I know of are at the botom of the ocean. Some were photographed for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC at on board the "S.S. President Coolidge" at Vuunuatu in the South Pacific and although the crates has been eaten away, the positioning of the hood (bonnet to our UK friends), spare wheel, steering wheel and bows show that those jeeps were crated. Images are also now on the Internet as this ship is a popular dive site. Search the Internet for:
SS "President Coolidge" jeep

Canada crated some jeeps for long-term storage and these were a different type of crate - more of a skeletal arrangement, but they stacked them three high as I recall from a photo I have showing them in a warehouse in Canada after WWII. (Re: Canadian Army Journal)

A few WWII jeep crate panels have been found in the UK (Reported in Wheels & Tracks magazine)

A restored jeep was crated temporarily for a Military Vehicle Preservation Association convention some years back. (Re: MVPA Army Motors magazine)

Colin Stevens MVPA # 954 (since 1977)
Owner 1944 Willys MB

During WW II jeeps were shipped to England dis-assembled in packing crates. In the '50s I remember them being sold out of warehouses where they had been stockpiled and never used. They cost 50GBP each, but you had to put them together. Believe it or not they had a hard time disposing of them.

[Dave Alexander]

Seaforth. PM sent.

[NickG]

I own a 1944 Willys MB (exc-Norway), have owned half a dozen or so WWII Willys MB, Ford GPW and Ford GPA jeeps and have been a member of the Military Vehilce Preservation Association since 1977. Member 954.

This jeep shown is a good restoration project. Body appears pretty solid which is a major thing.

It has data plates which if original and if it has aluminum frame tag (by front bumper on inside of frame rail, probably on right (starboard) rail as this appears to be a 1945 MB, and if the vehicle serial numbers match then that is good. Engine on an MB will NOT match those numbers (unlike Fords) and should be MB###### and should be higher thatn the vehicle SN (VIN) as Willys made thousands of engines for other uses. The only Willys jeeps with known original serial numbers are those made by WIllys in 1942 for Canada as they listed the engine serial number on the Canadian pattern dash data plate for Contracts CDLV-241, CDLV-242 and CDLV-505.

Best market for it is Europe.

In addition to the points mentioned:

• Lock out hubs
• Patch on left rear corner
• Wrong front bumper (no crank hole)
• M38 style tow rings
• Right step reattached with upward flange to body instead of downward (hidden)
• Missing Blackout Drive Light (BODL) on left fender

Value anywhere $3,000-5,000 depending on if original engine, running etc.

Colin

Thanks for your input Colin. You are very knowlegdeable obviously!Sharp eye!
Yes it has some other flaws...bad bumper, post war tow rings...replacement steps mounted incorrectly
(actually top of the originals with hidden flanges!)
I have so far collected the correct ww2 rear hitch for it, I have the original black out light now installed and the date plates
(which are repros) have in the mean time been replaced with the originals... which did come with the vehicle (loose) and now remounted!
The date plate, that's painted over (in OD) on the dash, has been cleaned up and shows some additional vehicles specs! (weights/dims)
It's mostly all there but still a project to be tackled some day.... (time...funds...)

[Mike Swan]

If it has solid provenance, such as the one mailed home in pieces by Radar O'Reilly, at least $10,000

Mike

[kapitein]

Shipwreck story with Jeeps is pretty cool

http://www.xray-mag.com/pdfs/article...oolidge_15.pdf

Kapitein