Willys jeep (WWII)

Anyone experts is? Or pointer to helpful forums?
Brother has had a ‘thing’ about willy jeeps forever (no he doesn’t want a landy), and he’s due some money that’s “spare”… any advise what would be a sensible buy? (War years one, post war or M201?).
It’d be only for fun, so a full restored £15K war one aint gunna happen and he’s no mechanical aptitude for a “fixer-upper” (he’s have to pay for it, so maybe a “complete if rough” option is best).

… or would you simply not bother and go for something else (militaria wise)…

I think Wheeler Dealers on telly did one up a while ago, might be worth looking it up on YouTube or somewhere to give you some tips

yep I’ve seen that one and told him to search it out 🙂

and he’s no mechanical aptitude

does he understand that old things tend to need work to keep them going?

I believe theres a place up in wales that makes repro ones out of Suzuki SJ parts

EDIT: Legend, yes and is happy to pay ppl to do that work for him.. does that mean he doesn’t qualify to own one?

Ninfan, there a lovely loving Daihatsu four track replica on ebay which should be miles better than SJ conversion, but I think he actually want an original(ish) jeep. Cheers for the thought though

found it – dog company replicas in newport

apparently the genuine WW2 ones have shot through the roof in value, but the post war M38’s can still be had at reasonable prices, and theres a lot of M151 MUTTs kicking about – supposedly the place to look is Netherlands and Germany because a lot of them were auctioned off in country with the end of the cold war.

Wow they do look the part

z1ppy – Member

EDIT: Legend, yes and is happy to pay ppl to do that work for him.. does that mean he doesn’t qualify to own one?

Nope, but I would always have old kit like that down as the sort of thing you’d want to spend time tinkering with

maybe he will but he’s never had an mechanical aptitude up till now, so doubtful but he’s always been fascinated by them. So why not get one, now he has the chance? There worse way to waste money, at least it might retain it’s value if it turns out he hates it… assuming he doesn’t get ripped off (hence my thread)

Even a barn find from California will cost £6k upwards and a nice UK one with history will be £20K. Watch out for fakes, you can build almost an entire vehicle out of the reproduction parts now available.

What to buy= the best WW2 Willys or Ford you can afford.
It WILL keep its value.
M201’s are great, 99% think they are WW2 Jeeps, most have been GI’d.
Parts for both are easy to source.
M38’s are rarer over here, but generally a lot cheaper.
M38A1, even cheaper.
Mutts, cheap ones have normally been cut in half to officially scrap them then welded back together. Or from Pakistan and trashed.
Watch the handling on those the independent suspension can catch you ok.
There are some £10k with only a few thousand K on the clocks out of nato reserve stock.

Here’s mine
P1010464 by paul.sal[/url], on Flickr

The money I begged and borrowed 20 plus years ago looks like peanuts now.

cheers Paul, nice looking jeep, knew there had to be at least one enthusiast on here, any pointer at specific forums?

Have a look here:

http://www.milweb.net/classifieds.php?type=13

Tons of other cool things to spend money on.

G503
Frome the states
http://g503.com/forums/

Milweb in the uk for sales.
http://www.milweb.net/classifieds.php?type=13

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/

cheers, been trawling milweb, personally I want a chieftain (none for sale currently I could see) or a panther (been watching too much combat dealers) & the lottery win to afford them

Mid 90’s Chieftains were £4k I can remember rows of them parked up. there are still about half a dozen local to me.
All you needed was a farm and a barn:-)

Eurolottery is 27 million tomorrow

Tell him to go to the D-Day Normandy landings. There is a company there who will take you around all the landing beaches in an original WW2 Jeep. It looked good fun but might make him reassess if he wants to own one here in the UK.

lots of cash required up front, dont buy an import straight from the USA unless you can weld and can do mechanicals.. either way it ll cost.. i didnt buy a jeep from this guy but i have bought stuff from him and its all been as described and the prices were fair he doesnt hold much stock but is a very regular importer from the states http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/willys-jeep-1944-MB-classic-car-military-vehicle-/281793799849?hash=item419c3826a9

I’d seen that one, whilst being nosy.. I imagine the lack of data-plate must bring down it value?

Mid 90’s Chieftains were £4k I can remember rows of them parked up. there are still about half a dozen local to me.
All you needed was a farm and a barn:-)

many years ago I worked with a farmer who owned a tank (no idea what variety). He ran it on red diesel and laughed about the fact fuel consumption was gallons per mile 😆

I’m now trying to remember which farm in the peak had a tank parked outside until last year…

I’ve got that Tamiya jeep. It’s residing on top of my wardrobe. It hasn’t moved since I brought it back from Bahrain in 1985 when I was 8 …. It’s full of desert sand!
Loved it when I was a kid. My dad built it up for me for Xmas, a little bit each night.
When the battery dies on it (it only lasted about ten minutes) the jeep just headed off in the direction it was facing and I’d have to go running down the road after it.

Not really related to the post 🙂