Willy's Jeep Ad: Willy's Turns The "Jeep" Upside Down! from 1946

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This is a
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Willys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willys-Overland Motors
Former type
Car & truck Manufacturing
Industry
Automotive
Genre
Military
Jeeps
(
MBs
) and civilian versions (
CJs
)
Fate
Merged into
Kaiser Jeep
Successor
Kaiser Jeep
Founded
1908
Founder
John Willys
Defunct
1963
Headquarters
Toledo, Ohio
,
United States
/
Canada
Subsidiaries
Overland Automobile
Factory in
Toledo, Ohio
, in about 1915
Willys
(
English:
/
ˈ
w
ɪ
l
ɪ
s
/
or
/
ˈ
w
ɪ
l
ə
s
/
[1]
) was a
brand name
used by
Willys-Overland Motors
, an American
automobile
company best known for its design and production of military
Jeeps
(MBs) and civilian versions (CJs) during the 20th century.
Contents
[
hide
]
1
Early history
2
Depression era
3
World War II and the Jeep
3.1
Origin of "Jeep"
4
Postwar struggles
5
1950s
6
Brazil
7
Legacy
8
Racing
9
List of Willys vehicles
9.1
Willys cars
9.2
Overland
9.3
Aero-Willys
9.4
Willys-Overland
9.5
Jeeps
10
Body type designations
11
Gallery
11.1
Advertisements
11.2
Vehicles
12
See also
13
References
14
External links
Early history
[
edit
]
A 1923 Willys-Overland Model 64 at the
Vintage Car Museum & Event Center
in
Weatherford, Texas
In 1908,
John Willys
bought the
Overland Automotive
Division of
Standard Wheel Company
and in 1912 renamed it Willys-Overland Motor Company. From 1912 to 1918, Willys was the second-largest producer of automobiles in the United States after
Ford Motor Company
.
In 1913, Willys acquired a license to build the
Charles Knight
's
sleeve-valve
engine which it used in cars bearing the
Willys-Knight
nameplate. In the mid-1920s, Willys also acquired the F.B. Stearns Company of
Cleveland
and assumed continued production of the
Stearns-Knight
luxury car, as well.
John Willys acquired the
Electric Auto-Lite Company
in 1914 and in 1917 formed the Willys Corporation to act as his holding company. In 1916, it acquired the
Russell Motor Car Company
of
Toronto
,
Ontario
, by 1917
New Process Gear
, and in 1919 acquired the
Duesenberg
Motors Company plant in
Elizabeth, New Jersey
. The New Jersey plant was replaced by a new, larger facility in
Indianapolis
, and was to be the site of production for a new Willys Six at an adjacent site, but the
depression of 1920–21
brought the Willys Corporation to its knees. The bankers hired
Walter P. Chrysler
to sort out the mess and the first model to go was the Willys Six, deemed an engineering disaster. Chrysler had three auto engineers:
Owen Skelton
,
Carl Breer
, and
Fred Zeder
(later nicknamed
The Three Musketeers
) begin work on a new car, commonly referred to as the Chrysler Six.
[2]
To raise cash needed to pay off debts, many of the Willys Corporation assets were put on the auction block. The Elizabeth plant and the Chrysler Six
prototype
were sold to
William C. Durant
, then in the process of building a new, third empire.
[3]
The plant built Durant's low-priced
Star
, while the Chrysler Six prototype was substantially reworked to become the 1923
Flint
.
[3]
Walter Chrysler and the three engineers who had been working on the Chrysler Six all moved on to
Maxwell
-
Chalmers
where they continued their work, ultimately launching the six-cylinder
Chrysler
in January 1924.
[4]
(In 1925, the Maxwell car company became the Chrysler Corporation.)
Depression era
[
edit
]
A Willys-Overland Whippet badge 1928
Willys-Overland dealer in Arkansas,
circa
1930–1945
In 1926 Willys-Overland introduced a new line of small cars named Willys-Overland Whippet. In the economic depression of the 1930s, a number of Willys automotive brands faltered. Stearns-Knight was liquidated in 1929. Whippet production ended in 1931; its models were replaced by the Willys Six and Eight. Production of the Willys-Knight ended in 1933.
In 1932 Ward M. Canaday, who beginning in 1916 had done advertising for the company before becoming a full-time employee, had taken on the role of chairman. He helped guide the company through its current
receivership
.
[5]
At this time, Willys decided to clear the boards and produce two new models – the 4-cylinder
Willys 77
and the 6-cylinder Willys 99 – but since the firm was once again on the verge of bankruptcy, only the 77 went into production. It was forced to sell its Canadian subsidiary, itself in weak financial shape, and started a massive reorganization. Just the main assembly plant and some smaller factories remained the property of Willys-Overland. The other assets were sold off to a new holding company that leased some of the properties back to W-O. The parent company was thus able to ride out the storm.
In 1936, the Willys-Overland Motor Company was reorganized as Willys-Overland Motors.
In 1937, Willys redesigned the 4-cylinder model. It gained a semistreamlined body with a slanted windshield, headlamps integrally embedded into the fenders, and a one-piece, rounded hood transversely hinged at the rear.
For 1939, the Model 39 featured Lockheed hydraulic brakes, a two-inch increase in wheelbase to 102 inches and an improved 134 DID four-cylinder engine
[6]
with power increased from 48 to 61 hp.
[7]
The Model 39 was marketed as an Overland and as a Willys Overland rather than as a Willys.
[7]
In 1929, the company built a factory that built vehicles located at what is now 6201 Randolph Street, Commerce City, California. During the war, the factory built aircraft assemblies for Hudson Bombers. When the war ended, the factory resumed automobile production and was one of two locations to build the first CJ2A, as well as the Willys Aero. The factory was closed in 1954. The location is now occupied by
Prologis
Eaves Distribution Center.
[8]
World War II and the Jeep
[
edit
]
Willys-Overland was one of several bidders when the
War Department
sought an automaker that could begin rapid production of a lightweight truck based on a design by
American Bantam
.
In 1938,
Joseph W. Frazer
had joined Willys from
Chrysler
as chief executive. He saw a need to improve the firm's 4-cylinder engine to handle the abuse to which the Jeep would be subjected. This objective was brilliantly achieved by ex-
Studebaker
chief engineer
Delmar "Barney" Roos
, who wanted
an engine that could develop 15 horsepower at 4,400 r.p.m. and run for 150 hours without failure. What he started with was an engine that developed 48 horsepower at 3,400 r.p.m., and could run continuously for only two to four hours ... It took Barney Roos two years to perfect his engine, by a whole complex of revisions that included closer tolerances, tougher alloys, aluminum pistons, and a flywheel reduced in weight from fifty-seven to thirty-one pounds.
[9]
Production of the
Willys MB
, better known as
Jeep
, began in 1941, shared between Willys, Ford, and
American Bantam
. 8,598 units were produced that year and 359,851 units before the end of
World War II
. Willys-Overland ranked 48th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.
[10]
In total, 653,568 military Jeeps were manufactured.
Origin of "Jeep"
[
edit
]
The origin of the name "Jeep" has been debated for many years. Some people believe "Jeep" is a phonetic pronunciation of the abbreviation GP, from "General Purpose", that was used as part of the official Army nomenclature. The first documented use of the word "Jeep" was the name of a character
Eugene the Jeep
in the
Popeye
comic strip, known for his supernatural abilities (e.g. walking through walls). It was also the name of a small tractor supplied to the U.S. Army by
Minneapolis-Moline
in 1937.
[11]
Whatever the source, the name stuck and on February 13, 1943 Willys-Overland filed a trademark application on the use of the term "Jeep" with the U.S Patent Office.
[12]
After several denials by the patent office and appeals by Willys-Overland, the trademark "Jeep" was finally awarded to the company on June 13, 1950.
[13]
Postwar struggles
[
edit
]
After the war, Willys did not resume production of its passenger-car models, choosing instead to concentrate on Jeeps and Jeep-based vehicles. The first postwar Willys product was the
CJ-2A
, an MB stripped of obviously military features, particularly the
blackout lighting
, and with the addition of a tailgate.
Willys initially struggled to find a market for the vehicle, first attempting to sell it primarily as an alternative to the farm
tractor
. Tractors were in short supply, having been out of production during the war. However, sales of the "Agri-Jeep" never took off, mainly because it was too light to provide adequate draft.
The CJ-2A was among the first civilian vehicles of any kind to be equipped with
four-wheel drive
from the factory, and it gained popularity among farmers, ranchers, hunters, and others who needed a lightweight vehicle for use on unimproved roads and trails.
In 1946, a year after the introduction of the CJ-2A, Willys produced the Willys "Jeep" Utility Wagon based on the same engine and transmission, with clear styling influence from the CJ-2A Jeep. The next year came a "Jeep" Utility Truck with four-wheel drive. In 1948, the wagon was available in four-wheel drive, making it the ancestor of all
sport utility vehicles
.
Willys planned to re-enter the passenger car market in 1947 with the Willys 6–70 sedan. Its name came from the fact it was powered by a 6-cylinder engine that produced 70 hp. The 6–70 was touted as the 'first stock car' in America that offered independent suspension on all four wheels, but it never entered production.
[14]
In 1948 under a contract from the US Army, Willys produced a small one-man four-wheeled utility vehicle called the
Jungle Burden Carrier
which evolved into the M274 Utility ½-ton vehicle.
Willys later produced the
M38 Jeep
for the U.S. Army, and continued the
CJ series
of civilian Jeeps. One variation was the
Jeepster
, which came with a 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engine, but only with two-wheel drive to the rear.
1950s
[
edit
]
In 1952, Willys re-entered the car market with a new compact car, the
Willys Aero
. At first available only as a two-door sedan, it was available with either an
L-head
or
F-head
six-cylinder engine. Export markets could get the Aero with a four-cylinder engine. A four-door sedan and a two-door hardtop were added for 1953 along with taxi models. The Aero cars were called Lark, Wing, Falcon, Ace, or Eagle depending on year, engine, and trim level, except for a small production run in its final year (1955) with models called Custom and Bermuda. The bodies for the Willys Aero were supplied by the Murray Body company, which also made the bodies for the short-lived Hudson Jet. Also in 1952, CJ3B Jeeps went into production. By 1968, over 155,000 were sold.
In 1953,
Kaiser Motors
purchased Willys-Overland and changed the company's name to Willys Motor Company.
[15]
The same year, production of the Kaiser car was moved from Willow Run, Michigan, to the Willys plant at Toledo, Ohio. Although Jeep production was steady, sales of the Willys and Kaiser cars continued to fall.
[16]
Willys established an assembly plant in
Brazil
in 1953, after the government prohibited the import of assembled vehicles as part of an import substitution program.
[17]
In 1954, the CJ5 debuted there at the start of its three-decade run.
After the last Willys passenger car was built in 1955, Willys shipped the Aero's tooling to Brazil, where it was built from 1960 to 1962, almost unchanged. Brooks Stevens restyled the Aero for 1963, and it was built by
Ford
(which bought the Willys factory) until the 1970s.
In America, the company changed its name in 1963 to
Kaiser-Jeep
Corporation; the Willys name disappeared thereafter.
Brazil
[
edit
]
Willys-Overland established its Brazilian operations in 1953, just before the Kaiser-Frazer takeover.
[17]
The tooling for the Aero went to Brazil, where it entered production in 1960. In 1956–1957, Brazil's Executive Group for the Automotive Industry (GEIA) had approved Willys-Overland for production of the Aero, the Willys MB Jeep, a truck version of the Jeep called the Rural, and the French
Renault Dauphine
small car.
[18]
Also, an abortive plan was made to create a company called Chrysler-Willys do Brasil SA to build the 1956
Plymouth Savoy
and a Dodge truck there,
[18]
in the hope of taking advantage of Willys' "Brazilian-made" credentials.
[19]
Willys went through considerable effort to appear as a Brazilian company, even selling a large portion of their company to Brazilian stockholders to forestall a possible nationalist backlash, and to become eligible for various government incentives.
[20]
The little tail-engined Dauphine was a result of Kaiser's Renault connection, and was produced by Willys do Brasil from 1959 until 1968. Willys-Overland was one of the first companies to enter the Brazilian passenger automobile market, and their early entry originally paid off, with sales spiking in 1954 when Willys became the number-one selling car.
[21]
Being distributed by the family of
Getúlio Vargas
' closest advisor
Osvaldo Aranha
also helped, and Willys-Overland reached a 52% share of Brazilian passenger car production in 1959.
[22]
Willys held a market share of around 30% in Brazil from 1960 until 1966, its last full year as an independent, mostly Brazilian-owned company.
[23]
Willys entered the Brazilian market in the hope of offsetting their shrinking market and losses at home. However, unlike in the case of the Argentinian Kaiser operations, which were essentially developed around hand-me-downs, Willys built a very modern plant from the ground up in Brazil.
[21]
The original promise was to build cars for export back to the United States, but such a situation never materialized.
[24]
However, by late 1961, Brazilian-built Willys Jeeps began to be exported to
Chile
.
[25]
Willys expanded into Brazil's impoverished northeast in the early 1960s, when they built an assembly plant for the Jeep and Rural in the state of
Pernambuco
.
[26]
In 1962, Willys started building the French
Alpine A108
as the Willys Interlagos. It was produced until 1966 and was the first Brazilian-made sports car.
[27]
It was also the car in which many Brazilian racers cut their teeth, including greats such as
Emerson Fittipaldi
. Willys also designed and showed a larger sports car called the "Capeta" (Devil) in 1964, powered by the 2.6-litre six-cylinder Aero engine.
[27]
In 1965, Willys Overland do Brasil and Renault began collaborating on a new front-wheel drive car, called "Project M" and meant to replace the aging Dauphine. Developed in parallel with the
Renault 12
, which it antedated, the car eventually saw light as the
Ford Corcel
.
[28]
Early Corcels had "Willys" stamping in the glass, and the Corcel line (which continued in production until 1997 as the
Ford Pampa
) always showed its French origins in its characteristic three-bolt wheels. In 1967, Ford took a controlling interest in Kaiser and thereby gained control of Willys-Overland do Brasil.
[29]
The Aero-based Itamaraty continued in production until the early 1970s, in latter years wearing "Ford" badges. Dauphine production ended in 1968, but the Willys Rural/Pickup and its derivatives were built as the Ford F-75 until 1983. The only visual difference is that the post-1970 cars have a tailgate with "Ford" rather than "Jeep" stamped in it.
[30]
The military version of the Jeep Pickup was called the F-85.
Legacy
[
edit
]
Kaiser-Jeep was sold to
American Motors Corporation
(AMC) in 1970 when Kaiser Industries decided to leave the automobile business. After the sale, AMC used engines it had developed for its other cars in Jeep models to improve performance and standardize production and servicing.
Renault
purchased a major stake in AMC in 1979 and took over operation of the company, producing the CJ series until 1986.
Chrysler
purchased AMC in 1987 after the CJ had already been replaced with the
Jeep Wrangler
(also known as the YJ and later
TJ
), which had little in common with the CJ series other than outward appearance. The Jeep marque, owned by DaimlerChrysler and later Fiat, produces Jeep vehicles at a new
Toledo Complex
.
DaimlerChrysler
introduced the Overland name for a trim package on the 2002
Jeep Grand Cherokee
. The badging is a recreation of the Overland nameplate from the early twentieth century.
In 2014 the
Willys
trademark was acquired by Italian
Carrozzeria Viotti
, declaration of Emanuele Bomboi (head of design of Viotti).
[31]
Carrozzeria Viotti together Fabbrica Italiana Maggiora introduce at the Bologna Motor Show 2014 the Willys AW 380 Berlineta, a concept car inspired by the original Willys Interlagos assembled by Willys in Brazil under license of the French Alpine. Viotti and Maggiora plans to produce the vehicle in limited edition and relaunch the Willys marque.
Racing
[
edit
]
The 1933-36 coupés and
pickups
were very popular
gassers
.
[32]
The best-known would be the 1933
Willys 77
.
[33]
Only 12,800 were sold in 1933, 13,234 in 1934, 10,644 in 1935 (including a new
panel delivery
), and 30,825 the company's final year, making it a puzzle why it became popular: it was neither cheap nor plentiful.
[34]
After the company revived, the 1937-42 coupés, sedans, and pickups were again popular with
hot rodders
and gasser teams, and again, comparatively low production leaves unexplained why they gained so much attention.
[35]
Ollie Olsen's
Wil-A-Meaner
1940 coupé (driven by Bob "Rapid" Dwyer) won the 1961
NHRA Nationals
A/G title.
[36]
List of Willys vehicles
[
edit
]
Willys cars
[
edit
]
Willys 77
(1933–36)
Willys Four
Willys Six
Willys Eight
Willys-Knight
(1914–33)
Willys Americar
(1940–42)
Willys Sedan 1940-4D
Stearns-Knight
also many early cars with model numbers
Overland
[
edit
]
Baby Overland
Overland Whippet (1926–31)
Overland Four
Overland 59t (1911–12)
Overland Six
Overland 90
Overland 91
Overland 93
Overland 39
also many early cars with model number
Aero-Willys
[
edit
]
Aero-Willys JT (1951)
Aero-Willys Wing (1952)
Aero-Willys Scout (1953)
Aero-Willys Lark (1952–54)
Aero-Willys Ace (1952–54)
Aero-Willys Falcon (1953)
Aero-Willys Eagle (1952–54)
Aero-Willys 2600 (1963)
(1960–1969 with Ford of Brazil)
Aero Willys (Brooks Stevens´design)
Willys-Overland
[
edit
]
Willys
Dauphine
(1959–65), licensed from Renault. 23.887 produced (
Brazil
)
Willys Gordini
(1962–68), licensed from Renault. 41.045 produced (
Brazil
)
Aero-Willys
(1960–71) 99.621 produced. (
Brazil
)
Willys Itamaraty
(1966–71) 17.216 produced. (
Brazil
)
Willys Interlagos
(1961–66), licensed from Renault/Alpine. 822 produced. (
Brazil
)
Willys Itamaraty Executivo (limousine) (1966–69). 27 produced. (
Brazil
)
Willys-Overland Crossley
(
United Kingdom
)
Jeeps
[
edit
]
Willys MA
(Original Jeep Concept)
Willys MB
(1941–1945) 335,531 produced.
Willys CJ2
(1944–45)
Willys CJ2A
(1946–49)
Willys Wagon
(1946–65) 300,000 produced.
Willys CJ3A
(1949–1953) 132,000 are produced.
Willys Pickup
(1947–65) 200,000 are produced.
Willys Jeep FC
(1956–65) 30,000 are produced.
Willys Jeepster
(1948–50) 19,000 are produced.
Willys M38
(1951–52) 61,423 produced.
Willys CJ3B
(1952–68) 155,000 are produced.
Willys M38A1
(1952–57)
Willys CJ5
later Jeep CJ5 (1954–1983) 600,000 are produced.
Rural
Jeep (1960–1969) or Ford Rural (1970–77) (Brazil)
Willys Jeep Pickup
(1960–1969) or Ford F-75 (1970–83) (Brazil)
Willys Corvo
(19??–?) (Chile)
Body type designations
[
edit
]
Bermuda – Hardtop designation, 1955
Gallery
[
edit
]
Advertisements
[
edit
]
A 1918 Willy's Knight advertisement – "Sleeve Valve Motor" – Syracuse Herald, May 8, 1918
1920 Willys-Knight advertisement
Vehicles
[
edit
]
Willys Six 97 4-Door Sedan 1931
Willys Six 4-Door Sedan 1931
Willys 6 1931 Sport Coupe
Willys 77 4-Door Sedan 1936
Whippet 4-Door Sedan
Whippet Model 96A Touring 1929
1930 Whippet 96A sedan
Whippet Model 96 Coach 1927
1922 Willys-Knight Model 20 in the
Petersen Automotive Museum
custom built 1940 Willys roadster on display at the
Little White House
Willys Overland 4-Door Sedan (Model 39) 1939: This example has a body built in
Australia
by
Holden
that differs from the American model in having an additional window behind the rear door
Overland Model 38 Roadster 1910
Overland Model 46 Torpedo Roadster 1911
Overland Model 82 Touring 1915
Overland Model 91 Touring 1922
Overland Model 91 Touring 1923
Aero-Willys
Brazilian made Aero-Willys 1960
Willys FC150 Truck 1963
1957 Willys pickup (four-wheel drive)
A
Willys MB
, better known as
Jeep
, at Military Vehicle Show, War Memorial Museum, Newport News, VA, Sun., September 24, 2006
1969 Willys Ford Itamaraty