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Willys

Willys
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A former American manufacturer of cars and known for manufacturing civilian versions of the Jeep as well as the military's M38 after World War II. The name is most commonly pronounced "will-eeze" but the proper pronounciation is "will-us." Founded by John North Willys and based in Toledo, Ohio, United States.

Vehicle names used by Willys throughout history include: 77, Aero, Americar, CJ, CJ-2A, CJ-3A, Jeepster, and M38.

Vehicle dealerships include: R. McReynolds & Son (Washington D.C.)

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Willys page on 13 January 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Willys 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.

Early History

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 and was to be the site of production for a new Willys Six, but the 1920 recession 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 auto engineers Owen Skelton, Carl Breer, and Fred Zeder begin work on a new car, which was often referred to as the Chrysler Six.

In 1917, Ward M. Canaday, who had been doing advertising for the company, became a full-time employee.

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. The plant built Durant's low-priced Star, while the Chrysler Six prototype was improved and modified, becoming the 1923 Flint.

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. (In 1925, the Maxwell car company became the Chrysler Corporation.)

Photographs

	Willys 88-Four Touring Hand Book of Automobiles, 1919 Edition View White Willys 88-Four Touring page of Hand Book of Automobiles, 1919 Edition - 426KB
	The Desert Travelers Artist: Ken Eberts Cars: 1922 Willys-Knight 1982 painting set in the Salt Marsh of Death Valley, California. Image courtesy View "The Desert Travelers" - 1922 Willys-Knight - 147KB
	Pro Street 1941 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo of 1941 Willys Pro Street Coupe - 5,165KB
	Pro Street 1941 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo of 1941 Willys Pro Street Coupe - 4,247KB
	Pro Street 1941 Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden Green Street Cruise Night: June 7, 2010 View photo of 1941 Willys Pro Street Coupe - 4,456KB
	1941 Revell "Street Demons" kit Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden 2009 Summer NNL hosted by View photo of 1941 Willys Revell Street Demon Model Car - 3,466KB
	1941 Revell "Street Demons" kit Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden 2009 Summer NNL hosted by View photo of 1941 Willys Revell Street Demon Model Car - 3,054KB
	1941 "Big John" Mazmanian Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Big John Mazmanian - 2,829KB
	1941 "Big John" Mazmanian Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Big John Mazmanian - 3,6107KB
	1941 "Big John" Mazmanian Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Big John Mazmanian - 1,377KB
	Stone, Woods & Cook Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Stone, Woods & Cook - 2,544KB
	Stone, Woods & Cook Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Stone, Woods & Cook - 3,320KB
	Stone, Woods & Cook Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Stone, Woods & Cook - 3,367KB
	Stone, Woods & Cook Built by Nick Gregory Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden January 2010 Banquet of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Stone, Woods & Cook - 1,418KB
	Built by Doug DeMars Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden March 2010 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Model Car - 3,572KB
	Built by Doug DeMars Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden March 2010 Meeting of C.A.R.S. in Miniature View photo of 1941 Willys Gasser Model Car - 3,298KB
	1941 Dragster Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Dragster Model Car - 1.9MB
	1941 Dragster Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Dragster Model Car - 2.2MB
	1941 Dragster Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Dragster Model Car - 1.8MB
	1941 Dragster Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Dragster Model Car - 2.0MB
	1941 Street Rod Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Street Rod Model Car - 831KB
	1941 Street Rod Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Street Rod Model Car - 1.9MB
	1941 Street Rod Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Street Rod Model Car - 1.7MB
	1941 Street Rod Photo ©2012 Bill Crittenden 2012 Classic Plastic View photo of 1941 Willys Street Rod Model Car - 2.3MB
	1951 Pickup Truck for $100,000 2013 Mecum Chicago Auction Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1951 Willys Pickup Truck - 3.7MB
	1951 Pickup Truck for $100,000 2013 Mecum Chicago Auction Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1951 Willys Pickup Truck - 3.3MB
	1951 Pickup Truck for $100,000 2013 Mecum Chicago Auction Photo ©2013 Bill Crittenden View photo of 1951 Willys Pickup Truck - 4.1MB

Merchandise

Type & Item #	Name	Details
Model Kit - Revell H-1283	Swindler II '41 Willys Gas Coupe	1:25 scale