The Willys L134 (nicknamed Go Devil) is a

straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

automobile engine , there were a wide variety of propulsion systems available or potentially available for automobiles and other vehicles. Options included internal combustion engines fueled by petrol, diesel, propane, or natural gas; hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybri ...

that was made famous in the

Willys MB The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, -ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog ...

and

Ford GPW Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford ...

Jeep produced during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It powered nearly all the Jeep vehicles built for the U.S. and Allies. It was later used in a variety of civilian Jeep vehicles.

History

In 1940, the Willys Quad was built to compete against the Bantam reconnaissance car for evaluation by the U.S. Army. The two prototype Quads were powered by the Willys “Go-Devil” engine that turned out to be the automaker's greatest asset. Willys' pilot vehicle was overweight compared to the Army's requirements, but the "Go Devil" engine rated at included a heavier transmission, a combination that proved to be beneficial in the long-run for use in cross-country travel. The engine was developed by Willys' Chief Engineer,

Delmar "Barney" Roos Delmar Gerle "Barney" Roos (11 October 1888 – 13 February 1960) was an American automotive engineer who served as Studebaker's head of engineering from 1926 to 1936, specialising in straight-eight engines. He later worked for the British Rootes Gr ...

, and was the most powerful of the three prototype vehicles evaluated by the U.S. Army for production. Roos took the "less than impressive" automobile engine and increased its performance and durability. The specifications by the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

called for only of torque at the rear axle. The extra power made it the engine of choice for the U.S. Army. The

engine displacement Engine displacement is the measure of the cylinder volume swept by all of the pistons of a piston engine, excluding the combustion chambers. It is commonly used as an expression of an engine's size, and by extension as a loose indicator of the ...

was with a bore and stroke, a very

undersquare In a reciprocating piston engine, the stroke ratio, defined by either bore/stroke ratio or stroke/bore ratio, is a term to describe the ratio between cylinder bore diameter and piston stroke length. This can be used for either an internal comb ...

design. It was an

L-head A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

design, with

valves A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

parallel with the cylinders. Initial power output was at 4000 rpm and of torque at 2000 rpm with 6.48:1 compression. The L134 was phased out by the F-head

Willys Hurricane engine The Willys F4-134 Hurricane was an inline-4 piston engine and powered the famous Jeep CJ in the CJ-3B, CJ-5, and CJ-6 models. It was also used in the Willys 473 and 475 pickups, wagons, and sedan deliveries. It replaced the Willys Go Devil engine ...

beginning in 1950.

Applications

*1937–1942

Willys Americar The Willys Americar was a line of automobiles produced by Willys-Overland Motors from 1937 to 1942, either as a sedan, coupe, station wagon or pickup truck. The coupe version is a very popular hot rod choice, either as a donor car or as a fiberg ...

*1941–1945

*1944–1945 Willys-Overland CJ-2 *1945–1949 Willys-Overland CJ-2A *1946–1950

Willys Jeep Station Wagon The Willys Jeep Station Wagon, Jeep Utility Wagon and Jeep Panel Delivery are automobiles produced by Willys and Kaiser Jeep in the United States from 1946 to 1964, with production in Argentina and Brazil continuing until 1970 and 1977 respectivel ...

in which it was rated at *1949–1953 Willys-Overland CJ-3A *1948–1950

Willys-Overland Jeepster The Jeepster is an automobile originally produced by Willys-Overland Motors from 1948 to 1950. It was developed to fill a gap in the company's product line, crossing over from their "utilitarian" proto SUVs and trucks to the passenger automobi ...

*1950–1952

Willys M38 The Willys MC, formally the -Ton, 4 x 4, Utility Truck M38, or the G740 by its U.S. Army Standard Nomenclature supply catalog designation, is a quarter-ton four-wheel drive military light utility vehicle made by Willys between 1949 and 1952. I ...

*1950–1954

Henry J The Henry J is an American automobile built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and named after its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser. Production of six-cylinder models began in their Willow Run factory in Michigan on July 1950, and four-cylinder productio ...

*1952–1954

IAME Rastrojero The Rastrojero is a small utility pickup truck (taxis were also developed) with a capacity of half-ton designed by Raúl Gómez and built by the Argentine government-owned airplane (and vehicle) manufacturer IAME (''Industrias Aeronáuticas y M ...

*1956–1965 Willys DJ-3a *1956–1965

Hotchkiss M201 The Hotchkiss M201 was the standard light utility vehicle used by the French army from shortly after the second World War until it began retiring them from French service in the 1980s. It started as a World War II jeep built under license an ...

(Willys MB produced under licence in France)

References

External links

{{commonscat, Willys Go Devil engine Go Devil Gasoline engines by model Straight-four engines