The Willys Americar was a line of automobiles produced by

Willys-Overland Motors Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs) ...

from 1937 to 1942, either as a sedan, coupe, station wagon or

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

. The coupe version is a very popular

hot rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...

choice, either as a donor car or as a fiberglass model.

History

The car started production in 1937 with somewhat traditional styling, a product of the internal reorganization that turned Willys-Overland Motor Company into Willys Overland Motors. It was itself an evolution of the aging

Willys 77 The Willys 77 was an American car first sold in 1933 by Willys-Overland from Toledo (Ohio), Toledo. It was a successor to the Willys Willys Whippet, Whippet. In the same year, Willys-Overland went into receivership but the 77 was still released o ...

. When

Joseph W. Frazer Joseph Washington Frazer (March 4, 1892 – August 7, 1971) was a mid-20th century American automobile company executive. Over the course of his life, Joe Frazer was employed in half a dozen different companies as a mechanic, instructor, financier, ...

joined the company in 1938 he decided that a modern-looking and cheap compact car was the answer for the struggling Willys. Models 37, 38 and 39 gradually evolved into a more

Ford 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 F ...

-like appearance, culminating in the very much DeLuxe-like '40 model.

The Americar

Only the 1941-1942 models were called "Americar" (441 and 442 models respectively), following the patriotic trend of the time. It sold 22,000 units in 1941 and 7,000 more in 1942. Its price was about US$630. As war broke out, civilian production was abandoned by all US motor companies, in order to assist the military, and the Americar was no exception. However Willys was one of the companies awarded a contract to produce the highly successful

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

. After the end of the war they managed to secure the trademark on the Jeep name, and the much higher sales of its civilian CJ version kept the Toledo firm from resurrecting the prewar models, sealing the fate of the Americar. Despite failed attempts in 1940 and 1945 (both times with Frazer's 6/66 prototype), the 1942 Americar would be Willys-Overland final "civilian" passenger car model until the

Willys Aero The Willys Aero was a line of passenger cars manufactured first by Willys-Overland and later by Kaiser-Willys Corporation from 1952 through 1955. It was also produced in Brazil from 1960 to 1971. US production The father of the Aero was Clyde ...

, ten years later.

Models

Three variations — Speedway, DeLuxe and Plainsman — were offered, each with a coupe and sedan, plus a DeLuxe three-door woody wagon. USHCO/USB&F built a small run of station wagon bodies for Willys. Five examples were built on model 440 coup chassis in 1940, and a second group of five in 1941 on model 441 coupe chassis. All wagons featured a single door on the driver's side and the belt line on the 1941 models differed from those built in 1940. File:1941 Willys Americar (4061058323).jpg, 1941 Willys Half-Ton Pick-Up

Hot rod career

Critical

four-cylinder engine The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

failures, lack of replacement and repair parts and the sheer lack of assistance from Willys turned many Americars into perfect targets for the nascent hot rod community - the Go Devil engine was replaced with many other alternatives, some weaker, some much stronger than the original specification. It became such a favorite that today a 100% stock Americar is a very rare find.

References

External links

Willys history

* ttp://auto.howstuffworks.com/1940s-willys-6-66-concept-car.htm An aborted concept car that would succeed the Americar
The Americar at Internet Modeler
{{Kaiser Motors Americar