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Willys-Overland Motors
TypeCar and truck manufacturing
GenreMilitary Jeeps (MBs) and civilian versions (CJs)
FoundedMay 31, 1908; 113 years ago (1908-05-31)
FounderJohn Willys
DefunctAugust 26, 1963; 58 years ago (1963-08-26)
FateMerged into Kaiser Jeep
SuccessorKaiser Jeep
United States
Factory in Toledo, Ohio, in about 1915

Willys (originally pronounced , "Willis" [2])[5] [1] was a brand name used by Willys-Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by also diplomat John North Willys, best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs), as well as civilian versions (Jeep CJs), and branding the 'jeep' military slang-word into the '(Universal)Jeep' marque, during the 20th century.


Early history

A 1923 Willys-Overland Model 92 "Redbird"
Motor Assembly in Building 90, Willys Overland Plant, Toledo, Ohio, 1920



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 and the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in Buffalo, New York, 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.[7][8]

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.[9] The plant built Durant's low-priced Star, while the Chrysler Six prototype was substantially reworked to become the 1923 Flint.[9]

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 Chrysler Six in January 1924.[10] (In 1925, the Maxwell car company became the Chrysler Corporation.)

Depression era

A Willys-Overland Whippet badge 1928
Willys-Overland dealer at 388 East 5th Street, Texarkana, 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. There was also a pickup truck version of the Whippet, called the Willys-Six C-113 (reflecting its wheelbase in inches). This was not a sales success, with a mere 198 units being built. This vehicle was picked up by International Harvester, who installed their own 213-cubic inch engine and offered it in 1933 as the International D-1.


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. Only 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.


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[12] with power increased from 48 to 61 hp.[13] The Model 39 was marketed as an Overland and as a Willys-Overland rather than as a Willys.[13]

In 1929, the company built a factory that built vehicles located at what is now 6201 Randolph Street, Commerce, California. During World War II, the factory built aircraft assemblies for Lockheed 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.[14]

World War II


Willys-Overland was one of two bidders when the United States Army sought an automaker that could begin rapid production of a lightweight reconnaissance car 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


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.[16] In total, 653,568 military Jeeps were manufactured.

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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]

Willys also built 1292 airframes for the JB-2 Loon.[20]

Postwar struggles




1947 Willys Jeep station wagon


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.[21]

In 1948, under a contract from the U.S. 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.




In 1953, Kaiser Motors purchased Willys-Overland and changed the company's name to Willys Motor Company.[22] 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.[23]

The Brazilian era

Willys-Overland established its Brazilian operations in 1953, just before the Kaiser-Frazer takeover.[24] 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.[25] 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,[25] in the hope of taking advantage of Willys' "Brazilian-made" credentials.[26] 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.[27]

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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]

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.[28] The original promise was to build cars for export back to the United States, but such a situation never materialized.[31] However, by late 1961, Brazilian-built Willys Jeeps began to be exported to Chile.[32] Willys expanded into Brazil's impoverished northeast in the early 1960s, when they built an assembly plant for the Jeep in the state of Pernambuco.[33]

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.[34] 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.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36]


In America, the company had already changed its name in 1963 to Kaiser-Jeep Corporation; the Willys name disappeared thereafter.







The 1933-36 coupés and pickups were very popular gassers.[39] The best-known would be the 1933 Willys 77.[40] 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.[41]

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.[41] Ollie Olsen's Wil-A-Meaner 1940 coupé (driven by Bob "Rapid" Dwyer) won the 1961 NHRA Nationals A/G title.[41]

List of Willys vehicles



  • Baby Overland
  • Overland Whippet (1926-1931)
  • Overland Four
  • Overland 59t (1911-1912)
  • Overland Six
  • Overland 90
  • Overland 91
  • Overland 93
  • Overland 39
  • also many early cars with model number


  • Aero-Willys JT (1951)
  • Aero-Willys Wing (1952)
  • Aero-Willys Scout (1953)
  • Aero-Willys Lark (1952-1954)
  • Aero-Willys Ace (1952-1954)
  • Aero-Willys Falcon (1953)
  • Aero-Willys Eagle (1952-1954)
  • Aero-Willys 2600 (1963)
  • (1960-1969 with Ford of Brazil)
  • Aero Willys (Brooks Stevens´design)



Body type designations

  • Bermuda - Hardtop designation, 1955




See also


  1. ^ a b The Blade (2 Feb 2002) "Italked to many people, now deceased, including his private secretary, and all said emphatically that he pronounced it `Willis,' said Ron Szymanski, local Jeep historian.[6] "I can attest to the fact that Willys' relatives all say `Willis.'" -- However, Mr. Szymanski acknowledged that many Jeep workers pronounce the name "Willies.""
  2. ^ by the company owner and founder, as opposed to "Willy's" or "Willies", although many people pronounce(d) it that way, and Mr. Willys "was probably the type who'd say: `I don't care how you pronounce it as long as you buy my cars.'" [1]
  3. ^ "J.N. Willys pronounced his name 'Willis,' local Jeep historian says". Toledo Blade. The Blade. 2 February 2002. Retrieved 2021. "In 1952, as Willys-Overland Motors was preparing for the 50th anniversary of the first Overland cars, The [Toledo] Blade declared: "It's `Willis.'" -- A number of reporters and editors at the time had known Mr. Willys personally."
  4. ^ "12 facts you probably didn't know about Jeep history". The Manufacturer (UK). 8 December 2015. p. 6. Retrieved 2021.
  5. ^ In 1952, the Toledo Blade newspaper got to the bottom of the story and concluded it's "Willis"..[3][4]
  6. ^ P. Findlay (writer, director) (2006). Man and Jeep (1-hour TV documentary (runtime 44:31 min). Barna-Alper Productions. Discovery Times.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) "Ron Szymanski, Jeep Historian (on-screen credit)", from time 11:05
  8. ^ "Willys-Overland Controls Curtiss Aeroplane". Wall Street Journal. 16 August 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 2020.
  10. ^ Kimes, Beverly Rae; Clark Jr., Henry A. (1996). "Chrysler". Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (3 ed.). Krause Publications. p. 306. ISBN 0-87341-428-4. Retrieved 2017.
  13. ^ a b MCG Car Spotter's Guide to the 1937 to 1942 Willys, www.macsmotorcitygarage.com
  14. ^ 1948 diagram showing Willys-Overland factory location
  15. ^ Hartwell D The Mighty Jeep Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine American Heritage Magazine, Vol 12 No 1, December 1960
  20. ^ Scholarworks (PDF)
  21. ^ "Willys Springs A New One", January 1946, Popular Science. December 1946. Retrieved .
  23. ^ Herman, pp. 342-344
  25. ^ a b Shapiro, p. 897
  27. ^ Wolfe, p. 128
  28. ^ a b Wolfe, p. 120
  29. ^ Wolfe, p. 121
  30. ^ Shapiro, p. 936
  31. ^ Wolfe, p. 119
  32. ^ Wolfe, p. 123
  33. ^ Wolfe, p. 124
  36. ^ Shapiro, p. 935
  37. ^ "Willys do Brasil Pickups". The Jeep Pickups Page. Retrieved .
  38. ^ Willys AW Berlinetta
  41. ^ a b c Taylor, "Wrenchin' @Random: Why the Rare Willys Was the Go-To Gasser" Hot Rod Network online (accessed 19 April 2017)

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