Citizendia
Your Ad Here

1920 Willys-Knight advertisement
1920 Willys-Knight advertisement

Willys (correctly pronounced "Willis," but routinely called "Will-eez"), was the brand name used by the United States automobile company, Willys-Overland Motors, best known for its production of military and civilian Jeeps, during the twentieth century. A marque ( French for "brand" ˈmɑrk is a Brand name especially in the Automobile industry The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Jeep is an Automobile Marque (and registered trademark of Chrysler.

Contents

History

Willys Six 97 4-Door Sedan 1931
Willys Six 97 4-Door Sedan 1931
Willys Six 4-Door Sedan 1931
Willys Six 4-Door Sedan 1931
Willys 77 4-Door Sedan 1936
Willys 77 4-Door Sedan 1936
1941 Willys Coupe Street Rod
1941 Willys Coupe Street Rod
Overland Model 91 Touring 1923
Overland Model 91 Touring 1923

In 1908, John North Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company and in 1912 renamed it Willys-Overland Motor Company. John North Willys (pr WILL-iss October 25, 1873 – August 26, 1935) was an American Automotive pioneer and statesman The Overland Co was a United States based Automobile manufacturer From 1912 to 1918, Willys was the second largest producer of automobiles in the United States behind only the Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following

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. The Knight Engine was an internal combustion engine designed by Charles Yale Knight (1868-1940 that used Sleeve valves instead of the more common Poppet valve The sleeve valve is a type of Valve mechanism for Piston engines distinct from the more common Poppet valve. Willys-Knight was an automobile produced between 1914 and 1933 by the Willys-Overland Company of Toledo Ohio. In the mid 1920s, Willys also acquired the F. B. Stearns Company of Cleveland, Ohio and assumed continued production of the Stearns-Knight luxury car as well. Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state Stearns-Knight was a luxury automobile produced in Cleveland Ohio first by the F

John Willys acquired the Electric Auto-Lite Company in 1914 and in 1917 formed the Willys Corporation to act as his holding company. Honeywell ( is a major American multinational conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products engineering services and aerospace systems In 1915, they acquired the Russell Motor Car Company of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by 1917 New Process Gear, and in 1919 acquired the Duesenberg Motors Company plant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Duesenberg was an Auburn Indiana based luxury Automobile company active in various forms from 1913 to 1937 and is most famous for their high-quality record-breaking 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. Walter Percy Chrysler ( April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940) was an American Machinist, Railroad man Automotive industry Deemed an engineering disaster, Chrysler had auto engineers Owen Skelton, Carl Breer and Fred Zeder to begin work on a new car - the Chrysler Six.

But in order to raise cash needed to pay off debts, all of the Willys Corporation assets were on the auction block. The Elizabeth plant and the Chrysler Six prototype were sold to one William C. Durant, then in the process of building a new, third empire. A prototype is an original type form or instance of something serving as a typical example basis or standard for other things of the same category William Crapo "Billy" Durant ( December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States Automobile The plant would build Durant's low priced Star, while the Chrysler Six prototype would be improved and modified, becoming the 1923 Flint. This article is about the American automobile To see the article on the British Star Car Company, go to Star Motor Company. The Flint was an automobile Marque that was assembled by the Flint Motors Division Flint Michigan between 1923 and 1927

Walter Chrysler moved on to Maxwell-Chalmers, where in January of 1924 he launched his own version of the six-cylinder Chrysler he had been working on, one still based partially on elements originally developed at Willys. The Maxwell was a brand of Automobiles manufactured in the United States of America from about 1904 to 1925 Chalmers Motor Car Company was a United States based Automobile company located in Detroit Michigan. Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 (In 1925 the Maxwell car company would become the Chrysler Corporation).

In 1926, production of the Overland ended and was replaced by the Whippet brand of small cars. Following the stock-market crash of 1929 and the economic depression that soon followed, a number of Willys automotive brands began to falter. Stearns-Knight was liquidated in 1929. Whippet production ended in 1931, its models replaced by the Willys Six and Eight. Production of the Willys-Knight ended in 1933.

At this point Willys decided to clear the boards and produce two new models - the 4-cylinder Willys 77 and the 6-cylinder Willys 99 - but the firm was on the verge of bankruptcy again, so only the 77 went into production. They were forced to sell their Canadian subsidiary, itself in weak financial shape, and started a massive reorganization. In it, only the main assembly plant and some smaller factories remained property of Willys-Overland. The rest were sold off to a new holding company that leased some of the properties back to W-O. The company was thus able to ride out the storm.

In 1936 the Willys-Overland Motor Company was reorganized as Willys-Overland Motors. In the 1920s and 1930s, Willys was an unremarkable automaker based in Toledo, Ohio, one of dozens in the U. This article is about the city in Ohio, USA. For Toledo Spain, see that article S. It was one of several bidders when the War Department sought an automaker who could begin rapid production of a lightweight truck based on a prototype designed by American Bantam. The United States Department of War, sometimes also called the War Office, was the department of the United States government 's executive branch The American Austin Car Company was a United States Automobile manufacturing Corporation tied to the British Austin Motor Company.

In 1938 Joseph Washington Frazer had left Chrysler Corporation and accepted a job as head of Willys-Overland. He immediately set about improving the product and pushing the firm into other business areas. One was the Jeep; another was to improve the Willys 4-cylinder engine so it could withstand the punishment to which the Jeep would be subjected.

Production of the Willys MB, better known as Jeep, began in 1941 with 8,598 units produced that year, and 359,851 units were produced before the end of World War II. The Willys MB US Army Jeep, along with the nearly identical Ford GPW, was manufactured from 1941 to 1945 Jeep is an Automobile Marque (and registered trademark of Chrysler. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including 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. Eugene the Jeep is a character in the Thimble Theatre Comic strip, which stars Popeye. Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional hero famous for appearing in comic strips and animated films as well as numerous TV shows g. , walking through walls). It was also the name of a small tractor made by Modine before WW2. Whatever the source, the name stuck and, after the war, Willys filed a successful trademark claim for the name.

At the end of the war, Willys did not resume production of its pre-war passenger car models, choosing instead to concentrate on Jeeps and Jeep-based vehicles. The first postwar Willys product was the CJ-2A. The Jeep CJ (or Civilian Jeep) was a commercial version of the famous Military Jeep from World War II. The CJ-2A was an MB stripped of obviously military features, particularly the blackout lighting, and with the addition of a tailgate.

Willys struggled to find a market for the unusual vehicle, and made an effort to sell it as an alternative to the farm tractor. A tractor is a Vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high Tractive effort at slow speeds for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used Tractors were in short supply having been out of production during the war. Despite this, sales of the "Agri-Jeep" never took off, mainly because it was too light to provide adequate draft.

However, the CJ-2A was among the first civilian vehicles of any kind to be equipped with four-wheel drive from the factory. Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4x4 ("four by four" is a four-wheeled Vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four Wheels to 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 later produced the M38 Jeep for the U. The Willys MB US Army Jeep, along with the nearly identical Ford GPW, was manufactured from 1941 to 1945 S. Army, and continued the CJ series of civilian Jeeps. The Jeep CJ (or Civilian Jeep) was a commercial version of the famous Military Jeep from World War II. Another variation of the Jeep was the Jeepster. The Jeepster was an Automobile sold under the Jeep marque The original Jeepster was produced by Willys-Overland from 1948 to 1950 A more civilized variation, it came with either a 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engine but came only with two wheel drive.

In 1951 Willys re-entered the car market with a new compact car, 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 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.

In 1953 Kaiser Motors purchased Willys-Overland and changed the name to Willys Motor Company. Originally formed as the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in 1945 the corporation was reorganized in 1953 under the name Kaiser Motors Corporation after withdrawal of Joseph W 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. The last Willys car was built in early 1955.

Willys then shipped the tooling for the Aero to Brazil, where it was built into the 1970s. Brooks Stevens restyled it for 1963, and the Aero continued to be built by Ford after they purchased Willys-Overland do Brasil.

The American company changed its name again in 1963 to Kaiser-Jeep Corporation, at which time the Willys name disappeared. Kaiser Jeep was the result of the merger between the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, an independent Automaker based in Willow Run, Michigan, and the

Whippet 4-Door Sedan

Whippet Model 96A Touring 1929

1930 Whippet 96A sedan

Whippet Model 96 Coach 1927

Legacy

Kaiser-Jeep was sold to American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1970 when Kaiser Industries decided to leave the automobile business. American Motors Corporation (AMC was an American automobile company formed on January 14 1954 by the merger of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation After the sale, AMC used engines it had developed for its other cars in the Jeep products 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. This is about the company for other uses see Renault (disambiguation. Chrysler purchased AMC in 1987 after the CJ had been replaced with the Jeep Wrangler, which had little in common with the CJ series other than outward appearance. Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 The Wrangler (also known as the YJ, TJ, and JK, as explained below is an Off-road vehicle produced by American automaker DaimlerChrysler still produces Jeep vehicles at the Toledo Complex. The Toledo Complex is an Automobile factory in Toledo Ohio. It is currently owned by Chrysler, but has been in operation as an automobile assembly plant

DaimlerChrysler would introduce the Overland name for a trim package on the 2003–present Jeep Grand Cherokee. Daimler AG ( (formerly DaimlerChrysler AG) is a German car corporation (not to be confused with the British car-maker Daimler Motor Company) and The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a Mid-size unibody Sport utility vehicle produced by the Jeep division of Chrysler. The badging is a recreation of the Overland nameplate from the early twentieth century.

Overland Model 38 Roadster 1910

Overland Model 46 Torpedo Roadster 1911

Overland Model 82 Touring 1915

Overland Model 91 Touring 1922

List of Willys vehicles

1943 Willys Jeep MB
1943 Willys Jeep MB
1922 Willys-Knight Model 20 in the Petersen Automotive Museum
1922 Willys-Knight Model 20 in the Petersen Automotive Museum
1957 Willys pickup (four wheel drive)
1957 Willys pickup (four wheel drive)
Willys Forward Control Pickup
Willys Forward Control Pickup

Willys cars

Overland

Aero-Willys

Willys-Overland

Jeeps

Body Type Designations

See also

External links

Below is a list of defunct United States automobile manufacturers from the 1800s to the present
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic