Projects I found a '40 Willys Coupe.. a dream come true!

Hope everything about the coupe was saved as posted in the first pictures? Mostly though, I hope your family and Home stay safe! Keep us updated, keep this thread going.

 

On our trip over to the Estranged Drags, we stopped along the way in Lyle, WA and pulled this '37 Willys sedan out of a field that's been sitting there in the same spot for 72 years! A few months ago a friend of mine sent me an aerial photo and the GPS coordinates to where the car sat. After I had found my '40 Willys coupe, he messaged me and said "Good find. You should try and get this 37 willys sedan out of Lyle Washington." 13 years ago he had been doing some work for the owner of the property when he spotted the Willys. He sent me the name of the property owner and I was able to track down her phone number. She told me she was 98 years old and that the car belonged to her baby brother, who was 92 years old. I got his phone from her, called him up and made a deal on the car. Pretty wild!
*Update on the fire. The fire that cropped up very close to our property was quickly contained and put out. We returned to our home last night. The Oregon Road fire that's approaching 10,000 acres is a few miles to the East of us.

 

Great find! I was just cleaning up my cars this morning and thinking of how short of an original service life they had. My '62 Bel Air was purchased new, then parked in 1970 until I bought it in 2004.

The 37 you just picked up was parked in that spot in 1950, by the ages you gave. That's wild that it has lived more than 5.5 times the number of years off the road than on the road. Makes you really think about the "don't make them like they used to" idea.

Looks like a good find! Do you have a plan for it?

 

How the hell did he get that Willy's in the bed of the pickup??? Holy carp!
Andy

 

Him, his wife and daughter lifted it up into it by hand!

 

saw that on the trailer when coming into the Estranged CC Drags on the way in... didn't get a chance to take a look at it..but congrats on it.

 

I am Rod, Casey's father who helped load and unload both the coupe and the sedan on our trailer and I have just yesterday unloaded the coupe out of the back of the pickup with my front end loader with forks attached and I have to say that there must be more to the story of our friend with wife and daughter lifting that car into the back of the pickup or it is a outright miracle of God. I had the same reaction as Chiro when I saw the coupe in the back of that pickup--"How in the world did he do that? There is no way !!" I know the physical stature of our friend, that he is not a big guy, and even if he was, that would not be possible and there is no equipment around my son's house to help--not even an engine crane or a chain. Besides all that, the very next morning Nick is not in the hospital or crippled for life, he comes out to help fight the fire.

 

i am just pissed that they didn't have SOMEONE there to take a pic--they are the heroes for sure!

 

Gotta say I am thrilled the fire near your place was extinguished. I can imagine losing a car to a fire (wouldn't be a happy event for sure but it most likely wouldn't be truly devasting either), I can not imagine losing a house/all my belongings to a fire. Apparently I was wrong when I said you had spent your lifetime allocation of luck on the Willys coupe

That being said, I have to ask ... did you trailer the 37 home with the hood open? Every pic, which includes a few different backgrounds, shows the car with the hood up.

 

Yes, the hood wouldn't shut on the '37 so we just strapped it and trailered it home with the hood open. No issues!

 

This really is an amazing story. I have no clue how they did it but they did. Failure was not an option that they were willing to accept. They apparently knew how much the Coupe meant to you two. The phrase good friends doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.

 

This is really a phenomenal thread. If you have friends that are willing to go to those lengths to help you out, I can reasonably deduce that you're the kind of person who has earned your good fortune.

Congratulations on acquiring your dream car. It really is very special to get the one you've always wanted, and to not settle for something less. I recently did the same, a project much like yours is, and I'm sure you have the same huge smile on your face every time you walk past it like I do. I'll be looking forward to seeing your progress with the build. That's a really special car.

 

I just picked up this pair of magnesium, single pattern, 16x11 Halibrand Champ wheels that have some pretty cool history. They've been owned by the same person for well over 50 years, who was the crew chief of the Gold Digger Barracuda AA top fuel funny car. These wheels were used on the Gold Digger funny car back in the late 60's. The Gold Digger was a staple of the Midwest match race scene and was owned by Bud Richter and driven by Gary Bolger, amongst some other drivers. The body was replaced with a newer Cuda body style in 1970, and then they went with a new chassis and Mustang body style after that. These wheels will be going on the back of my '40 Willys coupe. A proper retirement for a storied set of wheels.

 

Right on!!!

 

Amazing. Incredible, Fantastic. Just so right,

 

Evidently.....old classic cars are just 'lying around' your neck of the woods....Maybe I need(ed) to "go West young man"!
To be honest that front end is 'but-tuggly' on that really sweeet Willys. (sorry)
Please find a 40 or 41 front end for it.
You will spend most of your time explaining to folks it s "A Willys......a 39....NOT a 41"!
I saw my first 41 Willys when I was in High School.
Gene Cromer was busy demonstrating what the bottom of an A/Gas Willys looked like as he stood his up at the local drag strip...His was 427 FoMoCo powered with fuel injectors poking through the hood ! (Several fellow HAMBers knew him as well.
It's my understanding...only a 426 Hemi or 427 High Rise will actually fit in the front of a Wooleys .
Shivel-layz in a Willys is considered basphemy by most people with a soul !! (But...your decision )
6sally6

 

Let's see some pictures of your Willys, Sally.

 

Hopefully not his Willie!!!

 

6sally6,

I realize the shark nose '39 front end is not everyone's cup of tea, and that's fine. I do love the look of the split grille front end of a '40 Willys. You wouldn't happen to know of where a split grille, '40 Willys front end, still wearing its natural paint/patina, is lying around would ya? Unfortunately, the days of finding ANY steel Willys front end that is still wearing its original paint and patina are long gone. That leads into another topic that is sometimes hotly debated - paint vs patina. Some people apparently abhor patina. I LOVE it! Here's some photos of a few '39 Willys coupes that are completely badass and remind me of why I am glad to use the '39 front end that has been together with this car for over half a century. One of my personal favorites is the Jack Merkel '39 coupe that he won back-to-back national championships with in the 1963-'64 seasons.

 

I would never say that. I'm sure someone offered a fiberglass one-piece front end for these in the '60s, so somewhere out there, up in the rafters of an old service station...keep looking and get the word out. Not gonna be cheap, but, you never know.

That said, I would love to see the sharknose hood and bulging headlights remain.