I was introduced to the Willys Coupe through 60's Hot rod Magazines the older boys in the neighborhood showed me. Gassers were IT so to speak at the Drag Strip. Along with the magazines came the plastic and wood models I built to look like the Drag Coupes I saw in them Mags. Still Love'n the Willys when I got older so I joined The Mid America Willys Club in the 90's. The Club News Letter: 'Gasser Gossip' had classifieds in the back for people buy'n and sell'n.
I guess Frank posted up some other pics of his old coupe in several different issues. I think Gasser Gossip was Quarterly, don't quite remember. Maybe some of you long time members will chime in? Anyway, I recall this posted in the classifieds
Your car and mine are not to far off ! The movie “ hot rod “ and this car pretty much got me hooked on old cars and Willy’s in general
Oh man that's absolutely fabulous, love the look! I too love the look of those Willys and wouldn't mind having just even a stock coupe or pickem up truck doesn't have to be a gasser or any particular color, although I have always been partial to the orangeish reds!
I've been a long time Willys admirer, carried around a photo in my wallet when I was 18 and leaving to work for Uncle Sam, the photo was SWC vs KS Pitman. I've owned several old cars over the years but never did get that Willys, now I'm out of room and really like the cars I currently have, not that I still wouldn't like one, so it's still on the bucket list if I find room.
My buddy has a shark nose 39 ish, yellow Willy’s pick up gasser project and I’m shocked how tiny it is inside. Next time your in town I’ll take you over there.
Pretty sure that photo is from Arlington WA. Hills in the background sure look familiar. I had a rough truck cab that I used for trading stock to get my sedan, as mentioned those trucks are leg room lacking!
Willy's.....Aside from magazines in the seventies like PHR and Hot Rod, my intro to one was the classic, little Aurora Speedline in light blue, I'm pretty sure modeled off the S,W and C Swindler 1. I'd never seen one up close and personal until Charlotte Autofair in '90, turning a corner to meet a grey '41 street gasser! Man, I just stood and smiled! I knew they were compact for the era, just never knew how much smaller than a '40 Ford coupe one is!
These belong to my friends Paul and Butch. Black one is bbc powered blue one is blown sbc. I built both engines, Butches truck is street legal and has run 10.21 @ 130
Yup, icons that dreams are made of. The truck version will be more attainable than the coupe. Gasser is the best destination for these bodies- dream on.
I’ve been in love with the 40-41 Willys coupes ever since the first pics I saw of the blue SWC and the red Big John cars. There was a guy not far from me building fiberglass coupe bodies. I checked out one of them unfinished, they looked and felt strong. When he told me how much he was getting for just a bare body, I had to put that dream on the back burner once again. I could buy any of a number of nice cars for what he was getting for just a body. Unreal.
Willys are always special for me. I saw the movie on TV as a boy in 1980, then saw one in person at an indoor car show soon after. I was hooked. They are their own niche, a pre-war car that is directly tied to my roots in drag racing, unlike any early Ford, because a T, A, or '32-'34 Ford can be lots of things. A Willys is always not far from the dragstrip, spiritually. They would be about as forgotten as a Crosley or a Huppmobile if the drag racers hadn't locked onto them. Like everyone else, I lusted after the '41 coupes only. Since 1980, they've never been affordable for me. As my finances built, I passed on a '41 4 door hump back, a '39 2 door sedan, and a gutted '41 drag pickup. Then I saw a '40 sedan done up gasser style and thought maybe I can make this work for me visually. I got to a point where I had moved out of the rust belt and thought I'd want a cool old car for a daily driver. My shopping list was short, but one thing I looked for was, I like small cars. After casually looking for months, I found an on line ad for a driveable (sorta) '39 Willys sedan that was an old street rod and at a reasonable price. It was solid, but needed a lot of attention mechanically. Great. Had to haggle some to get it home, but I finally got a Willys! I still remember going with the owner on that first test drive, thinking I was the cat that caught the canary! So stoked to just ride in a real Willys! No, it's not a coupe. However, I think it worked out well for me. I put a glass '41 front on it and sold the shark nose for a bundle of $$$. Hated that look. And the back doors/seat proved very practical. I drive it into Atlanta all the time. it has a stock 2 barrel 289 Ford. Rock reliable, it got me all the way to Lloydfest no problem. I've been refining it for 13 years. It always gets attention in traffic, and everyone knows me by the car. No bank robbing for me! I wish it had more power, and I've thought about putting something more significant in it, but the little Ford is so good to me. Maybe some day. I also wish it handled better, especially in crosswinds. Note: these things are light for their cross sectional area- like a sail. Kinda twitchy. I want to put an anti-sway bar in it. So all I can offer is this: Don't overlook the sedans! They're about 1/2-1/3 less money up front. And, all the front ends interchange from '37-'42. If you think a pickup is a good alternative, go find one and sit in it-or try to. If the firewall has been pushed back, it's a no go if you're anything near 6 feet. Sedans, well, just slide the seat back. Kiddos don't need much leg room, at least in a sedan they can come along! Good luck, and happy hunting!
I tried to find some History on that Old Coupe. I did find stickers on the car that said Class Winner West Hampton Drag Strip. I could only find one picture of it On that Drag Strip. Jeeze did that old coupe look different. trip
Me too but I found this '36 and fell in love with it in '64 in high school. Built it sort of like you want but with a hemi instead of SBC.
Willys have been running through my blood since I was 7 years old. My uncle had built a pro street coupe, and I was hooked. Growing up, the models, die cast cars, magazine pictures and articles just added fuel to the already burning fire. I've spent most of my late teens and early 20's collecting "Gasser Gossips", as mentioned by 1940Willys, "Willys Words" from the West Coast Willys Club, shirts from various events with Willys on them, books such as Don Montgomery's Supercharged Gas Coupes and "Gasser Wars" by Larry Davis. I feel very blessed to be introduced to some people that I consider "Willys Legends" at a fairly young age, and that have been gracious enough to help me, either by sharing knowledge, memories/stories, or photos, or by sharing parts and advice for my build. Funny how a certain car/type of car can have such an impact on so many.
This thread seemed like a good place to reflect back on my love for Willys coupes. Enjoy. RIP David Barnes and Leslie Barnes. Along with Richard, my heroes.
Hello, After our drag racing incident, we were stepping back until my brother got well enough to start moving and using his tools again. He started to read a lot more and came to the decision that he liked yellow more than red or silver. Back when we were talking as we were getting our 40 Willys Coupe 671 SBC prepped for the weekend races, I wanted to get it detailed with silver paint and or colorful sponsor logos. The major sponsor would have been our neighborhood Olympic Auto Parts, just down the street. We had a great relationship with the owner and manager. We had been buying parts for everything since 1955 and they knew we were building a 40 Willys Coupe for the drags and street. So, an idea of a logo on each door would allow all spectators and tower side spectators to see the Olympic rings and the name, Olympic Auto Parts. He continued to say that color was fine, but he preferred yellow. So, a yellow station wagon was next on the list as we would be towing the Willys Coupe all over and back to the nationals in September. Jnaki Later on, we decided that since our coupe was now gone, but we still had the complete motor and running gear in our backyard garage, we could easily drop it in any Willys product. Another coupe, or earlier with the bug eye nose and lights version. By 1964, the fiberglass versions of he 41 complete, one piece front end was created and now adorned many race cars. The simplicity of one hole for the grille was, I am sure, cost effective. Our favorite 40 Willys split grille would have taken more design parameters although, the dual grilles were hard to come by in the local junkyards. The 41 became so popular that it was hard not to see a Willys without a single front grill opening. So, without specific changes, any model could have been labeled a 41 Willys Coupe. One of our choices was to build a 40 Willys truck. With the 671 SBC motor set up of ours, we would have to run B/Gas, unless of course, we welded in more 1 inch thick plates in the bed for rigidity and chassis support. The extra weight ++would have put us back into C/Gas. Note: My brother noted from his bedside notes, is that a truck is heavier than the coupe. The coupe was 2100 lbs. The truck weighed 2400 lbs so, shortening the bed and using different materials could shave off overall weight. At the time, no one made fiberglass replaceable parts for Willys coupes and trucks. so, cutting the truck bed was the only option. By 1964-65, there were fiberglass front ends and other parts available for both models. My brother was well enough to go back to college and from my college class doodling, here is a Willys truck that kept coming up in my mind. A new version with the latest 396 Chevy motor + 671 supercharger + C&O Stick Hydro. No longer C/Gas class, it is charging the big boys in the A/Gas class. The last bastion of Gas Coupes and Sedans before the big drop out of the ordinary drag racing classes. The classes, except for A/Fuel, funny cars and experimental stock, were disappearing out of the weekly drag race shows across the USA. But, as two 20 somethings, inside of a 40 Willys was tight fitting, even with smaller bucket seats and moved them to the far back area as possible. The Willys truck has no room for rear movement adjustment, so most drivers were shorter than 6 feet or very cramped inside of the cab. No one at the time was extending the cab for more room, so that is something to consider if one is approaching 6 feet in height. YRMV Note: It sure would have made it easier to lighten overall weight of the Willys truck. These days, there are options for some changes:
@jnaki For some reason your description reminds me of this pickup except for the stance and that it has a sbc.
Nice photo finds of the “Silver Dollar” Willys Truck. That version always tweaked my mind. The two Willys trucks I enjoy seeing and trying to draw are this one and the West coast orange Willys Truck of Ted Radounis. I saw both at one time or another and they have always been stuck in this thick brain of mine. Ha! Hello, Nice to hear from you @elgringo71 I hope you are doing well. W are all getting on in our lifetime adventures and it is fun to see old ideas + connections from the way back time machine... Here is an old photo from a film I took back in 1964. For those new to the HAMB, this photo and video was posted many years ago. But at the time, the silver dollar Willys pickup truck was new to everyone. It was prominently displayed during the largest Gas Coupe and Sedan drag race meet anywhere. Lion’s Dragstrip advertised it and the local hot shots all showed up with their new builds and some, used old builds to try and win their classes from A/Gas to C/gas. I was there in 1964 to film my friend’s introduction to the drag race world, his immaculate 1940 Willys Coupe. Atts Ono had been working on it since helping us with our 671 SBC 40 Willys Coupe. now, it was his debut and what a place to showcase it against some tough competition. But, it was not a garage queen, but a top notch build, as we all saw in person, or later on in the Popular Hot Rodding Magazine coverage. Thank you…EG71 Jnaki When he came over to our house to see the video of the day’s filming, he was happy his final build was presented so well. We had several VHS tapes made to give to him, later. He is gone, now, but the digital copies would have done well in his mind. From the moment of arrival, to the weigh station and tech committee inspection, it was a proud moment for our friend. He and I were standing together in August 1960 at the starting line to watch my brother, in our own 671 40 Willys Coupe take off against the reigning C/Gas champion and leave him in the dust by at least two car lengths to the timing tower. But, moments later, it was a sad moment in our drag race history. This time back in 4 years, it was all his build and complete showing of an immaculate show quality 1940 Willys Coupe. As far as the winners in the classes, several new drag race builds, also showed up and won their respective classes. One being the latest from the SWC group with their “Black Widow” Willys Coupe and the C&O Stick Hydro group with their new Willys truck in their classes. Videos are available to view on J NAKI You Tube channel… click to view. YRMV https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCESXXhbXrnjlS6WeDUxi4kQ/videos
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