Willys Americar: the 1941–42 compact that became a hot-rod favourite

The Willys Americar was a line of automobiles built by Willys-Overland Motors from 1937 to 1942, as a sedan, coupe, station wagon or pickup truck. The coupe became a popular choice for hot rods, either as a donor car or as a fibreglass model.

Willys Americar at a glance

English Wikipedia is the only source used here, so the facts were not cross-checked against a second source.

History of the Willys Americar

From the 77 to the Americar

The car started production in 1937 with somewhat traditional styling, an evolution of the ageing Willys 77, as part of the reorganisation that turned the Willys-Overland Motor Company into Willys Overland Motors. When Joseph W. Frazer joined in 1938 he decided that a modern-looking, cheap compact was the answer for the struggling company. The 37, 38 and 39 models gradually evolved into a more Ford-like look, ending with the very DeLuxe-like 1940 model.

The Americar

Only the 1941 and 1942 models were called Americar (the 441 and 442), following the patriotic trend of the time. It sold 22,000 units in 1941 and 7,000 in 1942, at about US$630. Consumers Union Reports thought the 1941 Americar much better than the 1940 models and rated it a Best Buy in the lowest-price group. Three variations were offered, Speedway, DeLuxe and Plainsman, each as a coupe and a sedan, plus a DeLuxe three-door woody wagon. USHCO/USB&F built five wagon bodies on the 440 coupe chassis in 1940 and five more on the 441 chassis in 1941, each with a single door on the driver’s side.

War, Jeep and hot rods

Civilian production stopped with the war, and Willys built the Jeep instead. After the war the company secured the Jeep trademark, and the much higher sales of the civilian CJ kept it from reviving the prewar cars; the 1942 Americar was its last civilian passenger car until the Willys Aero ten years later. Meanwhile critical four-cylinder engine failures and the lack of spare parts and help from Willys turned many Americars into targets for the nascent hot-rod community, who replaced the Go Devil engine with others, some weaker and some much stronger. The practice became so common that stock Americars are now rare.

Design and features

• Coupe: the favoured hot-rod body, as a donor car or in fibreglass.
• Woody wagon: a DeLuxe three-door model, only ten built.
• Engine: the original Go Devil four-cylinder, often swapped out.

Willys Americar versions

• Speedway: coupe and sedan.
• DeLuxe: coupe, sedan and woody wagon.
• Plainsman: coupe and sedan.

More Willys cars are in our Willys collection, among them the Willys 77 that came before the Americar and the Aero that followed it.

Sources

• Willys Americar, English Wikipedia: history, models, hot-rod use