Willys (1940)
Sale price: US $100.00 Make an Offer
| Condition: | Used | Year: | 1940 |
| VIN : | 4403593T | Mileage: | 999999 |
| Vehicle Title: | Clean | Make: | Willys |
Saint Augustine, Florida, United States
Vehicle description
During the years following WW2, interest in hot rods, dry lake racing, drag racing, and sports car racing sky rocketed! Expensive foreign cars such as Jaguar, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Porsche, and others dominated the road race tracks. Allard cars were exported to the United States and fitted with flathead Ford engines and overhead valve Cadillac and Chrysler Hemi engines. Frank Kurtis began to build cars and chassis for not only the oval track but for road racing. Good ol American ingenuity began to take hold as cars were built here to compete with the imports. Glasspar made the first American fiberglass sports car. Bill Devin began to sell fiberglass bodies for $295 to put onto the builders chassis. Hand built race specials such as the Max Balchowsky Old Yeller, Duffy Eliminator, and many others, began to proliferate and even beat the high dollar imports. While many of these cars were built from fiberglass, plenty of others were custom built from steel using factory bodies modified to a sports car style. This is one such car, the 1940 Willys Special.
I bought this car many years ago as I have a great love for these type cars. However, I"ve decided that this car is too far down the line in cars to restore so I have put it up for sale. I don"t know the entire history but I do know that it had a small block Chevy before me and earlier than that it had a flathead Ford V8. The faded paint on the side makes me think it was used as a display car or attention getting sign after it retired from it"s early life of terrorizing rich playboys driving expensive European cars. There are rumors of this car having a race history in the 1950s. Please feel free to spend many fun hours perusing old race magazines and photos from the early 50s to try and find a glimpse of this car!
I bought a rebuilt Dodge 325 KD500 Hemi for this car. I thought an early Hemi was the appropriate engine for this car. The Chrysler 331/392 engines, while famous for lots of torque, aren"t called Elephant engines for nothing! They are very very wide. The smaller early Dodge engines such as the Red Ram are very cool but down on power compared to the bigger Hemi engines. I found the largest and most powerful of the smaller Hemis to fit in this car. The KD500 puts out 285 horsepower with a single 4 barrel carb or 310 with two 4 barrel carbs. This engine was rebuilt years back and was told it was never run on the road and it appears to be in great condition. I pulled the valve covers and the oil pan and everything looks brand new.
This car need to be fully built. My plan was to leave the patina as is but fully rebuild the chassis. A true jalopy hot rod sports car. There are some very early Stewart Warner and other gauges. The wheels are early 16 inch. Moon style early vintage fuel tank. The Hemi is simply set in the engine compartment and not attacked with mounts. I would make sure it was secure for transport. Hot Head Hemis makes plenty of transmission adapters for whatever transmission suits your fancy. My plan for this car was to give a bit of a nod to Kurtis and other American oval track legends with Halibrand wide five hubs and a quick change rear.
This is a great opportunity to purchase a one of a kind true hot rod American sports car. Of course, Willys are one of the most iconic hot rods. American hand built specials are getting the recognition that they deserve. They are shown on the lawn at Pebble Beach and Amelia Island next to the multi million cars. They are also quite successful as vintage race cars.
Please message me for any questions. I"m a straight shooter and have sold many cars on ebay over the years. This car comes with a current Georgia registration. This document acts as a title for this year car in the state of Georgia and will get you a title in the states that require them. This document is also good for export. The car is currently located in St Augustine, Florida. I can recommend auto transporters that I have used with great success in getting this car safely to you. I can also discuss with any overseas buyers transporting this car to the Savannah port.
I bought this car many years ago as I have a great love for these type cars. However, I"ve decided that this car is too far down the line in cars to restore so I have put it up for sale. I don"t know the entire history but I do know that it had a small block Chevy before me and earlier than that it had a flathead Ford V8. The faded paint on the side makes me think it was used as a display car or attention getting sign after it retired from it"s early life of terrorizing rich playboys driving expensive European cars. There are rumors of this car having a race history in the 1950s. Please feel free to spend many fun hours perusing old race magazines and photos from the early 50s to try and find a glimpse of this car!
I bought a rebuilt Dodge 325 KD500 Hemi for this car. I thought an early Hemi was the appropriate engine for this car. The Chrysler 331/392 engines, while famous for lots of torque, aren"t called Elephant engines for nothing! They are very very wide. The smaller early Dodge engines such as the Red Ram are very cool but down on power compared to the bigger Hemi engines. I found the largest and most powerful of the smaller Hemis to fit in this car. The KD500 puts out 285 horsepower with a single 4 barrel carb or 310 with two 4 barrel carbs. This engine was rebuilt years back and was told it was never run on the road and it appears to be in great condition. I pulled the valve covers and the oil pan and everything looks brand new.
This car need to be fully built. My plan was to leave the patina as is but fully rebuild the chassis. A true jalopy hot rod sports car. There are some very early Stewart Warner and other gauges. The wheels are early 16 inch. Moon style early vintage fuel tank. The Hemi is simply set in the engine compartment and not attacked with mounts. I would make sure it was secure for transport. Hot Head Hemis makes plenty of transmission adapters for whatever transmission suits your fancy. My plan for this car was to give a bit of a nod to Kurtis and other American oval track legends with Halibrand wide five hubs and a quick change rear.
This is a great opportunity to purchase a one of a kind true hot rod American sports car. Of course, Willys are one of the most iconic hot rods. American hand built specials are getting the recognition that they deserve. They are shown on the lawn at Pebble Beach and Amelia Island next to the multi million cars. They are also quite successful as vintage race cars.
Please message me for any questions. I"m a straight shooter and have sold many cars on ebay over the years. This car comes with a current Georgia registration. This document acts as a title for this year car in the state of Georgia and will get you a title in the states that require them. This document is also good for export. The car is currently located in St Augustine, Florida. I can recommend auto transporters that I have used with great success in getting this car safely to you. I can also discuss with any overseas buyers transporting this car to the Savannah port.