Here are pictures of our 1945 Willis Jeep.

We sold this one in 2005.

Here are some pictures while the 1945 Willys Jeep was  "Under Construction".

Some Information about the Willys Jeep:

The Willys-Overland Company

John North Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company in 1908 and in 1912 named it the Willys-Overland Motor Company. Willys-Overland made both automobiles and trucks. If you have never seen a Willys-Overland car, check out the Willys-Overland- Knight Registry. The company was reorganized in 1936 after a depression bankruptcy to Willys-Overland Motors, Inc.

The Birth of the Jeep

As the war in Europe spread in the late '30s, the U.S. Military wanted a new light-weight, four-wheel-drive, general-purpose vehicle. One story has it that "GP" was the abbreviation for "general purpose", but was pronounced "jeep", hence the name. Other people say that the word "jeep" was slang for any wonderfully multipurpose thing. The Popeye cartoon had a character, named " Eugene the Jeep" in 1936, who had all kinds of amazing powers. Anyway, the source of the name "Jeep" is now veiled by the passage of time... but on with the story.

The U.S. Government solicited designs for a 1/4 ton light-weight, four-wheel-drive, general-purpose vehicle in 1940, and while both Willys and Ford submitted entries, the government selected a vehicle design by the Bantam Car Company. Bantam didn't have the mass production facilities needed to supply the government, and the military wanted multiple suppliers. Willys got a contract to build "jeeps" in late 1940. Ford was also awarded a contract a week later. Many parts were interchangeable between the Willys and Ford jeeps. Of the roughly half million jeeps produced for WW2, Willys-Overland made about 360,000 between 1941 and 1945. The jeeps proved to be rugged and dependable in the war, and by the time the soldiers came home, jeeps were well known and loved for their durability and unstoppability.

After the War

Willys-Overland was not one of the automotive giants in the prewar era, and had retooled most of their production facilities to jeeps. After the war, production of passenger cars continued, but the company couldn't ignore the potential civilian market for jeeps. They filed for a trademark registration of "Jeep" and began production. The most direct product transition was the CJ (Civilian Jeep) line. This product was little changed from those that had "won the war". The first CJ-2A was produced in 1945. The line has continued from the CJ2 through the CJ3, CJ5, CJ6, CJ7,and CJ8. (They did make a CJ4 but it was only a prototype that never went into production.) The CJ5 and CJ7 are the most common, with the CJ7 being a little longer than the CJ5. The CJ6 and CJ8 were longer wheel base than the CJ7, but they weren't as popular, and consequently there were fewer of them manufactured. 

The Wrangler (YJ & TJ) are direct descendents of the CJ line, so I guess you can say that the original Jeep line is still going. But since 1963 Jeeps have been manufactured by Kaiser, AMC, and Chrysler. 

The Willys

Back in those post-war years, Willys-Overland tried to broaden their market by returning to the car and truck business, in addition to the CJ's. Their products were nothing like the smooth, graceful pre-war products. Instead they capitalized on the tough, utilitarian image of the Jeep with three new vehicles: the Willys Jeep Wagon in 1946, the Willys Jeep Truck in 1947, and the Willys Jeepster in 1948.
These were called the 'Jeep' Utility Vehicles and all retained clear influences of the military Jeep, but the forms were intermediate between the normal rounded forms of the autos of the period and the boxy Jeep. The wagon was similar to the panel trucks or delivery wagons of the day, but with those unmistakable flat fenders (and later 4WD). The truck was similar in size and functionality of a GMC, Ford or Dodge truck of the day, but once again with the Jeep look and available in 4WD. The Jeepster was a convertible about half-way between a military Jeep and a sports car. This two wheel drive vehicle was only made from 1948 to 1950, but was resurrected by AMC in the '60's as the Jeepster Commando. The wagon and pickup truck were available in both 2WD and 4WD with a 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engine. Kaiser bought Willys-Overland in 1953 and dropped "Overland" from the name. In the 1956, Willys introduced snub-nosed forward control models. Production of Willys wagons and trucks continued under the name of the Willys Motor Company until 1963, when the name was changed to the Kaiser-Jeep Corporation. Production of the Willys wagons and trucks continued for two more years until 1965. Willys had production facilities in Brazil, Argentina, Israel, and India. Some of these continued making vehicles that were essentially the same as the Utility vehicles for several more years. But eventually Kaiser sold these. Thus ended the production of those interesting vehicles we call Willys.

What's in a Name

The original pronunciation of "Willys" was with a short "i" sound for the 'y"; so it was pronounced "Will-iss". But it seems to have been transmuted by the same flexibility of language that produced "Jeep" out of "GP". It has been said that the workers in the Willys factories were the ones who changed the pronunciation. Most everyone pronounces it with a long "e" sound for the "y". Being pronounced "will- eez", it might well be taken as the plural for Willy (which is as good a nickname for William as Bill). The official DMV title for Willys is "Willy". Possibly it is because it is only one vehicle and "Willys" would obviously be more than one "Willy". No one ever claimed that the folks at the Department of Motor Vehicles were very bright. Later, AMC bought Kaiser (1970) and Chrysler bought AMC (1987). [Then Chrysler merged with Mercedes in 1998!]