1941 Willys Americar

Description

Currently featured in the April 2015 issue of STREET RODDER Magazine on page 128, this amazing 1941 Willys Americar gets everything just right. Fully engineered to be a joy to drive, it's also finished to show standards and filled with some pretty serious hardware built by some of the biggest names in the business. This cool coupe is the real deal!

Finished in bright 1969 Camaro Garnet Red, the smooth, clean lines of the Willys are easy to love. No graphics, no outrageous hood scoops, no pro-street treatment, just a super tidy body that doesn't need a lot of custom stuff to look fantastic. The paint is show quality and it's been laid down over some of the best-prepped bodywork we've ever seen. Super tight and even gaps, smooth, distortion-free panels, and a deep shine are what initially gets your attention, not all the add-ons. There's a traditional Willys "electric shaver" grille, and gorgeous teardrop headlights, but our favorite detail is the crease that starts almost at the tip of the hood and reaches back to the crown of the rear fenders, adding tension to the whole car, as if the bodywork were stretched as tightly as possible over the mechanicals within. Twin rear windows are an Americar trademark, and with shaved bumpers, 1950 Pontiac taillights, and stock chrome handles, the car looks exactly right.

The interior was crafted with driving in mind, which also means it's user-friendly and easy to get in and out. The bucket seats look to be from an early Mustang, and they're a great clean alternative to the overstuffed leather chairs you see in so many modern rods. As you'd expect from a car at this level, everything is brand new or restored, and fits together superbly. Custom door panels match the seats and the carpets are expertly trimmed so there are no wrinkles or bare spots. A 3-spoke steering wheel has a suitably vintage look, a look accentuated by the tall Lokar shifter and clean Omega Kustom gauges. It shows just 58 miles since the build was completed, so everything should be new, new, new! It also offers features like A/C, power windows, and a tilt steering column, so you'll find that it's easy to drive anywhere, anytime. It's even got a nicely upholstered trunk that's deep enough to handle a week's worth of luggage for two, which you don't often find in the big wheel pro-street Willys coupes.

Any questions about this car's build quality disappear when you see what's under the skin. The builder had access to a Charlotte area NASCAR fabrication shop, and it shows. The 350 cubic inch Chevy V8 was built to be streetable, and has an old-school look thanks to an Allen Johnson Speed Shop air cleaner and trick old-school 2-piece valve covers, designed to allow valve adjustments on a running engine. It was tuned by Spenny Clendenen, the same guy who made sure Dale Earnhardt's engines were ready to rock every Sunday, and with 400 horsepower on tap, it's bloody quick. A built TH350 3-speed automatic feeds power to a custom-built Ford 9-inch with 3.18 gears on a Detroit Locker differential. A tubular A-arm front suspension with rack-and-pinion steering, and coil-over shocks, give it the ride and handling of a modern car, while the 4-link out back means there's no squirrely feeling. Those coil-over shocks all around also allow fine-tuning of the ride height, although we think the stance is absolutely perfect as-is. Big 4-wheel disc brakes are effective and live behind some retro-looking wheels, gasser-style skinnies up front and wide old-school 5-window hoops in back, all wrapped in BFG rubber.

You've seen all the other Willys coupes out there and they all claim to be different. Well, this one really is different,featured in the 2015 ARP catalog page 55 and in this case, different also means the best. Call today!