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History The Planets Align & I Buy a '41 Willys Coupe: Can you help track its racing history?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Bass, Jun 18, 2012.

  1. Weasel
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 6,698

    Weasel
    Member

    Lee has done excellent work for me on my 1940 Willys coupe and is my go to man on Willys sheetmetal - he's the best. He's here on the HAMB - KaysKustoms - and can be reached on 949 903-3322....
     
  2. Weasel
    Joined: Dec 30, 2007
    Posts: 6,698

    Weasel
    Member

    Exactamente....;)
     
  3. snelson57
    Joined: Jun 3, 2008
    Posts: 544

    snelson57
    Member

    We all know that this car is in great hands now. Looking forward to the build.
     
  4. mlagusis
    Joined: Oct 11, 2009
    Posts: 1,126

    mlagusis
    Member

    I like how you said it..."do the right thing"
     
  5. roydebisco
    Joined: May 25, 2009
    Posts: 35

    roydebisco
    Member
    from n.j

    i like it !!!!!!!!!!!
     
  6. GASSER CRAZY 41

    g-willys, i love reading your posts when it comes to willys. You're probably the most knowledgeable person when it comes to these things. its like a history lesson!

    Thanks for the compliment, but I am still learning after all these many years.
    Most of my past experience has been with the 37-42 models, and it is only in recent years (perhaps the past 10) that I have come to know much about the 33-36 style.
    Weasel & Dave McCauley are about as knowledgeable as anybody I have met, and that includes a couple of solid Willys people such as Ron Ladley, and Abe Suderman. My buddy Del and I have collected at least 20-30 cars over the past 30 years(mostly sedans), and parted many of them out, so I learned much from tearing into them. I have owned 6 coupes over a span from 1960 to now...currently have a '39 cpe and a '36 sedan. All that, plus my drag racing days in the '60's has made for lots of fun and lots of adventures.
    Thanks again...hope I can find out something on this coupe!
    g-willys
     
  7. draggler
    Joined: Jan 6, 2007
    Posts: 238

    draggler
    Member

    Definately the 392,, and call it the "big willys" haha
    if its any consellation!
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2012

  8. you, sir, should go to a NSRA-VSRA-Goodguys site, and never come back!
     
  9. Brian, you are living a dream! Congrats, I hope to line up next to you some day!
     
  10. Brian Bass -

    Congrats on the cool find!

    If you are unable to find any "significant" history on this old racecar, then I'm of the opinion that you should just "create your own history" and go with the blown 392ci HEMI ... then again, I may be a tad bit biased! :D

    Speaking of history ... I spent most of last night scouring the Internet looking for pics or vids of a Minnesota-based dark blue (or primered) '41 Willys Gasser that may have run at the Midwest tracks in the late '50s or early '60s ... unfortunately, I didn't find much of anything :( ... but I'll keep looking!

    You might also check with HAMBer Jim 63CadGuy Cecil ... he has some circa '50s-'60s movie footage from Minnesota Dragways and Twin Cities Speedway ... some of which is included in these two YouTube videos:


    Unidentified dark blue (or black) '41 Willys Gasser @ the 3:15 mark


    Unidentified dark blue (or black) '41 Willys Gasser @ the 1:35 mark
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2013
  11. Congratulations on your awesome score. It always blows my mind to see a survivor like that, it's hard to imagine how it never got worked on in the 70's, 80's, 90's etc. I really like the rear window hole treatment, pure art! I have a lot of Willys scrapbooks with old magazine features and pics of Willys race and street cars from the early days and your car does not look familiar. That front axle treatment is a dead give away for sure. It is cool that that it is a nicely modified car since most were pretty hacked up back then. I am sure looking forward to the build. I am pretty sure it will end with a Rodders Journal feature. I suggest you just drop everything else you are working on and just build the Willys, start to finish.:eek:
     
  12. Tsquared
    Joined: Feb 5, 2005
    Posts: 522

    Tsquared
    Member
    from Pratt, Ks.

    THANKS for pointing that out!!!
     
  13. Bass
    Joined: Jul 9, 2001
    Posts: 3,354

    Bass
    Member
    from Dallas, TX

    Kev, it still hasn't sunk in that I own a real '41 Willys Coupe. You don't know how bad I'd like to start working on it right now, but it's going to have to wait for just a little while...hopefully not too long!

    I'm in agreement that this Willys had to be raced very early in the gas classes. Do you think that this thing would have run prior to the first Stone, Woods, & Cook car? That would have to be around '59-60, I'd guess?

    Thanks for the reply, I was hoping you recognized it...but it's starting to look like the car was never in a magazine.
     
  14. Bass
    Joined: Jul 9, 2001
    Posts: 3,354

    Bass
    Member
    from Dallas, TX

    Hemi32, that actually could be the car in that video! It's probably not likely, but it does have some of the same details:

    That car is a '41, has side trim, is a dark color, has the factory rear bumper, factory taillights, factory license plate mount/light, has a modified front end with Halibrands, and it looks like the rear tires are small enough that it might not have radiused rear fenders.

    Of course, there were a bunch of Willys Coupes that would fit that description, so it's a little hard to get a positive ID. The front axle is probably going to be the identifier. And looking at the car in the video again, it looks like the bolt pattern on the front wheels is too small to be early Ford 5 x 5.5".

    The more I look at the car, the more I think it ran for a while early on and was then taken off the strip to be updated and the project may have stalled.
     
  15. thunderbirdesq
    Joined: Feb 15, 2006
    Posts: 7,092

    thunderbirdesq
    Member

    I concur.


    :D
     
  16. Cargo
    Joined: Jun 18, 2007
    Posts: 232

    Cargo
    Member

    Nice find!!! I have no history for you, but that cars future should be in my garage!!!!!!! Best to you on the build, enjoy.
     
  17. chevy3755
    Joined: Feb 6, 2006
    Posts: 1,055

    chevy3755
    Member

    nice find.............i'm jealous
     
  18. RodStRace
    Joined: Dec 7, 2007
    Posts: 3,908

    RodStRace
    Member

    Here are screen shots
     

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  19. Dave Downs
    Joined: Oct 25, 2005
    Posts: 935

    Dave Downs
    Member
    from S.E. Penna

    To date the car, partially based on the lack of a roll-bar, I looked at the NHRA Gas Class rules for 64 & 66. 1964 made no mention of roll bars while 1966 rules specified a roll bar for cars with a modified body (chopped, sectioned) and for all supercharged engines, so it may not be as old as we think.

    Whatever the history, it is one neat car.....(and I vote blown Olds & a Hydro!!! :D)......but wait....it had a clutch. :(
     
  20. Great shots from Minnesota Dragways...those were the years I was racing there...mine would have been a red primered '40 coupe(D-gas)...we came down from Duluth, so didn't make every weekend...but most of them '63-'67. Good shot of the Skag, Teddy Bear, Al Tschida's car, the Lutz & Lundberg green 4-door, among others. That coupe that appears to be black (I think it is), may be the pristine coupe of Al Pfeiffer's from Wisconsin...it ran on occasion in Minnesota, along with Mike Marinoff's red one. They ran mostly at Union Grove. How do you break down shots like that from a film, for posting...not in my computer skill range!??
    g-willys
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2012
  21. Great find Brian, and with your metal fabrication skills, the body work will be no problem! A blown 392 Hemi is THE motor for this build!
     
  22. Don't know anything about the car but it looks like a good start. Very cool!
     
  23. redlinetoys
    Joined: May 18, 2004
    Posts: 4,302

    redlinetoys
    Member
    from Midwest

    Yeah!! Love the drilling. Maybe someone put their teen to work. That would have kept him out of trouble for awhile!!
     
  24. I'm not even into gassers but this thing turns me on. Re: the engine choice......

    IMHO, a nose-high Willys gasser, WITH THOSE REAR WHEELS, just HAS to have a blown Hemi. It's almost like it's required.

    Anything less is just something...... well, "less".

    JH
     
  25. kays kustom
    Joined: Feb 16, 2012
    Posts: 40

    kays kustom
    Member
    from california


    thanks for the comments i really appreciate them
    this is my site if you want to see my work kayskustommetalworks.com
    thanks again
    lee
     
  26. Swede64
    Joined: Jun 17, 2006
    Posts: 203

    Swede64
    Member

    Very cool find. I know it doesn´t mean anything but anyway, here´s another vote for a blown rocket.
     
  27. PA-IndianRider
    Joined: Jul 24, 2011
    Posts: 372

    PA-IndianRider
    Member

    I agree.... especially because there are no signs of roll bar mounting points which would have been mandatory if the car was ran once NHRA rules & structured class racing started going into effect.

    Considering legalized drag racing started sometime in the late forties (where cars raced in Pre-war & Post war classes) your Willys could have been raced anytime as early as then to mid 50's ..... just prior to the advent of more structured organized legal drag racing.

    As you said..... your Willys could have been "taken off the strip to be updated and the project may have stalled"

    That could explain the work done for the engine setback. Engine setbacks as I recall were not legal in organized drag racing until sometime in the late 50's to the very early 60's.

    But then again that could also just be another "confusing part" of this car's unknown history. Maybe this Willys NEVER touched a drag strip.... and was built & only used for illegal street racing?????? Sure would be a LOT EASIER if these cars could talk...HA!!!

    I just can't help but think there has to be someone out there somewhere that knows something about this car. Especially with all of those REALLY UNIQUE ONE of a KIND "lightening holes" drilled everywhere. Very COOL!!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

    I assume there is nothing hiding under that old paint?????

    I just saw the "Gasser Passer" (formerly owned by "Ohio George" Montgomery) at the Gasser Reunion at Thompson Drag Strip a few weeks ago. The new owner carefully removed layer after layer of paint to expose the remains of its original drag racing colors. Also removing any doubt about the origin of that very historic "gasser"...... It was a COOL thing just to be able stand by it!!!!!
    [​IMG]

    Maybe that's why I am sooooooo fascinated with your Willys & this thread about it.

    BTW..... My brother & his family live in the Dallas area (Plano) so hopefully one day I can see that "Mystery Willys" of yours "burn up that 1/4 mile"!!!!!
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2012
  28. langy
    Joined: Apr 27, 2006
    Posts: 5,730

    langy
    Member Emeritus

    Only just seen this and it looks great, Brian your a lucky guy, well done for getting it.
     
  29. Tom S. in Tn.
    Joined: Jan 16, 2011
    Posts: 1,108

    Tom S. in Tn.
    Member


    ......... what about a clutch Hydro. Tom S.
     
  30. PA-IndianRider
    Joined: Jul 24, 2011
    Posts: 372

    PA-IndianRider
    Member

    Might have NOT been supercharged ..... but sounds like a good time for one..... on top of a Hemi!!!!
     

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