History 1933 - 1936 Willys, picture thread

Your Brother did one hell of a job! Nice Hot Rod.

 

Yep,

That car was owned by Bob Anderton. There was a time when it said "Flower Power" on the side. Bob worked at Jim Kirby's shop, and later worked at Hanna's doing metal work.

 

Got conscripted into being a tow vehicle at the drags today....



Elmer 'Unsprung' Snyder celebrated being 85 years young yesterday and ran his second best ever time at 11.45/115.89 in his flathead powered rail straight out of the trailer. Living proof that old racers just go faster....

 

Gary Schmitt brought 'Catch Me If You Can' out and was running hard. I caught it in the pit area....

 

Awesome. I can't believe Schmitt was actually running the old panel down the track. That's so cool. Thanks for the pics.

 

I recently found out that HAMB'r FUEL KING owns the old Anderton Car. It some how found its way to Ron Tomasello, who had it rebuilt for racing in the late 80s/very early 90's. Sadly, Tomasello passed away due to some type of illness no long after that. Tom Willford provided the pics of Tomasello's car for a recent issue of Gasser Wars Magazine. Member FUEL KING reportedly had the chassis rebuilt, still has the Halibrands, and has it rolling again. I hope this one sees the street or strip again soon.

Anybody know if it was a steel car or glass car?

 

I had to ahem 'borrow' this photo of Catch Me if You Can from Mazooma1's amazing coverage of the Antique Nationals in Fontana CA. This shot is just killer!

 

Hello

Finally found my missing TRAVELER Photo. Launching off the line at HMB. Not the best quality but still a bit of history.
Take care................TOM

 

It's been a while but just getting back to reviewing these boards... I will guess this is the 1964 Grand Finale at Half Moon Bay my dad won Class Honers, in 1964 and also in 1963 if you look at www.chuckfindersengineering.com I have the Magazine articles identifying that he won back to back years in this car. In late 63 it was the Finders Thompson "Eddie" car, then early 64 it became the SWC and Chuck Finders Dark Horse, then the Traveler later in 64 and finally it turned into the Braskett and Graten Car. I'm still collecting any photos I can... but recently I have been moving forward with offering Bodies for sale I got those for sale at the website also. Chassis Work too! Forgive me for my little Plug, But Hey I still love a 33 Willys and want to continue the Legacy my dad was a part of.
Chuck Jr.

 

Also ThanKs All for Sharing your photos, This is one of the ways I have gotten to know my Dad, so It's pretty personal to Me!!!
Thanks Tom and All.
Many of the cars here are ones he brought to life.

 

All steel


steel with glass clip


well it's fast...

 

Okay - here's a real rarity for the hardcore stock Willys guys - an Aussie bodied 1936 five window coupe - one of two known to exist....

 

There is a guy here in Washington state around Carnation, that has a three window 36 willys Holden body. Here is what one looks like. This picture is not his though. He bought a 35 sedan from me for the front end, rear fenders, and running boards for it. Have not heard from him in many years though. I do not know if he ever finished it. He bought the 36 three window off of ebay many years ago.

 

Was that Vince Minnis who had the 3 window coupe? The photo you show is one of three originals in my files and the car belongs to Bob Waddilove in Tasmania. Sammy Cooper in Hamilton, Vic has the ex Peter Eames 1936 3 window coupe - there are a couple of shots of it on this thread - satin black with flames. It used to be red with black fenders and wire wheels in the 1980s and then became salmon pink two tone in the '90s. I have the front bumper which I bought from Sammy from that car in my barn - still with the salmon pink painted bumper iron!

Maybe you could do some detective work and find out what the current state of play is with the 3 window local to you.

 

The guy that owns it, or owned it, is Ken Masden. I sold him my 35 sedan back in 2003. I have tried to get a hold of him in the past few year to see how the car is coming along or if it is done, but I have not been able to. Vince is the one that told him about my 35 sedan that I had for sale at the time. I did talk to Ken a few years after he bought mine and he said he did not think that he was ever going to get around to fixing the 36 three window. He said it was VERY rust.

 

Drag Racing 044.jpg (424.6 KB)

 

looks like bowling green

 

Weasel Sammy Cooper is in the US at the
Gasser Magazine Reunion Beaver Springs, PA.

 

^^^Yes, thanks for the heads up. I PM'ed him last week but he is on a whistle stop schedule and we are not going to get to meet up - again....

 

A friend of mine took these photos at the 1960 NHRA Nats.
Ohio George ...

 

I know a bit about the building of this car so I am going to add to Weasel’s post.

While I was living in the Jackson, Wy. area, I had a customer I did the paint and body on a lot of cars through the years for. Early T-birds, Shelby mustangs, Vettes, street rods, anything cool with wheels. Don was and still is a car nut.

One day he shows up at my shop with a 40-41 Willys sedan needing repairs. I fix it , he drives it a while, sells it and gets another Willys. He again drives that one a while and sells it. One day in ‘86 he shows up with a trailer hauling a ‘33 coupe body and his truck full of parts and tells me he is going to build a Willys the way he wants it. Now Don was a very plus size guy back then … he will need a shoe horn to even get in a car that size. Sorry Decker… but you know it was true. You was fat!
But Don, like most the guys reading this thread, was hooked on Willys.

I fill the roof with a ‘59 Ford roof skin with the ribs down, tweaked a ‘47 Ford gas door to fit the upper qtr. panel to match up with the tank location, section early VW tail light bases and molded them to the rear. Fix all all the old damage to the body... prime .. block, etc.
Regular paint and body prep.

Don did the chassis with some kind of wiggly front suspension and a pretty much drag rear suspension … set up for a blown SBC. Can’t tell you much more on the chassis…. I am a paint and body guy.

House of Kolor had just come out with a line of new 3 stage pearls and Don picked a color I was sure that was intended to be for graphics only…. The color is LOUD! In person the car is retina searing. I was sick of it painting it before the chassis, engine and drive train was done. I figured some graphics (hey, it is the 80’s) would break it up some and tone it down…. Nah.

I don’t know the name of the trimmer that did the upholstery … but he did an amazing job. He matched the graphics and even the ribs in the roof were in the headliner. It is an outstanding interior. …. A word to the wise … If you have your Willys on a trailer headed to the upholstery shop without the windshield in it… make sure your deck lid is latched because the wind is going to make the deck lid do a 10,000 time test fit, slam dance and destroy your new hot pink pearl paint job on the quarters and deck lid. And you can’t see happening from inside your truck. Isn’t that right Don? I bet it was entertaining to the other drivers on the freeway tho.... Another word to the wise …. If you are going to use a two post hoist to lift your ‘33 Willys …. Be sure the lift arms won’t hit the running boards before the pads contact the frame. Eh, Don?

The coupe turned out to be a wild looking car for back then. Don was happy. He had the Willys he wanted. I felt it was a big model. Too radical to drive and not enough race car to race. That I know of, the car was only launched hard once. It came down so hard stuff broke. It was a trophy getter at the car shows tho. Yet again, not enough of a show car to be completive points getter.

I got divorced, sold the shop and moved back to Vegas. A few years later I get a call from a new owner of the Willys. He had a damaged fender and wanted lined out on the repairing the pearl. No problem…. I was an expert on hot pink pearl Willys paint repair before I moved….. Shoot forward to ‘97 -‘98 (?) … I was helping Tom Medley and Tex Smith peddle Tee Shirts and books at the Indy Goodguys when Tex brings a guy over to talk to me. It was the owner of the Willys. He had spotted his car on one of Tex’s display books.
The new owner had made the coupe into a driver and had driven it from Arizona… Cool!
It is a real car now. … Fast forward a few more years to 2006-7 and another phone conversation with the coupe’s owner. I can’t remember details of the call except that the paint and interior were still looking good. It seems to me that he owned pick a part yards in AZ.

Funny.... Weasel’s post brings the Willys into my life again.
I wouldn’t doubt it pops up one more time!

The photos:

Two are in my shop during body assembly. Like my padded 55 gallon drum hood stand?

One pic is at the Pocatello, ID. Sun Run in the parking lot. The Vette in the back ground was a very sucessful ISCA show car circuit runner I did the paint and body on… a guy has to toot his own horn once in a while.

The other photos are at Peach Days in Utah. I don’t know what I am doing in the pic.
But ... I do think it is nice to see me with hair again!

If you read this, you probably know more than you ever wanted to about that ‘33 coupe.
I hope that whoever owns the Willys now is enjoying it and my work is still holding up for him.
Carl

 

Im on board with "Old Relics", too dangerous to think about.

 

Hey Carl...........A few years ago our rod club had a rod run in Gettysburg ,Pa and I saw this Steel Willys coupe out of the corner of my eye. I had never seen the car before and the guy I think was from Virgina but not sure. The car still looked pretty good but was starting to show its age. That was the last time I saw the car. My wife just added that she thought the car was for sale at the time.

 

I believe I have the front fenders from this car, everyone that has seen them says so. And some experts who are knowledgeable also.

Pat

 

So it is an East coast car now!
You made me grin by posting it .... Thank You!
I put a lot of time in that little Willys.

I bet it is showing it's age ... 25 years is getting to be old for a pearl paint job.

Thanks again,
Carl

 

Here are some more shots of the ultra rare Australian 1936 Willys Model 77 5 Window Coupe with Holden's body....

 

Weasel...great pictures. Looks like juice brakes were added, and seats, wiper down below, turn signal add-ons, etc. I like the hood ornament addition as well, although it looks very delicate and easily available to break off. I do miss the spare tire panel, as it was a trademark of the early Willys. Have you taken these in person, or collected from others? Any idea if the total production number of Willys (low by comparison to Ford/Chevy)included the cars that ended up in Australia, Europe, etc., or only an indication of US sold production??? I noticed a couple of other things in the pictures...the windshield, and window mouldings are much more like the 37-42 type than the US 33-36 productions. The dash is slightly different, along with the beltline reveal, and even the cowl vent appears to be a bit different. Once again...great photo's...keep them coming!
g-willys

 

It's very hard to judge Willys production numbers in Australia. The Willys Model 77 chassis were shipped complete with driveline, front sheet metal, running boards, splash aprons and rear fenders. The bodies were Australian made by Holden's Body Builders Pty. This was because the Australians were trying to build up their domestic motor industry and therefore had huge import tariffs on complete overseas built cars. The body content is 100% Australian and because of this much of the import tariffs were avoided which kept the overall cost of the vehicles down. Australian built Willys are generally very rare, some a little unusual to American eyes and some are highly desirable because they were built in body styles Willys never produced in the US. Chief among these are the open cars - sports roadster, tourer (phaeton) and roadster ute (pickup). Production figures were super low in the first place and the survival rate has not been good - due in no small part to the fact that they were coachbuilt with wood body framing and floors. This means they have suffered a high rate of natural attrition.

Whether the exported chassis form part of the Willys production figures is moot. Indeed, Australian serial numbering does not seem to follow Willys US numbering system.

I do not think many, if any Australian main body parts interchange with US built Willys Model 77s. Even the Aussie closed car and truck doors are suicide from the factory.

The photos I posted came from a gentleman in Australia from whom I purchased a 1933 roadster a dozen years ago. I scanned his original photos.