John North Willys was an ace salesman. But because he had trouble getting supplies of all the Overlands he had sold, he ended up with a whole automobile company. Traveling to Overland’s Cleveland, Ohio, factory, he found the company nearly moribund. A take-charge sort of guy, Willys soon had the factory humming, assembling cars in a rented circus tent after production filled all available indoor space. The Overland was an inexpensive and popular car, soon selling second only to Ford’s Model T. In 1914, Willys decided to introduce a more expensive model, and named it for himself. For his new car he chose the Knight sleeve-valve engine, developed by American inventor Charles Yale Knight but to that time built only in Europe. The first Willys-Knight, introduced for 1915, was a four-cylinder car selling for $2,475. A six was offered in 1916 and a V8 a year later. Knight’s engine was a double-sleeve design, in which concentric sleeves rotated to allow gases in and out, dispensing entirely with the need for poppet valves. Sleeve valves were silent in operation, and actually ran better the more they were driven, since accumulated carbon helped seal the sleeves and prevented oil from migrating to the combustion chamber. While sleeves were preferred by a number of European luxury manufacturers, like Daimler, Minerva and Panhard, Willys was the only U.S. automaker to manufacture them in any quantity. During the peak years for Willys-Knight, the mid-1920s, some 50,000 of them were built annually. The 1928 Model 56 represented a breakthrough: a Willys-Knight for under $1,000. Introduced in January, the Standard model, as it was called, rode a 109-1/2 inch wheelbase and was powered by a shorter stroke, 158 cubic inch version of the Willys-Knight six. Carried over into 1929, its price was reduced by $50, to $945. As the Model 87 it survived into 1930, but Knight-engined cars were being phased out as Willys moved to become a manufacturer of small, low-cost cars, exemplified by the $335 Model 77 for model year 1933. This car, fully restored in 2005 by a previous owner, is painted in metallic silver with light green fenders. Upholstery is light tan leather; it has varnished wood artillery wheels and white wall tires. It has a single sidemount spare, in the right-hand fender, leaving room for a rear-mounted trunk rack on which is carried a tan leather-covered trunk. It runs and drives well and comes complete with an owner’s handbook. It is a stunning example of a seldom-seen marque, of which few survive. As the Willys-Knight represented good value in its heyday, so this car does today. Without reserve
John North Willys was an ace salesman. But because he had trouble getting supplies of all the Overlands he had sold, he ended up with a whole automobile company. Traveling to Overland’s Cleveland, Ohio, factory, he found the company nearly moribund. A take-charge sort of guy, Willys soon had the factory humming, assembling cars in a rented circus tent after production filled all available indoor space. The Overland was an inexpensive and popular car, soon selling second only to Ford’s Model T. In 1914, Willys decided to introduce a more expensive model, and named it for himself. For his new car he chose the Knight sleeve-valve engine, developed by American inventor Charles Yale Knight but to that time built only in Europe. The first Willys-Knight, introduced for 1915, was a four-cylinder car selling for $2,475. A six was offered in 1916 and a V8 a year later. Knight’s engine was a double-sleeve design, in which concentric sleeves rotated to allow gases in and out, dispensing entirely with the need for poppet valves. Sleeve valves were silent in operation, and actually ran better the more they were driven, since accumulated carbon helped seal the sleeves and prevented oil from migrating to the combustion chamber. While sleeves were preferred by a number of European luxury manufacturers, like Daimler, Minerva and Panhard, Willys was the only U.S. automaker to manufacture them in any quantity. During the peak years for Willys-Knight, the mid-1920s, some 50,000 of them were built annually. The 1928 Model 56 represented a breakthrough: a Willys-Knight for under $1,000. Introduced in January, the Standard model, as it was called, rode a 109-1/2 inch wheelbase and was powered by a shorter stroke, 158 cubic inch version of the Willys-Knight six. Carried over into 1929, its price was reduced by $50, to $945. As the Model 87 it survived into 1930, but Knight-engined cars were being phased out as Willys moved to become a manufacturer of small, low-cost cars, exemplified by the $335 Model 77 for model year 1933. This car, fully restored in 2005 by a previous owner, is painted in metallic silver with light green fenders. Upholstery is light tan leather; it has varnished wood artillery wheels and white wall tires. It has a single sidemount spare, in the right-hand fender, leaving room for a rear-mounted trunk rack on which is carried a tan leather-covered trunk. It runs and drives well and comes complete with an owner’s handbook. It is a stunning example of a seldom-seen marque, of which few survive. As the Willys-Knight represented good value in its heyday, so this car does today. Without reserve
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