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 ohn North Willys (1873-1935) was a district salesman of Overland automobiles who took over the operations after the manufacturer went bankrupt in 1908. Because the factory was lost in the proceedings the production was initially carried on in a circus tent. The following year the Willys-Overland Company was formed and in 1910 it was the third largest and in 1912 the second largest automobile manufacturer in USA.
Chrysler managed to bring the company back to its feet and at the end of 1921 John Willys was given back the reins of his company. The model line came to include the Whippet in addition to the Willys-Knight and the Overland in 1926. |
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John Willys was appointed the ambassador to Poland in 1930 but two years later President Herbert Hoover called him back as the Willys-Overland was in trouble again. The company managed to get rid of the receivership in August, 1935 but a few weeks later John Willys died weary of trying to save the company.During the Second World War Willys produced almost a half of the Jeeps and even the Ford produced Jeeps used the Willys engine. After the war Willys developed an civilian version of the Jeep which later became its own marque.
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All the cars produced were Overlands. The Willys name was first introduced on trucks in 1913 and passenger cars in 1916. The latter had the Knight sleeve-valve engines which was often reflected in the name Willys-Knight.
oon after the First World War the indebtedness of the company became unbearable and the financing bank suggested continuing the loan under the condition that a person nominated by the bank would be placed at the helm of the company. 
he majority of the Willys stock was sold to Kaiser in 1953. In USA the last model year for Willys was 1955 but the model designed for 1956 saw production in Brasil in 1957 where the Willys name lived until 1967 and the Brasilian Ford continued production of the same model until 1972.