The Willys Pickup Truck is an iconic vehicle in the history or the American Automobile.
It was produced by Willy-Overland Motors, the company that also manufactured Jeeps for the military (MBs) and the civilian version, the Jeep CJ. In 1947 the Willys Pickup truck was introduced as part of Willys Overland’s efforts to broaden its market to fill the void left by a reduced – but still robust – contract with the U.S. military. Before the war, Willys had emphasized sleek, luxurious looking vehicles like the Willys 77 4-door sedan. Following the war, the vehicles kept the utilitarian influence of the Jeep MBs and CJs.
The term Willys used for their new vehicle was the Jeep Utility truck and it is often referred to now as the Willys Jeep truck. The Willys pickup truck was marketed to farmers and laborers as the vehicle that would make their life easier—and it did! It was rugged and highly versatile.
The pickup truck was unmistakably a Jeep with its flat fenders and the 4-wheel drive option, but otherwise looked similar to the Ford, GMC and Dodge trucks it was competing against. It also resembled them in size, carrying capacity and functionality, but built on the Jeep CJ frame it had a ruggedness the others couldn’t match. In fact, if driving hard and fast in the dirt had been widely accepted as a form of recreation in the late 40’s, these vehicles may have been called Sport Utility Vehicles. No doubt, however, many farmers and laborers took side trips up hills, through creeks and over rocks on their way home from the fields, and loved every mile of it!
Production Models and Years
The Jeep Utility Truck was offered in 2-wheel drive and 4-wheel drive models, and in both 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines. The original 4-cylinder was a 134 cubic inch edition nicknamed the Go-Devil for its tenacity and durability. Engines changed and developed over the years as technology improved. While some statistical data is missing, here is what we can be sure of in terms of the engines and transmissions offered:
226 4-wheel drive 226 cu. in. 6-cylinder: 1954 to Unknown
The configurations offered in these utility trucks included not just the Willys pickup truck but a van truck, platform stake truck, cab and chassis truck and a canopy truck. Sales were decent but not fantastic. Changes came in 1953 when Kaiser bought Willys-Overland and dropped Overland from the name. The Willys pickup truck was produced under the name Willys Motor Company until 1963 when the name was changed to the Kaiser-Jeep Company. Production of the Willys pickup truck continued for 2 additional model years and was dropped in 1965 in the midst of a rapidly changing auto industry.
Check out this video of a 1959 Willys Pickup:
Unfortunately, numbers are not available in any great detail, but from 1947 to 1965 it is known that over 200,000 Jeep utility trucks/Willys pickup trucks were produced. In 1965 production of the Willys pickup truck and the wagons was ended, and the iconic Willys name ended with them.
