Please visit www.Survivor-Cars.com for additional photos,
information, and a video. This vehicle is available for viewing by
appointment only. Please call us to schedule an appointment.
This is a RARE real deal ALL STEEL 1940 Willys Gasser with a great
history to tell! It lived its life as a racecar, but is now a very
street friendly cruiser that can be driven and enjoyed. It still
packs a punch with a 355 cubic inch Chevrolet V8 engine topped with
aluminum heads, dual Holley 4-barrel carburetors, and a Weiand 6-71
blower. The blower is underdriven to keep this car street friendly,
and it runs great on 96 octane pump gas.
That stout powerplant is backed by a Tremec 5-speed manual
transmission which puts the power to the ground through a legendary
Ford 9" rear end. The prior racing 5.31 gears have been swapped for
a 4.11 limited slip setup. Again, all done to make this car very
drivable. A new 3-core aluminum radiator has been installed with an
inverted fan to keep the engine nice and cool as you cruise to the
local car show or cruise night. The current owner stores it in a
climate-controlled garage and drives it to local car shows in nice
weather. This Willys draws a crowd everywhere it goes with people
recalling tales of seeing it race, and others just wondering if
they are seeing a real steel Willys! It is an impressive specimen
in so many ways and is ready to make the new owner proud to show it
off. Or it would make a great addition to any racing museum!
The current owner has also installed new wiring with headlights and
turn signals to make it street legal. This is the same car that Jim
Wilkens popped wheelies with while running down the track, but is
enjoying a new lease on life as a show car. This car has so much
history, which will be passed on to the next owner. It also
features signatures of racing legends on the firewall, including
"Big Daddy" Don Garlits and K.S. Pittman! The photo in our set with
specs on the car were from when the car was being raced by Jim
Wilkens as "The Handshaker" and are not the setup the car runs
today. Slide into the interior with black vinyl bucket seats, a
Hurst shifter, boost gauge, and old school tachometer and you will
feel like you're ready to hit the track! But this retired racecar
is happy to cruise all day while still providing you that great
feeling of grabbing gears and chirping tires.
Cragar wheels are always a hit and look great next to the Black and
Brown color scheme and hand painted graphics by Brush Works. Those
graphics and lettering including "Thanx To" Mark Smith for the
chassis, Dale Conrad for the body, "Big Al" Waugh, Johnny "Buz"
Mays, "Danger" Dave Anglin, "Lil Wes", and Karl "Mr. Goose" as the
"Wrench", or mechanics that worked on this car. The other side says
"Jim Wilkens Paint and Body" and a small "Hi Mom!" This car was
obviously a fun build and the people involved enjoyed themselves.
That humor is carried into the interior, where the dash is painted
with "First Gear, Fan On, Kick ass!", and that it did. The note
from former owner and racer Jim Wilkens tells how he drove this car
to 126 miles per hour in the quarter mile! Imagine sitting at the
line, the engine roaring at 2,400 RPMs, releasing the line-lock and
taking off! Making shifts at 7,000 RPMs through the gear range and
crossing the finish line at 126 miles per hour! What a ride and
what a story to tell everyone at car shows that asks about your new
1940 Willys coupe! Give us a call now to make this piece of history
the centerpiece of your collection!
This vehicle is available to view by appointment only. Please call
the office to make an appointment. For additional information on
this and our other classic and collectible cars for sale, please
visit www.Survivor-Cars.com. For assistance, please call the office
at 941-845-4461, text our cell phones at 813-358-8830, or email us
at
[email protected]. If you are unable to come view the
vehicle for yourself, we highly recommend you send in a third-party
inspector on your behalf. We are located between Tampa and
Sarasota. We are 90 minutes from Orlando and Fort Myers. *Potential
purchaser understands it is their responsibility to verify
condition and accuracy of information when purchasing from Survivor
Classic Cars. It is the sole responsibility of the potential
purchaser to inspect the vehicle, or have a third-party inspection
performed on the vehicle before purchasing. The potential purchaser
is relying solely on their own knowledge and judgement about any
vehicle purchased.
