Vehicle Description
Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale WITHOUT RESERVE and SOLD to the highest bidder January 19th - 22nd 2017 at Russo and Steeles 17th Annual Scottsdale Arizona Auction at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Please contact us for more information.
In 1948 Willys decided that they should produce a car that was comparable to their famous Jeep that served famously in World War II. They felt that the men returning from the war would appreciate a vehicle that was sporty yet based on the vehicle that they drove when they were in the service. With a price tag of 1765 dollars the car was fairly sparse compared to other convertibles of the day such as the Ford Super Deluxe that had a V8 and was much fancier. These factors and the point that most veterans did not want to relive their days in a Jeep ended up in poor sales of just around 19000 vehicles and only 3 years of production. This is compared to the Jeepsters brother the more utilitarian vehicles. The Willys Wagon lasted for 18 years and sold over 300000 wagons and the Willys Truck sold over 200000 trucks in the same period. This makes the Jeepster a very rare vehicle coming from a famous family of vehicles.
This flawless Jeepster phaeton/convertible has gone through a complete rotisserie restoration and customization. The previous owner obtained this car from a relative that was the original owner. The car was in a barn and not driven for many decades. Because of this the car comes with a unique feature the original plates that come with the car. Upon obtaining the car the owner did a frame up restoration and customization that included a complete new modern drivetrain with a Chevy 350 crate motor new Chevy TH350 Transmission and Ford 9 rear end. The complete drivetrain is also painted in yellow to match the cars exterior color. The body was slightly modified with a sheet metal customization that recessed the tail lights and made the entire rear of the car more aerodynamic. The window was chopped 6 inches and a brand new manual custom top was added. Some other neat additions include; Chrome wire wheels heated leather seats lowered modern suspension tilt steering wheel CD changer disc brakes headers attached to a throaty exhaust and modern gauges help make this rod a pure pleasure to drive. With little weight and tons of horse power this car can rip up the pavement and still drive comfortably down the road. The car originally came with a 60 HP 4 cylinder motor and manual 3 speed transmission. Not what you would call a performance vehicle. Add all the modern touches including immensely increased horsepower and handling this car not only looks classic and stylish but also is very comfortable to drive. With less than 1000 miles on it since the build this car is like having a new automobile.
This Willys has been officially appraised at a value of over 50,000 and more than 80,000 was spent building it not including hundreds of man hours and personal attention to detail. This is a unique and rare Hot Rod that gathers attention wherever it goes.
