Willys Was On Hand For the Pumpkin Run

In 1908 John Willys bought a division of the Standard Wheel Company called Overland Automotive. He redubbed it Willys-Overland and by 1912 it was second only to Ford as the largest manufacturer of automobiles. He overextended by buying up several other auto brands and then the Depression hit Willys hard. To survive they sold off a lot of worthy assets. But World War II saved the company when the government chose their design of a General Purpose vehicle for the military. After the war the nicknamed Jeep was turned into a civilian vehicle and the rest, as they say, is history. But Willys made more than just Jeeps. In the 1950s they had a mild success with a compact passenger car called the Aero and many of those have been gleefully turned into hotrods.

A number of Willys vehicles, including a Jeep station wagon or two and an Aero along with a pick up truck and some Jeeps were on hand for the 46th Pumpkin Run Nationals. Here are a few of them