Another Road Side Find - 1954 Willys

[capngrog]

While driving to the grocery store this morning, I spotted this parked at the side of the road and naturally had to turn around and go back for a better look.  The object of my interest proved to be a 1954 Willys four door and was apparently for sale: "$4500 OBO".  The car appeared to be all original, and the worst rust seemed to be at the bottom edge of the front of the hood.   The bottoms of the doors, sills, floors and fenders seemed to be in pretty good shape, rust-wise, but with a car of this age, you never know.

 

According to the Florida license plate, the car was last registered in 2001, and there was an older Texas inspection sticker at the lower left corner of the windshield.  If anyone is interested, P.M. me, and I'll try to contact the owner.  The car is located approximately 50 miles north of Orlando, Florida.

 

Here are some photos:

[michel88]

That looks like it would make a unique fun driver if it is basically mechanically sound.  It has overdrive which is a big plus for driving on major highways.  I hope someone will save it.

[Guest Turismo]

It's got potential for sure. This needs to go to the hands of someone willing to do a bit of restoring.

[A. Ballard 35R]

Too bad it's not the F-Head 6, they had great performance.

[capngrog]

52 minutes ago, A. Ballard 35R said:

Too bad it's not the F-Head 6, they had great performance.

What's the difference between the F-Head 6 and the "Hurricane Six"?  Carburetors, compression ratio, displacement etc.?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[TheMoneyPit]

I had a Jeepster with a Hurricane Six for a few summers about 35 years ago and it was a very good reliable engine with more than enough get up an go. I'm with Grog, what's the deal?

[A. Ballard 35R]

The Hurricane 6 is an L-Head and the other 6 is an F-Head with higher HP. According to contemporary road tests a Henry J with the F-Head 6 had a quicker 0-60 time than an Olds 88 !

[Mike36]

That's impressive because the Olds Hydramatic had a very low 1st gear and would get off the line very quick for their day. Maybe the Olds tested had a standard shift?

[TheMoneyPit]

Thank you for the info, I never knew about the other Willys engine 

[capngrog]

I did a little on line research and found the following information:

 

• There was a 161 cubic inch 6 cylinder F-Head "Hurricane Six" engine that produced 90 h.p. and 135 ft.lb. of torque.  One reference indicated that this engine was also called the 685 and was installed in Willys Aero passenger cars from 1952 to 1955.
• The performance engine was the 226 cubic inch 6 cylinder F-Head "Super Hurricane" manufactured by Continental, that produced 115 h.p. and 190 ft.lb of torque.
• The information I found seemed to be somewhat incomplete and ambiguous.

The sign in the driver's side window of the subject car indicated that it was powered by a "90 hp. Hurricane Six engine, 226 C.I.".  This is a little confusing since, if the engine is a 226, it's a "Super Hurricane".  Who knows?  If I get the chance, I'll go back for a look at the engine.  When I first saw the car, the owner wasn't around, and I was reluctant to open the hood, which was in a flimsy condition.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[mike6024]

Overall it didn't look rusty, but now that you mention the hood it looks like the front edge it completely rusted through.

[capngrog]

9 hours ago, mike6024 said:

Overall it didn't look rusty, but now that you mention the hood it looks like the front edge it completely rusted through.

 

You're right about the hood; however you're also right about it not looking too rusty overall.  I don't recall seeing a car rust out at the bottom edge of the front of the hood, they usually rust in other areas first.  Areas such as fender wells, floors, rocker panels and bottoms of doors seem to be pretty sound on this car.  I don't know why the hood would've rusted out as it has. 

 

Below is a close up view of the hood rust and a shot of a VERY deteriorated white wall tire.

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

 

[56buickinga]

Every hood you ever find is rusted. I was not around when they were new but I suspect they were rusting on the dealer showrooms. Good cars but parts are almost impossible to find. Other than drive train parts shared with jeeps. Also they are unibody cars so if the body is rusted it can be structurally compromised.

[Guest BillP]

That is a low-horsepower tire for sure.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

A Willys Aero is a whole lot cuter than a Hudson Jet, but at the end of the day, there wasn't a market for either of them.

[Rusty_OToole]

The bigger six was the Kaiser - Frazer engine originally designed by Contintental. They put it in the Willys after Kaiser bought the Willys company. At the time it was considered a "hot" car with a large, high powered engine for the size of the car.