Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Willys Pickup

The Willys Pickup
The Willys Pickup
The Willys PickupThe Willys Pickup was similar to the Willys Jeep Wagon and the VJ-2 and VJ-3 Willys Jeepster. It was introduced in 1947, with model designations of 2T and 4T. These trucks were equipped with the 134 cubic inch "Go-Devil" engine and the three-speed Borg-Warner T-90 manual transmission from the CJ-2A. The truck received a facelift in 1950 and became the 473, with the new "Hurricane" four-cylinder engine as an option. This model introduced the v-shaped front end with five horizontal bars, as well as an updated gauge cluster. The steps on the side of the pickup box were deleted. After 1950, the two-wheel drive model was discontinued. In 1953, the model designation became 475 and the grille bars were reduced to three. A 226 cubic inch six-cylinder 6-226 model was introduced in 1954, and sales of 475 models dropped considerably. The 6-226 was dropped in 1962 in favor of the 6-230 Tornado OHC engine.

The Willys Pickup
The Willys PickupThe truck was originally sold as a 1-ton 4wd/2wd with a 1/2-ton 2wd becoming available in 1950 (model 473HT). The 2wd half and one ton trucks were discontinued in 1951 and sold as 4wd only. The load capacity was later upgraded but the truck was still sold as a 1-ton pickup.