A blown 1940 Willys. The iconic street rod. Once again Automania is diving into thedeep end of the pool of exotic machinery rolling around the Rogue Valley. This particular car has an equally enthralling story starting with it being driven in stock form by a “Counter Culture” type living in the Haight Ashbury in the mid 80’s as his daily transportation to what you see today a Blown Tubbed restored bullet fast Hot Rod. Starting with a totally rust free driver with the original I6 still pushing it around it is mind blowing how fast and drivable it was made to be.
The current owner of the car saw it at a swap meet and being a Willys collector and trader as a side hobby bought the car for $200 with the idea of building a custom driver for his wife so she could take their friends when driving around. Woody’s real job was 17 years operating a high performance speed shop in the Richmond area back in the day a well known machine shop turning out built engines for Bay Area Hot Rodder’s so the car was destined to be well designed fast and beautifully executed. After leaving the shop he ended up at a Dealership before retiring to Oregon twenty years ago.
The body was pulled off the chassis rebuilt and tubbed to accommodate the rear axle and tires. Disc Brakes and a Mustang II Front End were added and a Ford 9 inch bolted to the back. Most of the work can be seen in the images but if not let us know and we will gladly supply more. A move to Southern Oregon in the early 90’s allowed time for the car to be finished by 1993. The first big outing was the Rocky Mountain Nationals in 1994. The trip went without a hiccup and was followed by several more trips to Washington state and California usually towing a small tent trailer. What was discovered immediately was that with the standard Supercharger Pulley it was a wild ride with accompanying heat issues. An Under Drive Pulley was added to slow the Blower down and make the car more manageable. Manageable until you bury the throttle!
The 9’ rear end is running a 3:0 final drive. Drive is through fine splined axleshafts and the whole assembly is located by a 4- Bar Track rear end suspended with Coil Overs. The heavy duty Turbo 350 Transmission is bolted to a 2800 RPM stall converter. The motor started as a 350 Chevrolet small block bored .030 over making it a 355 CI. The block had both the crank and cam passages line bored and all the reciprocating parts were balanced. The Chet Hubbard Cam is running hydraulic lifters fed by two Edelbrock 650’s and pressurized by the 671 Littlefield Blower.
Paint was done by Ray Worthington the interior by Jerry’s in Medford. For being over 20 years old it is amazing. The car presents as a fresh build but my guess is that it has at least 10000 miles. As you can see from the underside it is dry and from the short drive I took it definitely gets everyone’s attention when you give it a little steam. Wow was it fast.
An inspection prior to bidding or a purchase is welcome and recommended. Better to ask before then after.
Please call Paul at 541-479-8888 if you have any questions. For more images send us your e-mail address and I will forward them on to you. The car is available for inspection 9-5 Monday through Friday at Automania 895 SE Gladiola Drive Grants Pass OR 97528 541 479 8888 Oregon Dealer DA1287. The Oregon title is clear and clean with no brands or liens.
If you do not have at least 10 positive feedbacks please do not bid without contacting me first or your bid will be cancelled or blocked. We do not discuss reserve amounts unless the vehicle does not sell.This vehicle is available for sale at our retail place of business and wereserve the right to end this sale early for any reason. Please see any of our other sales on Ebay or our Ebay Store.
We accept collected funds only and for the amount of the sale. A $1000 deposit must be made within two days of the end of the sale through Paypal or other means of collected funds. We offer a 7 day grace period after this Ebay sale closes to inspect the vehicle yourself and if it is not to your liking a full refund of the deposit will be made. There will be no questions asked after your inspection at our shop if you do not like the vehicle. Payment is due in full after 7 days. The vehicle cannot be picked up until funds have cleared or prior arrangements have been completed. Shipping quotes should be from 97526 Grants Pass Oregon to where you are. Please do not use fly by night shippers. We try to offer clean vehicles honestly and to see some loon strapping a car bike or motor home to an open trailer with bald tires is heart breaking. I can assist the shippers but that will have to be ordered and paid for by the winning bidder. We cannot accept personal checks. If you haveany questions please e-mail me before bidding and I will do everything I canto answer your questions. Thanks and good luck.