Here is a very short history on the man that the Willys Jeep is named for and the house he lived in Toledo, Ohio. John North Willys was born in the small village Canandaigua, New York in 1873. John Willys was a business man from a very early age selling anything profitable and saving every penny he could. As a teenager he owned a laundry business with a friend and started a bicycle company around the age of 18. After turning that into a successful business John Willys turned his attention to the next big thing. Automobiles. He began by selling cars and eventually took over The Overland company in 1908.
Prior to his ownership, the Overland company located in Indianapolis, Indiana had essentially become bankrupt with laborers not paid and vehicles just sitting on the assembly lines with everything available but not being assembled. John Willys saw the opportunity in the company and brought it up to profitability in a short amount of time. In 1909 John Willys bought the Marion Motor Car Co. which was also located in Indiana and moved the operations to Toledo, Ohio in a production facility bought from the Pope Motor Car Co. John Willys changed the name of the Overland Company to Willys-Overland in 1912. While living in Toledo, this is the house that John Willys and his family shared approximately from 1910 to 1921. John Willys died in 1935 of a sudden heart attack and never saw the birth of the Willys Jeep during World War II. For more information and history of the Tillinghast Willys Bell home go to The Toledo Blade. The house is not currently for sale but is a great piece of American history.
~ To read more about John Willys, visit a few of the sources for this article: Wikipedia, Allpar.com, and the Automotive Hall of Fame.org
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Looking for, Willys Jeep Parts, Willys Jeep replacement parts, Willys Jeep body parts and much more for your 1941-1971 Willys vehicle, you have come to the right place!
I am new to the web site. I have a 1950 willy’s jeep pick up. And i just want to say this is a great web site, Well done. Great information. Thank you
Hi all you Willys lovers, I have just read some messages on this site re the Willys /Pick up /CJ-2A etc have become members of the family. For me that is just a dream, my wife’s feelings for my 46 CJ-2A vary between dislike and loathing. However my grandchildren love it to bits as I do, they both want to ride with me on family outings and I have to be strictly fair who gets the Jeep seat. As they live in New Zealand and we in the UK I don’t get much chance to see them. Yours in Jeeping Steve Foster
Wow that was pretty neat!
i am currently in the process of rebuilding a 1951 Willys pickup for myself ! maybe in a year it will be on the road again!
my friend has a Resto Mod 52 pickup he has owned over 35 year that he drives occasionally.
Today I enjoy a 1951 Willys M38 Jeep. I’ve been a Jeep enthuisiast since high school when I delivered groceries in a ’46 Willys CJ2-A. From that day on, I was hooked. I said then I would someday own a Willys Jeep. Now I DO & its part of the family!
Hey I would love to find one of his bike’s to restore? Would anybody know he name of the bike line Mr Willys built.
Mike
Hi Guys,
Great article on John Willys. Are you aware that Mr. Willys pronounced his name Will-is. I did not see that mentioned. As a young man I drove a 1948 Willys wagon. This would have been on 1958. We always thought the correct pronunciation to be Will-is but in recent years it seems folks are using Will-ies. Not that it matters but thought you might be interested.
Regards,
Nevin