1930 Willys Knight Model 66B Coupe

While in Europe in 1913, John North Willys met Charles Yale Knight. Knight invented an engine with sleeve valves rather than the usual poppet valves. Not a mechanic or engineer by any means, but a great salesman, WIllys saw the sleeve valve's novelty and promotional possibilities. The sleeve valves were much quieter operating despite their propensity to burn more oil. Willys-Overland produced more Knight-engine cars than virtually all other manufacturers in the world combined. The smooth and quiet 255 cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine of this example delivers 87 horsepower.

Although the Willys-Knight was middle-market range, Willys gave his cars upscale features like a factory trunk, Bijur one-shot chassis lubrication, and Watson stabilators. This is the only known survivor of this model and body style of approximately 500 produced. It wears a factory-correct multi-color paint scheme, including Lindberg Red and Stone Gray as featured in period advertisements.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2019