1922 Wills Sainte Claire A68

Childe Harold Wills was a skilled metallurgist and chief designer of the Ford Model T. His list of accomplishments while working at Ford include designing the Ford script logo and introducing Henry Ford to vanadium steel, which contributed to the Model T's durability. In 1919, he left the Ford Motor Company and used the $1.5 million he had received in severance from Henry Ford to start his own car company. His automobile was named the Wills Sainte Claire, after himself and the river that ran near his new Marysville, Michigan factory. The new car's radiator ornament was the Canada grey goose.

The Wills Sainte Claire automobiles were well-built and superb on the road. Power was from a 265 cubic-inch monobloc V8 engine with two overhead camshafts and a dual throat carburetor. The design was inspired by Hispano-Suiza World War I aircraft engines, which took the engineering a step further, using precise bevel drive gears instead of the straight gears of the Hispano design, making the Wills' engine very quiet.

The 121-inch wheelbase frame was cast from molybdenum steel, a Wills development. Beginning in 1925, Wills offered a single overhead cam six-cylinder engine alongside the V-8.

During the production lifespan of the Wills Sainte Claire company, lasting from 1922 to 1927, more than 12,000 examples were built.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2019