The Willys-Overland Motor Company, founded by John North Willys, is best remembered for its military jeeps used during World War II. When the war came to a close, Willys did not immediately resume production of its passenger-car models; rather, it concentrated on Jeeps and Jeep-based vehicles. Among the earliest of their products in the post-WWII era was the 'Agri-Jeep', intended as an alternative to the farm tractor. Due to its lightweight nature, it was inadequate in its duties and production never took off.
Various versions of the 'Jeep' were built for both civilian and military applications, and one of the most successful applications was the Jeepster, offered with a four- or six-cylinder engine.
In 1953, Willys-Overland was purchased by Kaiser Motors, who changed the company's name to Willys Motor Company. Also, in 1953, the production of the Kaiser car was moved from Willow Run, Michigan, to the Willys plant in Toledo, Ohio.
The Willys Aero
In 1952, Willys returned to the car market with the compact Willys Aero. The styling was by Phil Wright and the engineering by Clyde Paton, a former engineer for Packard Motor Car Company. The Aero had similarities to Packard and Studebaker, including the Lark model name, used from 1952 to 1954, which would later be used by Studebaker. During the mid-1950s, Studebaker used variations of the 'Hawk' name (i.e., Power Hawk, Sky Hawk, Golden Hawk, Silver Hawk, Flight Hawk, GT Hawk), and from 1952 to 1954, one of the model names used by Willys was the 'Eagle.' The company's 1952 model lineup included the Eagle, Wing and Ace. A Falcon model appeared in 1953.
The Willys vehicles were built in Toledo, Ohio, and Maywood, California. The vehicle's that left the Toledo factory were available with four engine options: the F4-134 Hurricane, the L6-161 Lightning, the F6-161 Hurricane. The fourth engine was the L6-226 Super Hurricane which became available after the Kaiser firm purchased Willys. Pulled from the Kaiser car line, it was used only in export versions of the Aero Lark.
Mechanical Specification
The Willys Aero had a frame-unitized welded chassis with a 108-inch wheelbase, stood 60 inches tall, and had a length of 183 inches. Engine options included a 134 cubic-inch F-head inline-Four (Hurricane), a 161 CID L-head inline-6 (Lightnighitn), a 161 F-head inline-6 (Hurricane) and the 226 CID L-head inline-6 (Super Hurricane). Transmission options included a three-speed manual, a three-speed manual plus overdrive, and a four-speed HydraMatic.
1953 Trim Levels
For 1952, the base trim level was the Aero Lark equipped with a 161 CID six-cylinder flathead engine offering 75 horsepower. The Aero Wing, Aero Ace, and Aero Eagle hardtop received the overhead valve six-cylinder engine.
The 1953 Willys Aero
Minor styling revisions were incorporated into the 1953 Willys automobile, including red-painted wheel cover emblems and a gold-plated 'W' in the center of the grille in celebration of the firm's 50th anniversary.
Body Styles and Pricing
In 1953, the Aero Wing was replaced with the Aero Falcon, and a new four-door sedan body style was added to the Lark, Falcon and Ace lines. The top-of-line continued to be the Eagle two-door hardtop and was priced at nearly $2,000. The Lark was the base trim level and was powered by the L-head four-cylinder engine. The two-door Lark was priced at $,1500 and the four-door version was $1,580. The intermediate trim level was the Falcon with the two-door sedan price priced at $1,640 and the four-door sedan at $1,700. The Aero Ace was also a two- and four-door sedan variant with prices higher than the Aero Lark and Aero Falcon, with the 2-door at $1,800 and the four-door sedan at $1,870.
Production
Compared to the 'Big Three' (Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford), sales were very limited. The Aero Lark Deluxe four-door sedan had 7,691 sales and the two-door sedan had 8,205 sales. The Aero Falcon Super Deluxe was the least popular of the series, with 3,116 sales of the four-door sedan and 3,054 of the two-door sedan. Sales of the Aero Ace Custom were respectable with 7,475 of the four-door sedan and 4,958 of the two-door sedan. Seven thousand eighteen examples of the Aero Eagle two-door hardtop sedan were built.
Engines
The 134.2 cubic-inch F-head four-cylinder engine had exhaust valves in the engine block and intake valves in the cylinder head. It had solid valve lifters, three main bearings, a Carter single-barrel carburetor, 7.4:1 compression, and delivered 72 horsepower at 4,000 RPM.
The 161.1 cubic-inch L-head inline six had four main bearings, solid valve lifters, and a Carter single-barrel carburetor and produced 75 horsepower at 4,000 RPM. This engine was the standard unit powering the Aero Lark.
The 161.1 cubic-inch F-head inline 6 had 7.6:1 compression, four main bearings, solid valve lifters, a Carter single-barrel carburetor, and produced 90 horsepower at 4,400 RPM. This engine was used to power the Aero Ace and Aero Eagle.
1954 Willys Aero
The Willys Aero was offered as the Lark, Ace and Eagle for 1954. Styling updates included a wraparound one-piece windshield, new instrument panels, different bumper guards, larger taillights, 'hooded' headlight, and parking light bezels.
The model was discontinued after 1955. Production restarted in Brazil in 1960.
by Dan Vaughan