From 1912-18, Willys was the 2nd-biggest American automobile maker.
Ford was 1st, the bastards.
Willys-Overland is the company that eventually brought us the Jeep.
Let’s take the 1920 Overland 4 for a spin.
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The Torino was an upscale variation of the Ford Fairlane, eventually replacing it. Sorry, Andrew Dice Clay.
The car was named after Turin, the home of a certain shroud.
You might notice some shared DNA with a certain ’73 Ford Falcon used in a dusty Australian movie.
And don’t forget about The Striped Tomato.
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Bone shards:
Street cred? This car had it.
Oldsmobile’s Rocket engine was kind of a big deal.
The voice of Rocket in the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy movies is Bradley Cooper.
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Speaking of the Wagon Queen Family Truckster…
Tilt steering is a comfort option? A decade earlier, it was a luxury option.
The Wagoneer is coming back… maybe.
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According to this ad, Packard had a Board of Color who would decide on the car color schemes. Just imagine the fights.
Some quasi-random knowledge:
Having your car the same colors as a harlequin macaw would certainly get noticed.
Macaws can live for 50-100 years.
In 1930 (three years after this ad), the average life of a new car was 6.75 years.
The average lifespan of a modern car is not quite 12 years.
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Something for the auto buffs: Why Packard Died
Want a Packard of your very own? Looks like a 1929 Packard 645 Deluxe Eight goes for an average of $212,926 these days. What a bargain!
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Q: Where do Volkswagens go when they get old?
A: The Old Volks home.
I’m so sorry.
Not-really-fun fact: The Volkswagen Beetle was originally named the Volkswagen Type 1 and marketed as the Volkswagen.
More VW Beetle trivia here via Mental Floss.
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Behold, the American Motors Gremlin.
Fun Facts:
Its sales brochure called it “the first American-built import”.
It was marketed as “cute and different”.
Both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush once owned and drove Gremlins.
In 2007, Time magazine included it in its list of “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time”.
In 2020, Automobile magazine gave it a good review, but still called it “one of history’s dorkiest cars”.
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Fun facts:
Plymouth paid Warner Bros. fifty grand to use the Road Runner name and likeness.
Hatched in 1968, the Plymouth Road Runner wasn’t discontinued until 1980.
And yes, Plymouth had a special beep-beep horn for it, developed by the Sparton Corporation of Jackson, Michigan. Hear it here.
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