1941 Willys Dream Becomes Reality

Blown 41 Willys Hot Rod

Marty Hacker loved to get out to the track and drag race whenever he got a chance back in the 60’s and 70’s. One thing always caught his eye, the ‘41 Willys. Rat Rodders and drag racers alike have a love for the Willys. It’s one of the most popular street rod designs and probably the most recognized and famous drag/gasser bodies of all time.

The ‘41 Willys was stuck in Marty’s head and he knew some day he’d purchase one. The interesting thing was he just could not seem to find the one he was looking for.

So what do you do? You find one you can purchase and get to work on it to build the look you want.

Marty’s son Mike Hacker started looking for his dad’s dream. One day while scanning racingjunk.com, he located a Willys in Long Island, NY. They contacted the owner of the ‘41 Willys to let him know they were interested… but wouldn’t be able to see it until the following weekend. Wednesday, they called the owner and found out the Willys had been sold. Disappointed, they started their search again. To their surprise, right on Ebay was the same ‘41 Willys for sale in Cape Cod, MA. The guy even used the very same pictures the original owner used! They found out the new owners wife was not very happy with his purchase and was given the option: “Live in it or sell it.” Maybe this was meant to be?!!

Mike knew his dad had wanted a Willys for years so he decided to build him one, the way he’d always wanted it…starting with the Willys they’d just picked up from Ebay.
The mold used to make the body was terrible. Mike was very frustrated and decided the best way to build the dream was to redo the fiberglass. He ended up cutting almost all the seams apart and several months later everything fit together correctly.

The ‘41 Willys sits on an Art Morrison tube chassis with Mike’s adjusted mid section of the frame to accommodate a new straight axle. A 454 Chevy bored out to 468 big block engine with a BDS 8-71 blower was added. A TH400 transmission with a 3600 stall converter and a Ford 9 inch rear with Moser axles and Strange center section with 4.30 gears, Detroit Locker and disc brakes finish off the powertrain. “It is about 550 horsepower, my friends helped me every night till 1am for four weeks to get it together” states Mike.

Mike feels the best part of all the hard work, and of course the most fun, is when you start seeing all the painted and buffed pieces being assembled. It’s amazing to step back at the end of the day to see the car coming together. Mike said, “The best part was when the nose was pinned on, laid down and you were able to see how it looks… like it’s going to jump on you and eat you!”

Mike did all the modifications to the body, the frame and this was the very first car he painted… all completed in a 2 car garage. Mike said, “It took 4 years of nights and weekends, 96 cases of beers and 3 ulcers, to build his father’s dream.” When asked if he had it to do all over again, Mike said, “I should have started from scratch on everything… but live and learn.”

Marty’s really proud of all the hard work Mike put into this project. The Willy’s was recently picked as 1 of 12 top cars at The Wheels of Time Street Rod Jamboree. Coolest thing about that? It doesn’t even have the interior completed yet!!! Mike said, “I was interviewed by Sam Memmolo (the guy from Shade Tree Mechanic and Two Guys Garage) at the show.” Mike states, “The car is a nostalgic gasser, with what I call “modern detail.”

It’s really cool to see how people are drawn to the Willy’s. They walk right up to it and say, “Hey Look! A Willy’s!!” Mike finally revealed, “That’s been me my whole life, and still is!”

Mike and Marty are very happy they have completed most of the dream. Getting the interior completed will most likely lead to other projects to work on in the future. As we know, there is always some type of improvement we’d like to make to our cars.

Story by Dave Semel and pictures by Mike Hacker.

Project 1320 – Capturing Drag Racing’s Storied Past

Keep your eyes and ears open for Project 1320 described in the press release below, you’ll be glad you did.  The project’s goal is simple. Get the facts about the how, why and where drag racing started and how it developed over the years from a first hand perspective of the people who were there. Traci Hrudka is the chairman for this project and comes from a long line of drag racing herself. Traci’s uncle Joe and father Tom Hrudka started the great Mr. Gasket empire. (Click on the picture to see them full size)

Look closely at these pictures taken from Traci’s page at the community she’s making for Project 1320. Notice the “Hrudka Bro’s” and “Mr. Gasket” proudly displayed on the side? Traci worked at the family business for 20 years and in her words, “Boy do I have some stories!” That’s what this project is about. An “oral history” of everyone from the legends like Don Garlits to the no name grassroots fellas (and ladies!) that made drag racing what it is. I can’t wait to hear more about this project and keep you posted along the way.

Project 1320 to chronicle drag racing’s pioneers

Documentaries to provide an oral history of the sport

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Contact: Traci Hrudka
Quarter Mile Entertainment, LLC
Phone: 440.888.0088/Hrudka@sbcglobal.net

Parma Heights, Ohio – Drag racing fans have long had a desire to learn about the birth of the sport from the legends and heroes of the formative years.
To this point, there has been a patchwork of efforts but without an integrated approach to tell the story of how men and women with mechanical talent, fearless determination and skill built the cars and events to capture the glory of being the quickest and the fastest down 1320 feet of asphalt.

The focus of Quarter Mile Entertainment LLC (QME) and its Project 1320 is to capture first person narratives about the life and times of these early heroes…from the period immediately after World War II through to the beginning of the “modern era”. The narratives of the sport’s pioneers will be supported with still images and home movies of the period to deliver the “Who, What, When, Where, Why” of the times.

At the heart of the project is the goal to produce a series of high quality documentary films centering on the individuals, manufacturers, sanctioning bodies and the behind the scenes people…what it took to bring this great sport to its current level. The individuals and manufacturers who will be a part of this series will include many household names but will also include many of the “lesser-knowns” whose contributions have faded in our minds, but who helped launch the sport, nurtured it through its early growth and finally saw it become a major motorsport. The goal is to place the series on a cable network to expose the greatest number of viewers to why and how this sport has grown in popularity.

“Our greatest concern is to capture the stories and personal perspectives of the legends of the sport that are still living,” says Traci Hrudka, chairman of Quarter Mile Entertainment. “We have lost a tremendous number of these people over the years, and time is running out to capture those oral histories in a digital format. If we ever want to do this, now is the time!”

The initial effort will be to provide an overview of the historical perspective of the sport – the key people and moments…the passion and the blood, sweat and tears it took to evolve the sport from a grassroots, never quit, “run whatcha brung” level to the point where corporate America and thousands of racers are involved on a weekly basis. It will also touch on how successful racers became successful business owners, supporting the racers with the products needed to get the finish line quicker and faster.

The blueprint for Project 1320 calls for a breaking down of the sport’s dramatic growth…by decades, the evolution of today’s major classes of competition, plus a look at the growth of the racing parts aftermarket, the influence of automaker participation and the support of corporate America, the historic race tracks and their owners and how the ideas of a small handful of men and women created the sanctioning bodies that have guided the sport.

The early grassroots support of Project 1320 has been amazing, fed by a word of mouth, internet-based network of old racers. A significant number of fans and racers have volunteered their home movies and pictures to this project. These images and movies will be digitized and archived for future use, as well as the first person interviews. The archives will provide much of the resource material for the subsequent project episodes.

Project 1320 will be seeking both corporate and grassroots support to document drag racing’s historic moments and personalities. The “Friends of Project 1320” program will soon be launched to allow individuals to help produce this undertaking, and to build additional support.

The Board of Directors of QME hope the project will generate even more support by fans and racers who uncover their personal archives of yesterday and share it with future generations of fans and racers.

The Board of Directors of Quarter Mile Entertainment LLC consists of: Traci Hrudka (Chairman), Harry Hibler, Don Garlits, Steve Cole and Wayne Wolfe. The Board of Directors is assisted by an Advisory Board of Wally Booth, Darwin Doll, Don Ewald, Carl Olson, Stephen Krystek and Bill Pratt.

NOTE: The Project 1320 website at www.project1320.com. Check it out, sign-up and if it moves you, donate to the cause!

All photos courtesy of Traci Hrudka

“Internet Barn Finds” #2: ’33 Willys Gasser Tribute

“The Gasser Tribute Car was built as a tribute to all the drivers, owners and fans that loved these kinds of cars. It is probably one of the last A Gas Supercharged Olds powered Willys coupes left in the country.” Del Wiesner

The Dean Seevers, Del Wiesner and Harold Owens ’33 Willy’s Olds-powered A-Gas Supercharged Gasser original reigned from Loveland, Colorado and ran at dragstrips across the country from 1962-1966. These 3 Loveland High School grads and car nuts started the first car club in town, the “Loveland Zephyrs” and soon after began racing the Willys.

One highlight for the 3 friends was holding the American Hot Rod Association National Record in 1964 with a 10.00 seconds at 146.86 mph run. The crew raced some of the top names of the day and were very competitive. Del says after working 40 years with his businesses, he never forgot the impact that car had on him. “Once you get that in your blood, it’s hard to let it go. It was the most exciting time of my life, so I decided to rebuild a part of history.”

Do yourself a favor and check out this Gasser Car Tribute website. I struggled to figure out what pictures to share here. You just need to spend 10 minutes on the site and soak in the history Del shares, along with some 40+ year old pictures of the original Willy’s in action.

You can see from this example that the Nostaligia Gassers had a huge impact on both drag racing and the people who built and raced them. A car like this ’33 Willy’s Gasser is the definition of MyRideisMe.

I love these last two pictures of the crew and a couple close friends who acted as pitcrew. Oh, the good old days! I had to post them up. Car nuts enjoying a friendship that originated from a love of the automobile and racing.

Come and share your “Internet Barn Finds” in the forum. Post up those cool Nostalgia Gassers for all to see. Until next time, happy internet hunting…

Hechtspeed