Does the manufacturer Willys still exist?

[methusaleh]

Or has it come back?

Out driving with my wife today and I did a double take when I saw a Willys logo on what (to my untrained eye) appeared to be an ordinary modern Chrysler product Jeep. I thought maybe someone had a decal made as a joke, then my wife said that she saw another one last week on a different color vehicle, so it wasn’t the same one.

Okay, so maybe Willys is back. Not my kind of vehicle so I wouldn’t know. But the military vehicle enthusiast in me had to know!

This article seems like the most complete one I could find when I searched for Willys Jeep history. But it looks like the brand has been long-dead:

Willys Jeep History - Military Jeep Specs and History | Kaiser Willys

Willys Jeep History - Military Jeep Specs and History | Kaiser Willys

www.kaiserwillys.com

So what gives? Is the company back? Did they never die? Or did someone make some decals? I’d think that the Willys purists wouldn’t take kindly to anyone faking the brand name or insinuating that a modern vehicle was made by Willys if it wasn’t. I used to live downstairs from the owner of a 1944 Willys MB, and I used to wrench on it with him, so I know the level of fanaticism.

 

[daves87rs]

Thought it was a special edition from Jeep themselves….

 

[ekrampitzjr]

The company name ran like this: Willys > Kaiser Jeep (1963, end of use of Willys name in US, continued in parts of South America until ~1970) > American Motors purchase (1970) > Chrysler purchase (1987). In theory Stellantis should have rights to the Willys name today, but the plot thickens.

In 2014 Carrozzeria Viotti of Italy supposedly bought the Willys trademark. That was the same year Fiat and Chrysler merged, so maybe some disused names were disposed of then. Supposedly the new owner intends to bring back the Willys name on a new car.

Stellantis still has rights to Nash and Hudson, but some people in the know expect some existing brands to join those dead ones. Those names might become available too.

Edit to add that the Willys name is being used on a special-edition Jeep first introduced in 2020. How this fits with the report about the Italian company buying the trademark seven years ago is beyond me.

 

[oldhp]

Willys is a option build on JEEP Wranglers and Gladiators.

 

[Zaedock]

Willys Overland makes and sells replacement bodies and components (or at least they used to).

I looked at one of their tubs for my CJ5 years ago, but opted to weld the old girl back together with patch panels.

 

[Chris142]

It's a name they put on some new jeeps.