Street Friendly former race car! All Steel Willys Gasser! 355 CID V8, 5-speed!

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This is a real deal ALL STEEL 1940 Willys Gasser with a great history to tell! It lived its life as a racecar, but is now a very street friendly cruiser that can be driven and enjoyed. It still packs a punch with a 355 cubic inch Chevrolet V8 engine topped with aluminum heads, dual Holley 4-barrel carburetors, and a Weiand 6-71 blower. The blower is underdriven to keep this car street friendly, and it runs on 96 octane pump gas.
That powerplant is backed by a Tremec 5-speed manual transmission which puts the power to the ground through a stout Ford 9” rear end. The prior racing 5.31 gears have been swapped for a 4.11 limited slip setup. Again, all done to make this car very drivable. A new 3-core aluminum radiator has been installed with an inverted fan to keep the engine nice and cool as you cruise to the local car show or cruise night. The current owner stores it in a climate-controlled garage and drives it to local car shows in nice weather. This Willys draws a crowd everywhere it goes with people recalling tales of seeing it race, and others just wondering if they are seeing a real steel Willys! It is an impressive specimen in so many ways and is ready to make the new owner proud to show it off. Or it would make a great addition to any racing museum!
The current owner has also installed new wiring with headlights and turn signals to make it street legal. This is the same car that Jim Wilkens popped wheelies with while running down the track, but is enjoying a new lease on life as a show car. This car has so much history, which will be passed on to the next owner. It also features signatures of racing legends on the firewall, including “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and K.S. Pittman! The photo in our set with specs on the car were from when the car was being raced by Jim Wilkens as “The Handshaker” and are not the setup the car runs today. Slide into the interior with black vinyl bucket seats, a Hurst shifter, boost gauge, and old school tachometer and you will feel like you're ready to hit the track! But this retired racecar is happy to cruise all day while still providing you that great feeling of grabbing gears and chirping tires.
Cragar wheels are always a hit and look great next to the Black and Brown color scheme and hand painted graphics by Brush Works. Those graphics and lettering including “Thanx To” Mark Smith for the chassis, Dale Conrad for the body, “Big Al” Waugh, Johnny “Buz” Mays, “Danger” Dave Anglin, “Lil Wes”, and Karl “Mr. Goose” as the “Wrench”, or mechanics that worked on this car. The other side says “Jim Wilkens Paint and Body” and a small “Hi Mom!” This car was obviously a fun build and the people involved enjoyed themselves. That humor is carried into the interior, where the dash is painted with “First Gear, Fan On, Kick ass!”, and that it did. The note from former owner and racer Jim Wilkens tells how he drove this car to 126 miles per hour in the quarter mile! Imagine sitting at the line, the engine roaring at 2,400 RPMs, releasing the line-lock and taking off! Making shifts at 7,000 RPMs through the gear range and crossing the finish line at 126 miles per hour! What a ride and what a story to tell everyone at car shows that asks about your new 1940 Willys coupe! Give us a call now to make this piece of history part of your collection!
This vehicle is available to view by appointment only. Please call the office to make an appointment. For additional information on this and our other classic and collectible cars for sale, please visit www.Survivor-Cars.com. For assistance, please call the office at 941-845-4461, text our cell phones at 813-358-8830, or email us at info@Survivor-Cars.com. If you are unable to come view the vehicle for yourself, we highly recommend you send in a third-party inspector on your behalf. We are located between Tampa and Sarasota. We are 90 minutes from Orlando and Fort Myers. *Potential purchaser understands it is their responsibility to verify condition and accuracy of information when purchasing from Survivor Classic Cars. It is the sole responsibility of the potential purchaser to inspect the vehicle, or have a third-party inspection performed on the vehicle before purchasing. The potential purchaser is relying solely on their own knowledge and judgement about any vehicle purchased.