Saddle Tramp
Moderator
I was lucky enough to go to the Mecum Auction on Kissimmee and found this little beauty waiting for the next day's auction.
An old Wyllis pickup! I've only seen these on Northern Exposure and Mountain Men. It was great to see one in the metal. I did the slow walk around. All the panels looked straight, no rust from what I could see underneath. No bubbles in the paint. The bed was definitely single wall construction, but that metal was thick compared to today's stuff. The interior was every bit as nice with clean instrumentation and reupholstered bench seat. This truck was clean! Right down to the 4 pot in the engine bay.
I walked around again thinking of the usual things: Payload, tow ratings, does it have A/C when a man rolled up in a golf cart.
"That's a nice one." He said, nodding to the truck. "I've got four of them. Two pickups and two Jeeps."
"That's impressive." I replied.
He continued on, "I plan on bidding on that one even though it's not right."
"It isn't?"
"See that grille?" He pointed, "It's the wrong one. That's a late 40's Wyllis and they came with the flat grille, not the pointed."
"Ah."
"The engine's newer too." He continued. "That's the Hurricane in it. Good for 45 miles per hour. The original was only good for 35."
That stopped me hard. Here I was thinking that maybe this could be a future replacement for my current pickup and I fell for the most basic of mistakes. I thought that this 40's pickup would be able to keep up with today's traffic. That it wasn't really any different than a pickup from the 70's or a compact pickup from the early 80's. Boy was I wrong!
"It's got the better brakes though." The man said, breaking my thoughts. "Ten inch drums. The original had six."
"Wow! That could be so bad!" I thought before immediately reminding myself. 45 miles per hour. For that probably ok.
We talked a little more. I found out he called himself, "Mad Max" and that he had worked for Bendix back in the late 40's for $6.00 (I'm guessing per hour.) It was a fun talk about the usual things. I wished him luck on his bidding and moved on to the next pickup I was curious about.
The lesson I learned is to really check into something if I'm going to use as a daily. I may not like all the new tech out there in modern pickups but you can go too far the other way.
Still would've loved to know what that payload was on that Wyllis.
An old Wyllis pickup! I've only seen these on Northern Exposure and Mountain Men. It was great to see one in the metal. I did the slow walk around. All the panels looked straight, no rust from what I could see underneath. No bubbles in the paint. The bed was definitely single wall construction, but that metal was thick compared to today's stuff. The interior was every bit as nice with clean instrumentation and reupholstered bench seat. This truck was clean! Right down to the 4 pot in the engine bay.
I walked around again thinking of the usual things: Payload, tow ratings, does it have A/C when a man rolled up in a golf cart.
"That's a nice one." He said, nodding to the truck. "I've got four of them. Two pickups and two Jeeps."
"That's impressive." I replied.
He continued on, "I plan on bidding on that one even though it's not right."
"It isn't?"
"See that grille?" He pointed, "It's the wrong one. That's a late 40's Wyllis and they came with the flat grille, not the pointed."
"Ah."
"The engine's newer too." He continued. "That's the Hurricane in it. Good for 45 miles per hour. The original was only good for 35."
That stopped me hard. Here I was thinking that maybe this could be a future replacement for my current pickup and I fell for the most basic of mistakes. I thought that this 40's pickup would be able to keep up with today's traffic. That it wasn't really any different than a pickup from the 70's or a compact pickup from the early 80's. Boy was I wrong!
"It's got the better brakes though." The man said, breaking my thoughts. "Ten inch drums. The original had six."
"Wow! That could be so bad!" I thought before immediately reminding myself. 45 miles per hour. For that probably ok.
We talked a little more. I found out he called himself, "Mad Max" and that he had worked for Bendix back in the late 40's for $6.00 (I'm guessing per hour.) It was a fun talk about the usual things. I wished him luck on his bidding and moved on to the next pickup I was curious about.
The lesson I learned is to really check into something if I'm going to use as a daily. I may not like all the new tech out there in modern pickups but you can go too far the other way.
Still would've loved to know what that payload was on that Wyllis.
