Willys-Overland’s last real passenger car, the Aero Willys, was less than a success for the Toledo automaker, but it did foreshadow America’s compact car movement of 1960.

Throughout World War II and into the postwar era, Willys-Overland survived, and even thrived, on the popularity of the Jeep and its endless proliferation of civilian variants, including the Jeepster, Jeep Station Wagon, and Jeep pickup. But meanwhile,  the Toledo automaker’s small but loyal dealer network continued to clamor for a conventional sedan to fill out the product line and lure buyers into the showrooms.

Ward Canaday, above, the company’s famously tight-fisted president and chairman, long resisted these calls for a Willys passenger car. The Jeep-based vehicles were plain but popular, and better yet, they didn’t require elaborate sheet-metal tooling and annual model changes like the passenger models. The long-struggling automaker had managed to survive into the 1950s by dodging such head-to-head battles against the Detroit automakers with their vast economies of scale. But ultimately, Canaday relented to the pressure from the retailers and shareholders, and Willys-Overland re-entered the passenger car market in 1952 with a compact sedan, the Aero Willys.

It’s interesting to note that two key men at Willys responsible for the Aero, Clyde Paton and Phillip Wright, were both veterans of the Detroit industry’s classic era. Paton was an accomplished engineer at Packard while Wright was a successful stylist for Murphy, Briggs, and others, and like many in the industry, they believed the postwar economy would bring strong demand for smaller, more efficient cars. For Road & Track magazine, Wright had authored a think piece entitled “A Model A for Today.”

The package they developed used a unitized body/frame shell manufactured by Murray Body in Detroit—fairly advanced for the early ’50s—with the engine and drivetrain isolated from the body with a novel system of rubber bushings. Wheelbase was 108 inches and the engine was the familiar Willys L-head 161 CID six for the junior models, with the upgraded 161 CID F-head six on the deluxe models.

Formally announced to the public on January 18, 1952, the Aero Willys line consisted of four models the first year, from bottom to top: Lark, Wing, Ace, and Eagle. For ’53, the Falcon replaced the Wing and a pillarless hardtop version of the Eagle appeared. With its light weight and modest proportions the Aero was a nimble performer, and its fans included Road & Track editor John Bond and Indy 500 winner Wilbur Shaw. In 1953, Willys-Overland was acquired by Kaiser Motors to become Willys Motors. The Kaiser 226 CID six became available in the Aero, and the General Motors Hydra-Matic was an extra-cost option.

For 1955, the Aero Willys name (sometimes rendered in the reverse in company materials, as Willys Aero) all but disappeared and the two remaining models, a hardtop and a sedan, were marketed as the Willys Bermuda (below) and Willys Custom, respectively. By then, sales had slowed to a trickle, around 6,000 units, and ’55 would be the last year for Willys in the passenger car business. With its low production volume the company could not compete, in price or features, with Detroit’s low-priced three, and it was barely a threat to the leader of the small car category at the time, the Nash Rambler. (See our feature on the Rambler here.) From then on, Willys stuck to its successful Jeep business.

While the Aero was not a success, we have to note that in weight, length, wheelbase,its  output, and other key measures, the product was a close fit for the Motor City’s compact class that appeared in 1960—especially the Ford Falcon. And while ’55 was the final year for the Aero in the USA, the design and tooling were sent on to Brazil. There the Aero enjoyed a second and more successful career from 1960-1971, received a remarkable reskinning by Brooks Stevens, and was even manufactured by Ford for a time. But that’s another story or two.