Boise is home to more than its fair share of orphan/forgotten makes; I've posted a number of cars this week I would be hard-pressed to find back home, and this classic pickup truck is no different. Rewind the clock to the mid-1950s, and the pickup truck landscape was a whole nother ballgame; forget Nissan Titans battling it out with Dodge Rams for 3rd place sales. In this era, the big players were the traditional Chevy/GMC duo, Ford, and Dodge fought with quite a few forgotten makes for its share of the truck pie. One of these makes was Willys.
I've posted a couple Willys wagons on here, but I can't recall ever seeing a pickup truck back home; I seem to recall seeing one but that was before I took shooting seriously. Shame, because I haven't seen it since. Out in Idaho, however, trucks like this aren't exactly uncommon. Sure, they might be less common than a comparable Ford F-Series, but they're more common than a same-vintage Chevy 3000-series or even a Cameo. Because facelifts were few, I have a hard time dating this particular truck. I do know from research that since this example has three horizontal bars instead of five, that it is a post-1953 model. I'm guessing from the bed and rear shot of the cab that is likely a pre-1960 model, as later trucks had slightly bigger rear glass. Either way, this is an awesome find!
What I don't quite know is what engine it has in it. I'm guessing it probably has a V8, considering it started life as a construction vehicle as evidenced by the doors. Living a life destined for work from the beginning, I'm amazed that it hasn't been beat to death yet. To me, this Willys sure says they don't build 'em like they used to.
I have always been drawn to less common vehicles, and this pickup certainly fits the bill. Normally, I'd be crying "shame, shame" upon seeing its condition, but honestly, this Willys doesn't bother me as much as it probably should; at least it's still being used as a pickup, and still being driven among the modern traffic in its homeland.
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