There are iconic cars and then there is the Willys Jeep, a true war veteran, a hero without a cape who served on the battlefield, one of the key points for the American army during World War II. Such was the success of this small but off-road thug that the firm gave life to the C2-JA, the civil variant of the Willys that was built from parts of the models that served in the war and, although its intention was to be a agricultural vehicle, began to swarm the roads. This is not how the unity that concerns us today demonstrates them, a Jeep Willys C2-JA rusted to the extreme but still running like the first day during the tricky but delightful driving experience.
Although the open road is not the ideal terrain for the Willys as my colleague David Artés already showed you in this comparison, we are talking about a car that was designed to duel and overcome any type of terrain, so the asphalt is not a problem for it. And not only is it not a problem for him, but even in the state of the protagonist Willys, that for having it even has holes in the ground because of corrosionmanage to beat it with dignity.
The incredible experience of driving a 1948 Willys Jeep
Despite the fact that the aesthetic state of this Willys is not ideal, on a mechanical level everything seems to be as it should be. At least this is demonstrated when they discover the engine compartment after releasing the two clips responsible for retaining the hood; and it shows it, especially, driving through the busy streets of Los Angeles.
The three-speed gearbox lacks synchronisers, the steering is not power-assisted and there is no windshield.. But we are talking about a pure and hard SUV assembled to duel during the Second World War, so these details are secondary as much as we are dealing with the street variant and as much as there were versions that made it more fit for life. daily.
Be that as it may, this completely rusted Jeep Willys holds its own more than well, even going so far as to taunt a Tesla Model 3 being towed. “There you have the future,” says the driver, referring to the apparently damaged electric saloon, “at least one of the two is working,” he concludes. And it is that if the Jeep Willys knows something, it is to work regardless of the circumstances.
