Captains of Industry (ep47) John North Willys

John North Willys (/ˈwɪlɪs/; October 25, 1873 – August 26, 1935) was an American automotive pioneer and diplomat. His company, Willys-Overland Motors, became the second largest carmaker in the United States after Henry Ford.

Career

Postcard with portrait of John Willys and view of Willys Overland Automobile Plant, 1922
Willys' interest in cars came after an 1899 trip to Cleveland, where he saw an automobile for the first time, and knew they would quickly replace bicycles.[1] Willys returned to New York and opened his first car dealership in Elmira, New York, selling Overland Automobile brand automobiles. After changing the name to the Willys-Overland Motor Company in 1912, the next year John Willys acquired the Edwards Motor Co of New York which gave him a license to manufacture the patented Knight "sleeve valve" engine.

Success saw his car company become the second largest carmaker in the United States and in 1915 he built a seven-story headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, that was the most modern of its day. Before the end of the decade, one-third of the city of Toledo's workforce was employed either at Willys-Overland or at one of the numerous small businesses providing parts and supplies.

His automobile empire offered the consumer the choice of an Overland, Willys or Willys-Knight vehicle, each relative to a specific type of engine or price range.

Through his holding company, in 1918 John Willys acquired the Moline Plow Company of Moline, Illinois, which manufactured the "Universal" brand of farm tractor and a line of Stephens cars.

The following year he acquired control of the Duesenberg company primarily to get his hands on Duesenberg brothers' factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey where he planned to produce a new six-cylinder car.