John Willys

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
John North Willys
United States Ambassador to Poland
In office
May 24, 1930 – May 30, 1932
PresidentHerbert Hoover
Preceded byJohn B. Stetson Jr.
Succeeded byF. Lammot Belin
Personal details
Born(1873-10-25)October 25, 1873
Canandaigua, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 26, 1935(1935-08-26) (aged 61)
The Bronx, New York, U.S.

John North Willys (

Willys-Overland Motors, became the second largest carmaker in the United States after Henry Ford
.

Early life

Born in

Canandaigua, New York, Willys began selling bicycles
in his hometown and within a few years, expanded into manufacturing his own line of bicycles.

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.

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.

Labor difficulties began to emerge at the Willys-Overland Toledo plant that resulted in a violent strike in 1919, shutting down the plant for several months. Willys hired

to run the Willys-Overland operation at the then astonishing salary of $1 million a year. However, Chrysler tried to oust John Willys with an attempted takeover bid that backfired when the shareholders resisted his move and Chrysler left in 1921 to go into business for himself.

Although very profitable, Willys' businesses were highly leveraged, expanded and/or acquired through massive borrowings. In 1921, Willys' nervous bankers forced him to consolidate in order to limit their exposure. To raise cash for debt reduction, the Willys-Overland plant in New Jersey was sold at auction to

Cleveland, Ohio that made a line of luxury vehicles. In 1926 Willys introduced the "Whippet" model line that sold in the U.S., Canada, and Australia
.

The Great Depression of the 1930s saw numerous carmakers go out of business, and the Willys enterprises went into bankruptcy reorganization in 1933.

In 2008, Willys was posthumously inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.[2]

Personal life

United States Ambassador to Poland
, serving until May 1932.

Willys and his wife had at least one daughter, Virginia, who married a rancher, Luis Marcelino de Aguirre, in 1929 when she was 18.[3]

The following year, John Willys and his wife of thirty-seven years divorced. He soon remarried.

Death

He died on August 26, 1935, of a

The Bronx, New York City.[4] He was interred in the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York
.

References

  1. ^ a b "» John N. Willys | Automotive Hall of Fame". www.automotivehalloffame.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Auto pioneer Willys in industry hall of fame". The Blade. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. ^ "U.S. Heiress Weds". The Daily Herald. 27 May 1929. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. ^ "J. N. Willys Dies. Automobile Maker. Pioneer in Industry Started Career in 1907 in Ohio on $7,500 He Borrowed". The New York Times. August 26, 1935. Retrieved March 16, 2016.

Further reading

Diplomatic posts
Preceded byas Minister
United States Ambassador to Poland

1930–1932
Succeeded by
Ferdinand Lammot "Mot" Belin