At Nearly 100, This Willys-Overland Is Still on the Road in Iowa

At Nearly 100, This Willys-Overland Is Still on the Road in Iowa

Bought New in 1920, the Car Has Never Left the Robertson Family

By A.J. Baime in the Wall Street Journal

Harris is a small town in the northwest of Iowa, and it’s not much different today than it was when my grandfather first bought his Willys-Overland Model 4 Sedan. He saw a picture of the car and ordered it for about $900, and it was delivered in pieces on the Rock Island Railroad from the factory in Toledo, Ohio. The local garage put it together.

Since that time, the car has never left the Robertson family, and it’s never left Harris, except to go on a drive to a neighboring town.

At the time, Willys-Overland was a thriving company. Today, the Willys part of it is best known for creating the Jeep for the military. The DNA of today’s Jeep brand can be traced back to the early Willys-Overlands.

When I drive the car between two cornfields, I think, man, this must have looked exactly the same when my grandfather drove this car down the same road almost 100 years ago. It’s as if time has stood still. The roads are gravel now, rather than dirt. And maybe the corn grows a little taller. But other than that, it’s no different.

My son lives in Las Vegas. I would hate to see the car leave the Robertson family, but in a way, it also belongs to the town of Harris. Where we go from here, we’ll have to soon decide.

The entire link with images can be found at:  http://online.wsj.com/articles/at-nearly-100-this-willys-overland-is-still-on-the-road-in-iowa-1416334469