While researching around the web, books, auctions, and for sale ads, one thing I have learned when it comes to Willys wagons & trucks is that the words "never" and "always" do not apply. I've been a car guy my whole life and I have never seen a brand of vehicle so routinely misidentified as to year produced. In my search for the perfect (for me) wagon I've stumbled onto and passed over more model year misidentified, wrongly titled, and cobbled together wagons than I would ever have believed could exist. The confusing factory serial number sequences as well as the original dealers tagging them as whatever year they were sold versus the actual production year has not been helpful either. When you figure in folks just innocently swapping parts around to keep an old dog running and then throw in a few malicious thieves from time to time the problem gets exponentially worse. This info isn't meant to be the end all but I thought it might be helpful to somebody trying to get started in this stuff like me.
I should mention up front that this is predominantly wagon related with some truck facts thrown in as that's where my interests lay. I can't tell you much about Army Jeeps, Jeepsters, or FC's. A lot of the credit for this info has to go to a fella named Rick Grover who posted it on a website I can no longer find. I have however been making ongoing changes to his work and adding to this list as I have been able to develop additional information here and there. Also, this is nowhere near complete. I have not gone down the rabbit hole of engines, axles, and gear ratios etc. Even within the presented info here there are still a few areas I have questions about that maybe we can put our heads together and figure out and of course, if you see something here that is incorrect, pipe up. There is no point in spreading incorrect information as fact. So...
Grill - From 1946 until 1949 the grill was relatively flat. In April 1950 it changed to a sharper peak in the center.
Grill bars - Before 1950 there were no horizontal bars on the grills.
From 1950 to 1953 there were five horizontal bars with chrome ones on some vehicles.
In 1954 the number of bars was reduced to three counting the horizontal ribs forming the top and bottom of the grill.
In 1956 the three bars were not evenly spaced, but had one at the top, one at the bottom and one between but near the top.
After 56, the grill returned to the same configuration as before 1956, three bars.
Hood - From 1946 until 1949 the hood had a rib along its centerline, but no hood ornament.
In 1950 the rib was replace by a hood ornament.
Front fenders - From 1946 until 1949 the front fenders were flat on top and flat on the front.
In 1950 they changed to have a slightly rounded top and a peak at the front.
Bumpers - The trucks had a plain curved front bumper, sometimes painted and sometimes chromed.
Wagons sometimes had the plain bumper and sometimes had loops across the top. The loops were optional.
I don't know when the loops first appeared, but they may have been discontinued after a few years, as I haven't
seen any loops in later years.
Wing windows - Very early wagons (1946-?) had fixed (non opening) wing windows in the doors..
Pickup Rear Window - From 1947 until 1953 the pickups had a small rear window. In 1954 the rear window got larger.
Steps on - Behind the cab, in front of the rear fenders, the pickup beds had steps from 1947 until 1949.
pickups
Windshield - The early years had two piece windshields. In 1959, Willys came out with a special "Maverick" model which had a
one piece windshield and the roof was flattened slightly to fit. (First appearance of the ribbed roof?)
All (most?) wagons and pickup trucks went to the one piece windshield in the middle of the next year.
There are some 1960 Willys with two-piece windshields and some with one-piece.
All vehicles produced in 1961 and later have the one piece windshield.
Gauges - From 1946 until 1949 the gauges were housed in the rectangular style cluster.
From 1950 (1950 1/2?) onward the speedometers were the smaller round ones with the 4 small rectangular gauges across
the bottom. Of this type there were two different fonts used in the lettering.
The first was from 1950 1/2 thru 1951/52 and used a speedometer that went to 8.
From some time in late 1951 or early 1952 the speedometer used now went to 9 and the characters used in the font were
changed to something that looks a bit bolder.
In late 1956 the large round speedometer with the other gauges incorporated into it was introduced. From what I can tell
the font on the 1956 speedometer was used one year only. In 1957 the font changed for (I think) the final time and was used
until the end of production in 1964. Also of note is that the introduction of the large speedometer also coincided with the
"fresh air" hole being added to the grill under the passenger side running lamp. This connected to the fresh air hose which
terminated onto the heater assembly on the passenger side firewall. This feature remained until the end of production.
Battery Location- It appears that 1955 was the year that the battery was moved from the passenger side firewall to the driver side.
Pickup tailgates - From 1946 until 1953 these vehicles were produce by Willys Overland Motor Company, and the pickups had the WO logo
stamped in the center of the tailgate.
In 1953 Kaiser purchased the company and it became the Willys Motor Company division of Kaiser. The WO logo was
abandoned, and pickup trucks had "WILLYS" stenciled in the center and "4 Wheel Drive" at the right side (on trucks of that
type). The "WILLYS" was replaced by "Jeep" later. Not sure of the exact year, but a 1960 owner's manual shows "Jeep".
Wagon Taillights - From 1946 until 1951 a single taillight was mounted on driver side of tailgate. 1952 replaced with 2 flush mounted lights.
Drivetrain - While I have seen that 4 wheel drive was first introduced on the wagons on Sept.1, 1949, there are several other features that I have wondered about:
Voltage - When were 12 Volt Charging Systems introduced in the Wagons and trucks? I have seen original 1956 & 1957 wagons that still had the 6 volt setup.
Roof - I believe the Mavericks got the first Ribbed Roofs but how about the regular wagons. 1959? 1960?
Windshield glass - It does appear that when the one piece windshields were introduced, Willys also included the upper hatch on the wagons with the one large window.
Door latches - Push Button inner door latch: Update: Looks to be 1946 to 1951.
Feel free to add your thoughts.
Does anyone know when Willy’s went to this configuration on the pick up for the parking light?