1953 Willys Hardtop - Aero Eagle

It's been more than almost two decades since Hot Rod magazine first proclaimed the "Dare To Be Different" mantra, provoking rodders to break the mold of conformity and branch out into other varied types of body styles. Greg Mullins, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, could be a poster child for the "different" crowd, as the rod parked in his garage only confuses most folks who try to guess its make.

Greg has gotten everything from "Is it a Henry J?" and, even more so, "I've never seen one of them before." That's because the object of their gaze is a Willys. But where most rodders are familiar with the '40 coupe (forever immortalized in the Gasser wars of the '60s) or the little 1933 Model 77 Willys, most folks really haven't seen a '53 Willys Aero Eagle.

Willys, which came out of the Second World War producing utilitarian Jeeps in different forms, broke with their own tradition in '52 and created their first non-Jeep model with the introduction of the Aero Willys. Looking like a cross between a three-quarter-scale Merc and a Cadillac, the Aero in '53 could be had in two- and four-door Aero Larks, the four-door Aero Falcons, the Aero Ace (which included a two-door hardtop version), and the Aero Eagle, which was a two-door hardtop. Willys continued with their Jeep wagons in '53, but the Aero line became the Bermuda line of vehicles in '55-the same year Willys, which by that time was owned by Kaiser, stopped building cars other than their line of Jeeps.

Rare even in their day (one website claims about 7,000 '53 Aero Eagles were built in total), they are very rare nowadays (the same site says only 750 exist today). The first time Greg had seen one was at a car show held in a park in his hometown. It was for sale, and it already had a crowd of people around it. Its owner, Sam Humston, was also the builder, and Greg checked out the vehicle and noted that most of the frame and metalwork had already been completed (and done well, he adds), and the engine and rear end were practically new.

But the exterior of the car was a different story, as the paint was pretty old (though there wasn't much rust), and all of the trim and glass needed replacing. In general, Greg liked the stance Sam had set the car up with and knew he could probably finish it up nicely, but he needed to either sell or trade his '36 Ford first. Greg asked Sam about a trade, but it seemed Sam was looking for cash and not another project, so by the end of the day, Greg was told by Sam he'd found a buyer and the car was no longer up for sale.

It took about a week for Greg to sell his '36 and, with a wad of cash in his pocket and an empty garage, Greg decided to take in another car show a few weeks later and see what might be available. As it turned out, the Willys was at the show, so Greg decided to find out who bought it, and was surprised to see Sam driving it-the deal had fallen through. Greg went for a test drive with Sam and the car ran great, but he still wasn't sure about buying it. He left the show early to attend a monster truck rally with his son, but he couldn't stop thinking about the Willys. It eventually became too much for him, and he called a friend who was still at the rod show to see if Sam and the car were still there and, if so, to put a deposit down for him. It was, and he did, and soon the Aero Willys was living in the Mullins family garage.

Greg began to go through the car, changing what he needed and leaving much of the previous work intact. The original chassis had been built with unibody construction, but Sam built his own 2x4 box-tube frame set up with a wheelbase of 108 inches for this car. A Ford 9-inch (3.23:1) and a leaf spring suspension went in out back, while up front a homebuilt IFS system using tubular Mustang II A arms, dropped spindles, and 11-inch disc brakes was used.

American Racing 15x9 and 15x6 Torq-Thrust wheels, wrapped in 165-15 and 235/60-15 rubber, are found on the corners, and the power to get them to roll comes from a 1969 small-block Chevy that Sam assembled and installed along with a TH350 trans. The engine, which Greg says gets 20 miles to the gallon, is cooled by an AFCO aluminum radiator. Other than the Taylor wires and the chrome Tuff Stuff alternator and water pump, it's pretty stock, right down to the cast-iron heads and exhaust manifolds.

Greg stripped the car to bare metal and removed the glass before turning Junior Evans loose on the bodywork, which included welding up all of the seams, relocating the gas filler door, and filling up the speaker hole and ashtray on the dash, too. Greg painted the car himself, and he used a black PPG hue below while the top was done in silver. Mullins also polished all of the stainless trim, but left the chroming of the bumper to the pros at Highline Plating. Macy's Street Rod Glass replaced all the window glass in the car and added new weather stripping and power windows before the car was turned over to Clinton Stratton, who did the final buffing on the paint.

Inside the car, '85 Mustang bucket seats were installed, but the rear bench was left stock, though everything was covered by Gene Wright in charcoal Allante (a soft-touch vinyl) with black carbon fiber inserts. An '85 Chevy van tilt column went in, too, as did a billet aluminum steering wheel. Greg now gets his cooled air from a Southern Air A/C system, and his tunes from a Clarion head unit utilizing Fosgate amps and speakers. The original single gauge, mounted forward of the steering wheel, still works and looks good in its stock location.

Though the 47-year-old Greg is a realist and says "everything is for sale," he doesn't believe he'll be parting ways with this honey anytime soon. He really enjoys driving it around town and just last year, though he wasn't allowed into the fairgrounds due to the year of the vehicle, he parked right outside the entrance to the national street rod show in Louisville and got thousands to check out his ride, many of whom didn't know what it was. But if it's one thing he's learned it's that if you're going to dare to be different, then you have got to believe you're gonna have to answer a lot of questions!