Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => Willys Forum => Topic started by: Gordie on October 29, 2014, 11:36:21 PM
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Did Brazil get the dies for the Eagle hard top coupes that we had in the U.S.? I only recollect seeing four doors and not even two door sedans but lots of Jeeps, wagons and pick-ups as well as later models that we did not have. Is there a history of Brazilian Willys car and truck production? I have a few catalogs and they show Willys and Renault Dauphines going down the assembly line together and the Aeros appear to have red leather like interiors. In 1962 there was an interesting Willys Interlagos coupe and convertible produced with four different 4 cyl. engines from 40 to 70 CV. At least some of the Aeros had two tone colors and the color chips do not match the U.S. 1955 colors but the Brazilian production didn't seem to start until the early sixties.
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I have a couple Brazilian books on the Aero. They're in Portuguese, I can only read a few words but there's a good number of photos. All the cars shown are 4 door models from the beginning to the end of production. The '60 & '61 models seem to be US clones. The '62 is listed as having modifications but I can't read what they are. It still looks pretty much like a '55. In '63 they started modifying exterior sheetmetal. There were a number of modifications on the F-head engine which seems to be the only engine they used, even after Ford bought them out. Ford also put the F-head in the Brazilian Maverick for a while.
Sometimes these books will turn up on ebay. http://lista.mercadolivre.com.br/livro-de-willys-aero
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Many thanks! I will try to get some of them. I can't figure out what the Brazilian sales catalogs say either!
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If you want to search and read Brazilian sites, you can copy & paste the Portuguese text on the web pages into an online translator to read it in English. Here's my favorite translator: http://www.bing.com/translator/
There's a Willys club in Brazil although I've never gotten anyone to respond to my emails. Interesting links to Aero & motor history on the left side of the page.
A word of caution, the site seems "buggy" to me right now, I wouldn't go there unless you have up to date anti-virus. http://www.angelfire.com/wi/willys/
Interesting engine history on this link, especially the bolt on intake manifold version of the F-head: http://campi4x4.blogspot.com/2011/01/diferencas-entre-willys-bf-161-2600cc.html
And a couple of fun links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCeA4GBMgNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsOdLKXRx8
Something you can see in the last link, and I've noticed about all the other Brazilian Aero's I've seen is that there's no heater box, instead another fresh air intake is fitted at that position.
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Only the 4-door sedan tooling went to Brazil just as only the 4-door sedan tooling for the Kaisers went to Argentina. 2-door tooling was scrapped (hardtop and sedan for Willys, sedan for Kaisers) along with the tooling for the Henry J (which could have as much as 150,000 shots or even more per die). Scrapping the tooling took place after a limited number of panels were stamped, trimmed and finished as spare parts.
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There were two books published recently on the Aero in Brazil, co-authored by Jose Penteado Vignoli, a man I've never met but we've corresponded with each other for almost 35 years. He supplied me with the Brazilian production figures many years ago and is one of the leading authorities on the Brazilian Aeros. I have copies of both and, yes, they are written in Portuguese.
Only the 4-doors were built in Brazil, looking exactly like 1955's. 1960's retained the zigzag side moldings and the 1961 and '62's had straight moldings similar to the 1952-1954 Toledo-built Aeros.
The Brazilian Aero club is very active and they have a Facebook page as well.