AWESOME WILLY Turtle’s

Like a dream hot rod straight out of American Graffiti, this awesome build screams the early era of home built drag cars cruising the streets and looking for trouble! In my opinion, this is such a cool shape and I love it!

You either hate this model or you love it, but it gets in your face with that huge aerodynamic bonnet pointing at you saying “want an automobile race”. It just can’t help itself but look like a drag car, which is bound to be why a heap of them ended up on the drag strips back in the day. With huge tyres jammed in under the extra wide rear guards and a set of skinnies up front, they looked totally at home with that nose in the air and smoke rolling off the tyres. When Craig first hit me up to photograph his Willy, my first thought was, I better grab the wide lens for this job! (ohhh I know, but he’ll buy me a beer for that!) I’ve always fancied one of these Willy’s, and like Craig we probably got bitten by the bug as kids watching old hot rod movies. Craig’s search to find one of these rear bodies was getting pretty hard so the decision was made to build his own and what an awesome call that was. After finding a body in Palmy, the mission began building everything into and around it. A roll cage was snuck into the interior along with a heap of custom fabrication to build the massive stereo in behind the seats and roll the centre console up to the dash to install the necessary switch gear and stereo head unit! Being a full build like this, the bonus is, you can do pretty much what ever you like as far as custom bits go. If you get the chance to check out underneath this thing, you’ll see it’s pretty staunch with all the stability and strength that’s been built into hanging onto that 9” diff! It’s bound to need it too, as up front the tricked up Big Block 454 Chevy is bound to shove some twisting down the line!

What else are you into Craig? Hot Rods, Fishing, keeping fit, socialising and having fun

So how long have you owned the car? 5-6 years

Where did you find it, import or around NZ? Bought the body from Palmy and the rest we made up.

What made you pick this car? Always wanted a 1941 Willys Coupe

What would be your favourite car to have? A steel bodied 1941 Willys coupe

What car would you like to test drive? Lambo

Any other cool cars in the shed? 1923 T Bucket, running a 355 chev which I have owned for about 20 years

What other cool cars have you owned? 1934 Ford 3 window coupe with a 383 Chevy, 1932 Ford 5 window with a 302 Winsor and a 1932 3 window coupe with a 302 Cleveland

Any you wish you still owned? Yeah the 1934 coupe, lots of fun times in that car.

What cars are on the wish list? Maybe a Mopar

Favourite style of car: Coupe

What do you love about the car scene the most? Going to different events and catching up with people and the socialising over a few Bourbons

Favourite car movie? American Graffiti

So what’s on the stereo right now? Green Day

Favourite band / singer to go cruising with on the stereo? Something loud

Are you involved in any car clubs ? Sopranos Hot Rod Club which is based in Palmy North.

How long was the build time for this project? 4 years, It was just a body with a few parts

Anyone you would you like to thank for helping with the car? Shane “Chucky” from Tauranga Sandblasters, Steve Forest from Exil Speed and Customs for the awesome body work and custom paint job, Reece, John Ellis, Pom, Ted, Jodie, Frog, Ma & Pa Griffin, Ryan, Pete, friends and family and also Denys Taylor for sticking with me through some stressful times