1955 Willys Pickup - 2005 Top Truck Challenge

Willy Cool
You may remember Camas, Washington, resident Don Brown and his 1955 Willys pickup from our Feb. 2005 cover. This super-cool Willys has been re-engineered from the ground up and has a few tricks up its sleeve since it was featured in Four Wheeler. We'll see if he can pull out a fifth ace when he faces the Tank Trap, mano a mano.

Don's Willys hardly has a stock item left on it. The entire 117-inch-wheelbase frame is completely custom-made, as is the rollcage. In fact, the cage has been flanged, so that the body is removable. The grey-ghost paint job is accented with Viper GTS blue.

You might be surprised to find a Vortec 454ci Marine V-8 under the hood. Dan says it helps him to create more power, and at 392 hp and 447 lb-ft of torque, we'll say he was successful. The big-block exhales through stock manifolds and on through Diamond Eye glasspacks.

The front suspension is of a three-link design and uses King coilovers, which attach to a Dana 60 axle loaded with an ARB Air Locker. A super-trick Full Hydro PSC 2.5-inch double ram with a B&M cooler assists steering.

A Yukon spool locks up the 14-bolt rear axle, which is located by a four-link suspension setup, also using King coilovers. Speedway Engineering antiroll bars help to keep the shiny side up.

Don's interior is as sparse as your neighborhood racecar and features centrally mounted gauges and switches. On the console is an Art Carr shifter that controls the laptop tunable 4L80-E transmission. Other levers select Don's gearing range of choice through the NP205 twin-stick and Klune-V underdrive.