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No car show or event that we attend is without its fair share of amazing classic cars and street rods, and this year’s Goodguys Southwest Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona was certainly not an exception as far as that is concerned. But what we did find at the Southwest Nationals that are becoming increasingly harder and harder to find was a vast array of “home-built” hot rods almost completely built by their everyday owners.
One such vehicle is the 1941 Willys Coupe nicknamed “Plum Peachy” you see here. Owned and subsequently built by William “Mack” Bailey with help from his wife Mary Lynn Owens, this is one car we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to feature!
Background On Bailey’s ’41 Willys
Bailey has been interested in hot rods since he was 14. With three separate mentors, Billie Donn, Tommy Cato, and Richard Jackson, who would take him to the drag races and teach him, Bailey learned fairly early on exactly what he was doing behind the wheel and under the hood of a car. By age 16, Bailey had turned his eye on his dream hot rod–a 1941 Willys Coupe.
By the 1980s, Bailey was building first-generation Corvettes professionally before moving on from the classic car scene in 1988. With an innate enthusiasm for vintage hot rods still in his blood, he turned back to building classics in 2004. Shortly after, he began building his dream car and continues to build cars as his profession to this day.
Bailey would like to thank all three of his mentors for teaching and inspiring him.
“When I was 16-years-old, I saw [the] Stone, Woods, and Cook ’41 Willys,” Bailey told us. “The car was really cool and I wanted one ever since and finally got one. Everyone wanted 1932 roadsters and there are so many of them. I wanted the ’41 Willys Coupe.”
The Building Of Dreams
Once Bailey finally started to build his dream car, he had a plan in place.
“The first thing I did was the frame and suspension, [then the] drivetrain: motor, transmission and rearend,” he explained. “I believe on any hot rod, that is the foundation of where to start.”
How many “home builds” do you know that have just as nice of an undercarriage as the rest of the car? Well this Willys certainly does and it’s even painted to match the car’s body color.
Having boxed the coupe’s frame, Bailey went on to set his Willys up with the perfect cruising suspension that could also be laid out for its best show stance. Up front, the Coupe features a Mustang II front end with a narrowed Strange four-link setup taking up the rear.
Outlaw Performance control arms add to the car’s upgraded handling performance, while Ridetech Shock Wave air shocks not only cushion the car’s ride but also allow for the Willys’s slammed resting stance.
Powering the Willys is a 2005 Chevrolet 502 ci engine, which is fitted with a COMP Cams hydraulic roller camshaft, Crane roller rockers, Edelbrock cylinder heads and a Blower Drive Service (BDS) blower manifold. Supplying the engine with fuel are 16 BDS injectors, while a FAST/MSD ignition system provides the engine with plenty of spark to keep running hot. Topping off the whole system is a FAST 2.0 computer.
There's no classic hot rod better than one with a big-block.
Ridding the engine of any spent fuel are Sanderson ceramic coated headers that dump into a full Stainless Specialties exhaust system, which exits the car just behind the car’s doors.
Behind the engine, the Willys runs a GM Turbo 400 transmission controlled by a Lokar shifter and tied to a Corvette driveshaft painted the Coupe’s Sweet Georgia Peach body color. This is tied to a Ford 9-inch rearend with a centered third member.
With everything from the engine back through the drivetrain being stainless or chrome, the underside of this Coupe is just as nice as the exterior. An added custom belly pan to cover the transmission helps glam up the undercarriage, which is painted to match the Willys’s body color, even more.
Planting the Willys to the ground are 17-inch Budnik wheels wrapped in 215/4ZR17s in the front and Hoosier 31×16-inch 50R17s in the rear, in true gasser style. Stopping the custom Willys are Baer disc brakes with 13-inch rotors in the front and 11-inch rotors in the rear.
Now, no street rod is complete without a killer body and this Willys certainly doesn’t disappoint. Keeping the sides of the Outlaws Performance-sourced Willys smooth and sleek are shaved door handles with remote-controlled door poppers.
You’ll never find another Willys quite like this one, especially with a Peach paint scheme.
Handmade moldings for the rocker panels and side-exit exhaust add even more flair to the side of the coupe while a molded hood and recessed grille (Bailey’s favorite pieces of the build) add custom, yet functional, touches to the Willys’s front end. Out back, custom flush-mounted taillights have been added.
While the coupe is already spectacular in performance and stature, it’s the car’s paint job that puts it over the top.
On the bottom half of the car, you’ll find a unique PPG Sweet Georgia Peach color, while the top half of the car is decked out in PPG Deep Plum Candy. The two colors intertwine in the middle where custom flames lick the sides of the car. You’ll also notice that these same flames can be found painted under the hood as well; just another over-the-top custom touch that makes this coupe one of a kind.
Tied into the flames are custom pinstripes by Eric, which are artfully carried through to the front and rear of the car in the form of embellishments around the headlights and taillights. A plush leather interior with adjustable seats, tilt steering and air conditioning makes this Willys quite the comfortable cruiser.
Up front, the Outlaw Performance dash features a body-matching flame job behind Dolphin gauges while a Vintage Air system keeps the cab of the Willys cool with dash-mounted vents. Custom leather seats by Atkins Interiors fit driver and passenger like a glove while matching the leather-wrapped door panels, custom center console and Budnik steering wheel, which spins atop an Ididit tilt steering column, to a tee.
Out back, the fully finished trunk follows suit with a custom leather finish.
Chrome-plated trim pieces and door seal plates covered by Ogden Chrome add to the luxury of the interior while the remote-controlled doors, windows and trunk add even more class to the car’s stellar custom design.
Could this be the face of a 2015 SEMA Show car? We sure hope so!
Where To Go From Here
Perfectly formed, this custom Willys took Bailey nine years to build like he wanted, having been completed in June of 2014.
“I purchased the Body in 2005 from Outlaw Performance, [then] the car sat for a while,” Bailey told us. “I had to work more and longer to pay for the parts so I could build the car the way I wanted to. Time can slip away when you work hard to pay for everything as you do it.”
“Working for the public, you have to do their work first, so more time goes by,” Bailey continued.
“Finally, time was good. I made the steel work, the moldings, lower panels, paint, and flames–finally, I finished the car!”
The build wasn’t without its struggles, for sure. Bailey admits that he tried paying for some of the work on his car to be done to get it done sooner, but it always ended in disaster. Having to fix everything that was sourced out himself, Bailey eventually chose to complete the car himself, no matter how long it took him to do it.
Since the Coupe’s summer 2014 completion, it’s already won a number of awards, including one for best paint at the Atlantis car show in Reno, Nevada and Best of Show at the Peppermill in Reno. Topping off the awards the car has won was the Home Built Heaven Award from the Goodguys Southwest Nationals this last November.
In the future, Bailey and his wife plan to enjoy the car as much as they can and expect to attend a number of shows with their custom ride next year.
Much thanks goes to Bailey and his wife for sharing their amazing ride with us. Be sure to check out the Rod Authority Gallery below for more photos of the award-winning ’41 Willys and stay tuned for our Top 5 hot rod picks from the 2014 Goodguys Southwest Nationals coming out soon!
