Willys-Knight was a premium automobile line produced by the Willys-Overland Company of Toledo, Ohio, from 1914 to 1933. The marque was named for the Knight sleeve-valve engine, invented by Charles Yale Knight and licensed by John North Willys, which powered the line throughout its production run. The Willys-Knight identity is documented through a series of radiator emblems produced during the 1915-1933 period, several of which are preserved in museum collections.
Design and History
Willys-Overland introduced the mid-priced Willys-Knight for 1914, and the cars used sleeve-valve engines throughout their 19-year production run. Unlike common poppet valves operated by cams and springs, sleeve valves sit inside the cylinders, forming sleeves around the pistons, and work via sliding or rotating motion. They make for a quieter engine, but they consume more oil.[1]
The first Willys-Knight radiator emblem appeared in 1914 in blue, white and red enamel, and was used on all four-cylinder sleeve valve models until 1919.[2] A red and black enamel Willys-Knight radiator emblem was first used for the eight-cylinder Willys-Knight Model 88-8 from 1917 to 1919, and then on all models from 1920 to 1928, except for Model 56 in 1928-1929.[2]
A circa 1928 Willys-Knight radiator emblem in the collections of The Henry Ford was made for Willys-Overland Motor Company by the Fox Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The zinc alloy emblem, finished with fused enamel in red, silver and white, measures 1.375 inches high and 2.313 inches wide, and reads “WILLYS / KNIGHT” on the front.[1]
Later Willys-Knight radiator emblems included a white and black enamel version used on the Model 70B and Model 87 in 1929-1931, and a metal emblem used on Model 66B from mid-1929 to the end of 1930.[2] Willys-Knight models built in the period 1932-1933 displayed diecast combined grille emblem and hood ornaments.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
Several documented Willys-Knight emblems incorporate visual references to the Knight name. One Smithsonian collection radiator emblem, belonging to a Willys Knight automobile manufactured by the Willys Corporation of Toledo, Ohio during 1915-1933, has a red background with gold trim and a knight’s helmet at the top, reading “WILLYS/KNIGHT” in white lettering.[3]
Another Smithsonian collection emblem from the same period is circular, with an interlocked “WK” in the center on a black background, with “Willys” at the top and “Knight” at the bottom.[4]
The knight’s helmet motif also appeared as a three-dimensional car mascot. An illuminated “Knight’s Helmet” mascot for Willys-Knight, dating from 1923-26, was offered at auction, described as nickel plated hollow cast with remains of old wiring, mounted on a dog-bone radiator cap.[5]
The Willys-Knight line was discontinued in November 1932, when Willys-Overland entered receivership and dropped all model lines except the low-priced Willys 77.[2] This Knight-branded badge belongs to a distinct chapter of Willys-Overland history, separate from the company’s later wartime and postwar Jeep era, which used separate “Willys” and “Jeep” markings.
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