The heart and soul of this one-of-a-kind Willys is the body. The team at
Legens Hot Rods created more body modifications than a person could imagine.
Using some of the original '41 Willys pickup body parts (cowl, front fenders,
and grille center section), the crew handbuilt the rest. We don't have enough
pages to name all of the 241 body mods, but trust us, the entire pickup body
was handmade. Steve had dies and wooden bucks made from the stock '41 Willys
pickup body lines, windows, and grille openings. Then the fresh body skin was
handmade and hand-formed using 18-gauge steel laid over custom-made wooden
bucks to shape the fenders, cab, doorjambs, doors, dash, gauge pods, A/C vents,
hood top, hood sides, grille center section, and cowl. The firewall and floor
pan were made from 16-gauge steel. A new stainless steel vertical grille insert
was made and polished by Dan's Polishing. A pair of '34 Ford door handles were
modified to adapt to the all-new Willys doors. Custom aluminum headlight
buckets were made to accommodate the '06 Mini Cooper lenses. A pair of '37 Ford
taillight cups house the original '41 Willys taillight lenses with custom-made
polished aluminum rings. The masterful one-piece, double-wall bed contours the
rear of the cab and was also created from a wooden buck. A set of LHR polished
stain-less steel stringers separate the bed floor's mahogany planks. An LHR
fuel-filler concealment kit features a hinged bed floor plank, which allows
quick access to the fuel-filler neck that adapts to the modified and polished
stainless steel 18-gallon Rock Valley fuel tank. After the exterior's fresh
virgin skin was shaped, hammered, sanded, and smoothed, it was primered and
block-sanded. Then it was rolled into the LHR climate-controlled, downdraft
paint booth, where Spies Hecker two-tone Grey Effect with added metallic (top)
and Spies Hecker Sparkle Effect Silver (bottom) were applied. The paint was
then color-sanded to remove any blemishes or orange peel, and the two-tone paint
was separated with a mild silver-gray pinstripe. The painted surface was then
buried in multi-coats of Spies Hecker clear. After the clearcoat had time to
cure, it was cut, buffed, and polished. To accent the Willys body, new original
stainless steel body moldings were handmade, then applied.
As the custom-made doors are opened, it exposes an interior like no
other. The dcor is of newstalgic flavor with a handmade Willys-style one-off
smoothed steel dash. Custom round gauge pods were filled with Classic Instrument
whiteface gauges. The lower portion of the dash is flanked with two custom
Vintage Air vent pods. A custom center console separates the Legens deep
low-back bucket seats, which were covered in caramel buffalo leather with tuck
'n' roll inserts. The console also houses a Vintage Air control panel, window
switches, Eclipse DVD/GPS monitor, and polished McLeod shifter with a stylish
woven caramel buffalo leather boot. The Eclipse system powers the Pioneer
4-inch and 6x9-inch speakers. A Ron Francis wiring kit was installed,
connecting all the electric current to those electrical components. Plush
saffron-color BMW velour carpeting was laid on top of the Dynamat insulation
material, which coated the entire cab and door panels. A single-piece gray suede
headliner creates a smooth hemisphere. The LHR-crafted, handmade door panels
are accented with woven insert armrests covered in caramel buffalo leather. A
Flaming River steering column was capped with a steering wheel that was
pulled out of a '52 Holden, then refurbished by Pearlcraft in Australia with a
custom-made horn button sporting the Willys logo. The dash-mounted rearview
mirror was another of LHR's creations. A pair of eye-catching aluminum pedals
drop down from under the dash and are capped with highly polished burled wood.
Wherever owner Seth Wagner displays the "World's Most Beautiful
Willys Pickup" it draws an instant crowd of admirers.
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