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Overland Model 81
1915
| Engine Type |
4 cyl. |
Assembled in |
Indianapolis, IN |
| Bore & Stroke |
4.0 x 4.5 in. |
Number Built |
140,111 (by 1916) |
| Displacement |
371 cu in |
Transmission |
3 spd. planetary |
| Valves |
OHV |
Fuel Economy |
NA |
| Horsepower |
30 hp |
Top speed |
40 mpg |
| Torque |
not measured |
Cost new |
$850 |
| Weight |
NA |
Present Value |
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David M. Parry organized the Overland Auto Company in Mar. 31,
1906, although it produced few automobiles. John North Willys,
who bought 47 1906 models from Overland and put in an order for
500 more (with a $10,000 deposit), arrived in 1907 to find that
there were parts in the factory to build fewer than three cars.
With his monetary investment at stake, Willys took over and in
1908 he built 465 cars using a circus tent as a factory.
In 1909, he purchased an idle factory and the controlling interest
in the Marion Motor Car Company, reorganizing them into the
Willys-Overland Company. That year the company built 4907 cars -
four models on three different wheelbases. The next year it built
15,598 cars. By the late teens, Willys-Overland was challenging
Henry Ford's Model T as the low-priced leader of American cars. In
fact, from 1912 through the First World War, only Ford produced more
cars than Willys-Overland.
After the War, a combination of retooling from was production and
several bad purchases made by Willys, forced the company to the
brink. Buy John Willys brought his company back and they sold
215,000 cars in 1925. The Depression, however, would challenge
Overland again, and although the company would continue, it would
never again put the Overland name on its vehicles.
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Donated by Dr. Leon and Felice Levine of Escondido, CA
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