1937 was a banner year for cars and engines alike

While gasoline economy was not a major issue for most American car buyers in 1937, a time when gas was cheap, it did matter to some. Willys-Overland Motors of Toledo, Ohio, carved out a segment of that market with its new Willys which, owners said, delivered up to 35 miles per gallon. “The new Willys is alone in its field,” said the company in 1937. “The only car that offers substantial savings. While the new Willys creates a new low-price market, Willys offers more seating space than any of the next three higher-priced cars (two Ford models and a Chevrolet). For more than a decade, millions have needed a car like the Willys. Willys has tapped that great market and the result is a sales volume way beyond most optimistic predictions.” Of course, economy started with an efficient motor. For $450, the 1937 Willys was the cheapest among all American new cars, selling for $45 less than the next cheapest, the Ford 8 model 60. The Willys’ four-cylinder engine had a 134-cid engine and delivered 48 hp at 3,200 rpm. The Ford 60 carried a small V-8 with 60 hp at 3,500 rpm. What buyers had in the bottom end of the low-priced market was economy with the Willys or a power boost for $45 more with the Ford 60. Amid a recovery year in the Great Depression, buyers were attracted to either, but $45 looked mighty big back then and was the equivalent of $900 worth of buying power in today’s dollars. To push their success in economical motoring, 3,000 Willys dealers from coast to coast engaged in the Willys Challenge Economy Contest, which was open to drivers of legal age. Dealers expected to establish a figure well in excess of 35 miles per gallon. It was reported, “The grand prize to the contestant who makes the highest average, using an official one-tenth mile gasoline mileage tester, will be a Willys Deluxe Sedan. A second prize will be a Willys Standard Sedan.” Even dealers and zones in the Willys organization were contending for prizes. “The feature of the Willys Economy Contest is that the average owner is given a fair chance to show just what he or she can do in the way of getting high mileage from an accurately measured amount of gasoline. Out of the combined figures set by contestants throughout the country, the Willys organization expects to confirm the vast volume of owner reports which have shown up to 35 miles to the gallon as readily obtained by this car.” The rules called for normal driving conditions without coasting or tricks. Local dealers furnished cars equipped with the testing equipment. At the low end of the car market was the Willys. It fought and struggled for sales, being the low-end kid among competitors. Truly, there was a wide range of motors available in 1937 among a long list of makes. Opposite the Willys at the high-end price extreme was the Cadillac V-16, a car that sold for around $7,350 and carried a 452-cid engine delivering 185 hp at 3,800 rpm. It attracted few, but was meant to be a distinguished, low-production, and special-ordered car, far from the cookie-cutter mass-production dreamed and employed by Willys, Ford, Chevrolet, and others. The Willys offered the only four-cylinder engine in 1937, the last of its type, some observers no doubt reasoned. That’s because Detroit had launched a cylinder war. Several years earlier, Ford leapt from its four to its V-8 amid a tidal wave of speculation, and it soon earned a surge of sensational response from the public. It was big news to offer an eight in the low-price field. The difference between the Ford and Willys was pronounced. The Willys delivered .352 horsepower per cubic inch while the Ford model 60 gave .441. At the high end, the Packard Twelve came to .379 hp per cubic inch, while the Pierce-Arrow Twelve was at .401, and the Cadillac Sixteen clinched top place at .409. What were the other engines offered among makes for 1937? In the $450 to $650 price range were the Chevrolet Master and Master Deluxe six with 216.5-cid engine and 85 hp at 3,200 rpm. The Ford model 85 offered a larger eight than the 60, with 85 hp from a 221 cid engine. The Graham Crusader Model 85 was a six with 70 hp at 3,500 rpm and a displacement of 169.6 inches. Priced at the top of that range was the $625 Terraplane Six with a displacement of 212 and horsepower at 96 with 3,900 rpm. In the next range for low-medium-priced cars ($665 to $800), the industry noted the Nash LaFayette 400 was cheapest. Its six carried a displacement of 234.8 inches and generated 90 hp at 3,400 rpm. Among contenders in this field were the Pontiac Six (222.7 cubic inches, 85 hp), the Dodge Six (217.8 inches and 87 hp), the Oldsmobile Six (229.7 cid with 95 hp), and the Hudson Six (212 cid with 101 hp). Studebaker’s Dictator was next in price ($740) in that range and offered 217.8 cubic inches from its six (90 hp). Rated at 85 hp were the Auburn Six and Graham’s Cavalier. From 90 to 99 hp were the DeSoto Six, the Pontiac Eight, Chrysler Royal Six, Nash Ambassador Six, the Reo Flying Cloud, and the Hudson eight, which topped off the price range at $800. In the medium price field were the likes of Hupmobile (with a six delivering 101 hp at 3,600 rpm and declaring a displacement of 245 cid), Buick’s 40 (an eight with 248 cid and 100 hp), the Olds eight with 110 hp from 257 cid, and, in successive price increments, the Graham Super Charger 116, Nash Ambassador Eight, and Packard Six. Most horsepower for the money in the field came from the Buick 60, an eight with 320 cid and 130 hp. Next came LaSalle with 125 horses and 322 cid, Packard’s 120-C (an eight with 120 horses and 282 cid), and Hupp’s model 621-N with 120 hp and 303 cid. Highest priced in that field for 1937 was the $1,170 Lincoln-Zephyr, a 12-cylinder car with a modest 267 cid and horsepower of 110 at 3,900 rpm. In the upper medium price range of $1,205 to $1,700 there were only three contenders. The Buick 80 delivered 130 hp with its 320-cid engine, the Chrysler Airflow Eight, which provided 130 hp from 323.5 cid, and Cadillac’s V-8 model 60 claimed 135 hp from 346 cid. All three engines had their peak horsepower rated at 3,400 rpm. In the lower high-priced field were six models. Having the smallest engine with the least amount of horsepower was the Cord 810 (an eight with 288.6 cid and only 125 hp). The Buick model 90 and the Packard Eight (model 1500) each carried 130 hp with 320-cid engines. Three Cadillac models (65, 70, 75) all delivered 135 hp from their 346 cid V-8 engines. Let’s not forget the Cadillac and Lincoln twelve’s in the high-priced range. These were masterful engines, but not as powerful as competitive Packard and Pierces. The Cadillac Twelve booted out 150 hp at 3,600 rpm with its 368 cid, and the Lincoln Twelve delivered 150 at 3,400 rpm with 414 cubic inches. By 1937, single-horse carriages had given way to multiple-horsepower engines from four to 16 cylinders, and the horsepower race was only warming up.