About fifty years ago, the same Willys that brought us the Jeep built a short run of sports cars in Brazil as the "Willys Interlagos" based on the Renault Alpine A108. Classic car specialists Maggiora and Carrozzeria Viotti have now revived the name and modernized the design; as the 2015 Willys AW 380 Berlinetta.
This is hardly the application I would have expected to see the Willys badge revived on, but you won't catch me complaining. The classic accents are beautifully married to a modern structure, and for many of us those blocky old-school wheels never went out of style.
The AW 380 Berlinetta made its first appearance today at Italy's annual Bologna Motor Show, and it's no concept: a production run of 110 will be built and the first has reportedly already been sold to some rich Russian. Offering price is €380,000, or about $460,000.
Maggiora and Carrozzeria Viotti have not yet disclosed specifics on the platform and powertrain (sure looks Porsche-based to me) but they have published the car's running a 3.8 twin-turbo boxer engine mated to a six-speed sequential paddle-shifted manual with rear-wheel drive.
Output's placed at 610 horsepower and 612 foot-pounds of torque, weight is listed at 2,976 pounds thanks to a carbon fiber body. Road & Track says that ratio's good enough for a 2.5 second sprint to 62 MPH and a stop speed of more than 210 MPH. Fuel economy's claimed at a reasonable 25.5 MPG on the highway.
Ceramic composite brakes with 380mm front, 360mm rear discs clamped by six-piston front, four-piston rear calipers are supposed to bring this Willys Interlagos redux back to a stop.
Dimensions are listed at 174.5" in length, 76.4" in width, and a roofline at 48.3" making it just a hair squatter than most 911s. 19" front and 20" rear wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup tires.
Images via Maggiora and Carrozzeria Viotti