Willys, << WIHL ihs, >> John North (1873-1935), was an American automobile manufacturer. Willys began selling bicycles in 1898 and soon added automobiles, including those of the small Overland Company. During an economic downturn in 1907, he took over that firm. He reorganized it as the Willys-Overland Company and made it a leading carmaker. In a recession in 1920, he lost control of the company, but he regained control the next year. Willys became United States ambassador to Poland in 1930. He resigned in 1932 to try to rescue Willys-Overland from a crisis brought on by the Great Depression, but he failed.
Willys was born on Oct. 25, 1873, in Canandaigua, New York. He died on Aug. 26, 1935.
