By Dave Chapman

WOODHAVEN — Willys from the 1940s have long been a favorite of hot-rodders, and if you have seen Lenny Chmaj’s flamed 1941 Willys, you’d know why.

Chmaj acquired his 1941 Willys a few years back by trading his 1953 Chevrolet Corvette replica for it.

The Willys that Chmaj traded for features a fiberglass Dennis Taylor body and chassis. The car already had flames on it, but they were not up to Chmaj’s standards.

With the help of friend Billy Amatucci, the car was prepped for paint. Amatucci’s brother, Jeff Matuch, applied the flames to the car’s body with Matuch’s 16-year-old son, Jeff, painting the Willys’ skull on the trunk.

The 496-cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet power plant recently was freshened by Chmaj. Before the rebuild, the Willys turned 10-second trips in the quarter mile. He hasn’t had a chance to run it since the rebuild, so he is not sure what times it will now run.