How the Ford 9N Tractor Saved Willys-Overland

But in 1938, Sorensen was completely focused on development of the 9N tractor. In 1916, Ford had taken his son, Edsel, and Sorensen with him when he left Ford Motor Co. to form Henry Ford & Son to build the Fordson tractor. Twenty-two years later, Ford again tasked Sorensen with overseeing development and production of a new tractor.

In his book My Forty Years with Ford, Sorensen details his experience working with Ferguson. Sorensen was not a fan. Even after having left Ford, he returned to testify on behalf of Ford when Ferguson filed his famous lawsuit. What is important to us is that Charles Sorensen knew all about tractors.

A 40-year relationship ends

Sorensen’s book details the sad circumstances of Henry Ford forcing him out of the company in 1943. When Ford’s son, Edsel, who had been heading the company, died of cancer, the old man assumed responsibility for running the company again.

Fearing that Ford’s mind was unstable, Sorensen told him that he needed to bring his oldest grandson, then serving in the U.S. Navy, home to run the company. The elder Ford ignored Sorensen and appointed himself as Edsel’s replacement. Others would finally convince Ford to bring his grandson home, but Sorensen knew he was no longer a part of the team that had been built over 40 years, and invoked the retirement deal he had made in 1941.

Sorensen’s departure caused great concern in Washington. Ford was not liked or trusted by those running war production programs. Sorensen convinced government leaders that Ford’s grandson could bring stability to the company. Shortly after Ford’s grandson was released by the Navy and returned to head the company, Sorensen headed to Florida.

An impossible-to-ignore “offer”

Sorensen didn’t stay retired for long. Government officials and car manufacturers soon knocked on his door. He was one of the most famous and highest-paid production executives of the time. The Detroit Free Press reported in June 1944 that Sorensen’s last reported 1942 salary at Ford was $220,000 ($4 million today) and Willys offered him $52,000 annually ($880,000 today) plus a huge stock option. Clearly, he wasn’t attracted by Willys’ salary offer.

So why did Sorensen choose Willys? According to at least one story, the jeep itself sealed the deal. In a This Week magazine article published in July 1945, just before the civilian Jeep’s introduction, author Arthur Bartlett described Sorensen as having been the production genius of Ford Motor Co. for nearly 40 years when he resigned and retired 18 months earlier.

“Various industrialists began making him offers, trying to get him back into the making of cars,” Bartlett reports. “He turned them down. But then, one day, Ward Canaday, chairman of the board of Willys-Overland, tried a new form of persuasion. He sent Sorensen a jeep.

“Sorensen, of course, knew all about jeeps from the manufacturing standpoint. He had been making them at Ford. But now he began to play around with the Willys-Overland farm jeep as the ultimate consumer. He drove it around the farm, on the roads and off. He hauled things in it, using it as a light truck, which is its proper technical classification. He used it as a tractor, having it pull a plow and do a dozen other farm chores. He rigged attachments to it, and had it saw wood, spray trees and do other jobs as a mobile power unit. And within three months, he had adopted it as his postwar baby, and given up the idea of resting any longer. He accepted the presidency of Willys-Overland and went to work on the domestication of the jeep for civilian uses.”

Was that the true story, or just a publicity stunt put out in the days just before the civilian Jeep was unveiled? I believe there is at least some truth to it. Sorensen never wrote about his time after leaving Ford. It is clear from reading his book that he only felt pity for Henry and did not seek revenge by competing with him. Henry Ford had no interest or need to build a civilian version of the military jeep. While there might be direct competition with the Ford tractor, there would be no competition with Ford cars and trucks.

Whatever the reasons Sorensen went to Willys, no other automotive executive at the time could bring to the table what he did. He had been building Ford’s version of the jeep (largely based on Willys’ design), he knew the workings of the 9N and he knew how to produce things.

The civilian Jeep

Never a man to waste time, Sorensen went to work immediately to bring the civilian Jeep to market. By July 1945, before the war had ended, Willys introduced the Universal Jeep model CJ2a in a demonstration held at Sorensen’s farm. This was the same 2,000-acre farm he had used when testing the Ford 9N tractor.

The new CJ2a was marketed to the returning GI who had a small farm but didn’t own a tractor. In the post-war years, horses still outnumbered tractors on the farm. Early on, Willys engineers envisioned a Jeep that could take the place of horses and mules, pulling ground-driven implements. But within 14 months of the CJ2a’s introduction, Sorensen unveiled a hydraulic lift system for the Jeep nearly matching that of the Ford 9N tractor. Once again, the demonstration took place on Sorensen’s farm.

Suddenly the Jeep was more than a replacement for horses, something only Sorensen could pull off. It was offered as a fully functional tractor in the same class as the Ford 9N. If a farmer in the late 1940s and the ’50s wanted a tractor with a hydraulic 3-point hitch, he could buy a Ford tractor, a Ferguson tractor or a Jeep. The Jeep was the only farm vehicle that could be used as a truck, a car, a mobile power source (for powering machines with a belt or shaft) and a tractor. It was the first farm utility vehicle.

Ford 9N sales were slow at first, largely due to the fact that buyers would need to purchase new implements as well. But as farmers began to see the tractor’s benefits, 9N sales took off. Slowed by war-time restrictions, Ford was still able to introduce the 2N. Post-war demand was going to be high, and Sorensen wanted his Jeep to compete in that market.

Would the Jeep have sold just as well if it hadn’t been designed to compete with the 9N? As just one more light tractor in an already crowded market, the Jeep was nothing special without the hydraulic lift. In fact, without the advantages of the 3-point lift, it was not a good choice for a tractor at all. Its multiple uses might not have been enough to overcome the disadvantages of its large turning radius (a real problem with traditional pulled implements) and limited implement visibility when used as a tractor.

Motor by Willys, body by Maytag

Interestingly, Sorensen’s biggest contribution to the Jeep brand wasn’t the hydraulic lift. Jeep historian Jim Allen, writing in the Winter 2021/2022 issue of The Dispatcher magazine, notes how Sorensen saved Willys from itself.

Willys’ board and stockholders wanted a post-war car. They saw the CJ2a as a mere sideline and not the purpose of a real car company. Sorensen knew that Willys would never be able to compete with the likes of Detroit’s giants for resources, including bodies.

Sorensen proposed a line of utility vehicles that could be assembled from parts punched out by appliance manufacturers: Body panels would have minimal curves and no intricate stamping. To enable immediate production, it would make use of the Willys 4-cylinder engine and the flat fender and slab sided-design of the military jeep.

Victim of boardroom battles

The March 1946 Willys-Overland semi-annual financial report laid out Sorensen’s plan for a “Utility Line,” but also promised a future “Motor Car Line” when the time was right. But by the time the report was issued, Sorensen, who had been battling with the board, had been “bumped upstairs” and was listed as board vice chairman.

Sorensen was actively involved in Willys only from 1944 to 1946, although he would be on the payroll into the 1950s. His “Utility Line” of Jeep trucks, station wagons and panel trucks lasted into the 1960s. Willys didn’t have to rely solely on sales of the Jeep or compete in the car business. That move most likely saved it from the fate of so many of the independent automakers in the post-war years.

Sorensen’s time at Willys was stormy. It is doubtful that any other executive could have survived. From his years with Ford, Sorensen knew what it would take for Willys to be successful. What comes after his departure is testimony to what could have happened if Sorensen had caved to the Willys board’s desire for a car.

You remember Aero Willys, don’t you?

By 1951, Willys had survived the post-war Detroit battles by following Sorensen’s plan of building on the basic utility vehicle concept. The company had avoided costly annual model changes and made changes to improve performance and efficiency, but not style. Willys’ leadership, which had been able to implement Sorensen’s plans, could no longer hold off dealer and stockholder demands for a car.

In 1952, the Aero Willys compact sedan was introduced. It remained in production until 1955. In April 1953, Willys-Overland merged with Kaiser-Frazer to form Kaiser-Willys. Kaiser-Frazer’s Henry J sales were faltering, and Henry Kaiser had to merge with someone to stay in business. Willys-Overland was renamed Willys Motors Inc.

In his book The Story of Jeep, author Patrick R. Foster summed up what happened next. “The sales organization called Kaiser-Willys existed as long as there was a Kaiser car, which wasn’t long. The Willys car was still enjoying decent sales, although it certainly wasn’t setting the world on fire. In truth, the fate of both Willys Motors and Kaiser no longer rested on their passenger cars, but rather on the continued success of the Jeep line.”

One could argue that the names in the last statement could be changed nine more times and it would still be true. From 1945 until today, Jeep brand ownership has changed 10 times! (Think Kaiser Jeep, AMC, AMC/Renault, Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler LLC and so on.) That must be a record. While many individuals deserve credit for preserving the Jeep brand for almost 80 years, Charles Sorensen deserves top billing, followed by the Ford 9N.

What if?

Would the Jeep brand have survived 80 years without Sorensen’s intervention? If Henry Ford hadn’t forced him out, I believe Sorensen would have remained with Ford until after the war. It is doubtful that Willys would have developed a 3-point hitch for the Jeep. None appear to have been planned by Willys before Sorensen’s arrival and no one else had the skill and knowledge to avoid patent fights. Ford Motor Co. and Harry Ferguson had vigorously fought the big tractor manufacturers (and each other) over patent infringements.

Finally, Willys’ board probably would have forced the company to produce a post-war car, alongside the Jeep. Given Willys’ post-war position in the car business, and having to compete with Detroit’s giants for resources, an earlier attempt would most likely have failed, and the little Jeep would have gone down with it.

Every Jeep owner and not a few modern car companies should thank Henry Ford and the little Ford 9N tractor for making it all possible.

Barry Thomas and his son Evan have posted their Willys Jeep adventures since 2002. After Barry’s retirement, he turned his passion for history toward documenting the Farm Jeep story, including several articles on the Farm Jeep and its impact on the automotive industry and agriculture. Email Barry at barry@farmjeep.com.

The author gratefully acknowledges Robert Rinaldi Jr. and N-News Magazine for use of the 9N photo, and Keith Buckley of the Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum in Chicago for the photo of the pre-production CJ2-06. Read more about this very special Jeep.

Originally published as “The Farm Jeep’s Unlikely Hero: How the Ford 9N Tractor Saved Willys” in the July 2023 issue of Farm Collector magazine.