The original 58035 Wild Willy came out in 1982 and was really unlike anything that had come before it. It had the large tires of the 58029
Blazing Blazer but with a short wheelbase and a high center of gravity
mated to a new wheelie chassis. The name "Willy" comes from the
fact that this is a model of the M38 made by Willys as the second
generation of the original military "Jeep". The body is scale
accurate but placed on a crazy high 2WD stunt chassis. May as well
name the driver "Wild Willy" and give him a giant head and a lot of
detail. Willy would go on to pilot other vehicles over the years
including the 58039 Willy's Wheeler only a year later. The 58242
Wild Willy 2 came out in 1999 as a tribute more than a
re-release. Although the newer model bears a superficial
resemblance to the original, virtually everything has been
changed. The original chassis is gone and replaced by a more
modern WR-02 wheelie chassis with balloon tires and chrome wheels.
At first glance the lovely hard shell body might appear original, but
for reasons that are not exactly clear subtle details (including the
grille) have been changed which make this now resemble the M151 made by
Ford as a successor to the M38. Maybe it was a licensing thing, or
maybe Wild Willy 2 is the successor to the original just like the
M151. Willy is still there driving. Although this model is still
for sale (as of 2019), it is now marketed as Wild Willy 2000.Personally, I felt that the new chassis lost much of the charm of the original mostly due to the use of the new tires. The track width is too large, the tires are too wide, and the tread pattern is all wrong. Of course "wrong" is subjective given that the real M38 didn't have tires even remotely like either of the Tamiya models. Still, I wanted to try to replicate the appearance of the original while maintaining the durability (and accessibility) of the new chassis. I was able to find a set of reproduction tires which I mated to a set of steel beadlock wheels. After some modifications to the suspension to make them fit, I came up with my own Wild Willy tribute. I think it looks way better than the modern version and, dare I say, almost as good as the original
Having built models on the CW-01 wheelie chassis before and being unimpressed with the ability to hold a wheelie, my expectations of the WR-02 were not high. I was pleasantly surprised. This model holds a wheelie much longer than something like the Midnight Pumpkin. My addition of heavier wheels moderated that a bit, but I still love the way it drives. It is even reasonably capable in the grass.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Upgrades! |
 Page 3: Final Photos |