Building America’s Most Beautiful Truck
Larry Jacinto’s ’41 Willys Pickup
Feb. 2026 • by Nestor Cabrera & Tony Thacker
Presented by FirstUpApparel.com & MicksPaint.com 
Owner Larry Jacinto has known this ’41 Willys pickup for most of his life but he never imagined when he began the build that it would go on to win America’s Most Beautiful Truck Award at the 2025 Grand National Truck Show and be named Goodguys’ Truck of the Year.
Original Willys-Overland factory renderings have the truck looking longer and sleeker that it actually is.“W-O only built 2,031 trucks of any kind in 1941 and the survival rate was minimal.” - Bob Rothenberg
“I remember riding in the bed when I was about 10 years old,” said Larry. “That was the late fifties when it was owned by Fred Peake of Pioneer Pest Control in Redlands, CA. In 1959, Fred passed it on to his son Jimmy who got it running after it had sat for a few years.
“I’d sit in the back, it was thick with grease and dirt and full of tools and the cab would be full of German Shorthaired Pointers, and off we’d go to work.” Said Larry. “At the weekend, my dad Frank would get together with Fred because they were both in the pest control business so we’d gather at Fred’s yard at the corner of Orange and Pioneer, drink beer and raise hell. They were fun times and I fell in love with this truck.”
Almost four decades passed Johnny sadly fell ill, and so Larry tried several times to buy the truck but missed it by just three days when Johnny sold it to a mutual friend Tim Farmer.
“After six months, I finally persuaded Tim to sell me the truck,” continued Larry, “and I went over to see Johnny to tell him that I was going to breathe new life into it. I’m glad I did because Johnny died not long after our meeting in 1998.”
The rebuild began in Larry’s own shop where his welder Doug Henderson installed the engine and trans, Winters quick change, wheels and tires, etc. Unfortunately, it then sat for 10 years until SO-CAL’s Pete Chapouris hooked Larry up with Bob Bauder who took on the project and established the specifics of where all the major components were placed and the all-important stance.
Under Bauder’s direction, Al Simon took the 2x4 chassis to the next level and created the full stainless Mustang II-style IFS utilizing Mustang II rack-and-pinion steering. After Al’s work, Jeff Olsen built the exhaust, fuel tank, pedal box and other assemblies. In 2020, it went to Evin and Justin Veazie where Robin ‘Silky’ Silk modified the rear of the chassis, replacing the rear end with a NOS Halibrand Champ reworked by Kenny Sapper at Speedway Engineering. Silky also reinforced the upper coil over mounts and integrated a center Y-link with slider to keep the rear end centered.
It was decided to ditch the stock GM supercharger and install a more traditional Littlefield 6-71 blower atop a BDS billet intake. The low-profile intake is a billet item from Jo Blo in Australia as is the billet timing cover that has an internal bearing to support the lower blower pulley. On the Westech SuperFlow dyno, the assembly produced 671 hp at 6,300 rpm with 11.3 pounds of boost.
The body underwent a huge amount of work that included the re-shaping of the rear of the hood and the re-working of the cowl vent to duct cold air to the back of the supercharger. Bauder had chosen a ’46 Chevy bed that underwent a lot of detailing from Evin’s installation of ’40 Ford pockets to the addition of a Willys script let into the tailgate. The oak bed wood was crafted by Ryan and Tim DeBoer atop a frame built by Jeff Johnson. The ’46 Chevy rear fenders were widened three inches by Chris Camacho before Evin re-profiled the openings. No doubt the most work went into the running boards that went through several itterations until Eddie Legliu formed the perfect ribbed panels that were let into the boards by Jeff Johnson. Finally, the trim was hand-formed in brass by Lil’ Louie and fitted by Justin.
Once the major mods were completed, the body parts were taken next to door to Mick’s Paint where Larry and Mick Jenkins picked out a show-stopping Ferrari blue that beautifully accents the curves of the Willys. Meanwhile, Mick’s team led by Jose ‘Poncho’ Contreras began shaping the 80-plus year old body panels.
The assembly of a show stopper of this caliber is never easy and great care has to be taken during assembly so as not to scratch the paint, make a mistake or, find that something has been forgotten that requires rework. Besides, there’s no time. Evin, Justin, Greg, and Kev were all under the gun to get the truck ready for its debut at the 2025 Grand National Roadster Show where it won first in the Full Custom Rod Truck Class and went on to win the prestigious Sweepstakes Rod Award.
Photographer Luke Munnell set up this shot of Larry’s truck with Gary and Scott Lorenzini’s Deuce Roadster for the cover of Modern Rodding magazine and Classic Truck Performance magazine.
SPECS:
Vehicle: 1941 Willys pickup
Owner: Larry Jacinto
Chassis: 2x4 box section steel built by Al Simon and Robin ‘Silky’ Silk
Front suspension: Stainless steel Mustang II IFS built by Al Simon
Coil overs: Strange Engineering
Brakes: Wilwood Dynalite
Steering: Mustang II rack and pinion re-engineered by Evin and Justin
Sway bars: Speedway Engineering
Base engine: GM LSA
Capacity: 416 cubic inches
Builder: Jeff Ginter Racing Engines
Supercharger: Littlefield 6-71
Intake: The Blower Shop
EFI injector: Jo Blo Speed Shop
Crank: Callies 4-inch stroker
Cam: Comp Cams hydraulic
Rods: Callies 6.125-inch H-beam
Pistons: Custom Race Tech 8.5:1
Lifters: Isky Johnson short-travel hydraulic
Valve train: Manley
Timing cover: Jo Blo Speed Shop
Valve covers: Billet Specialties modified by Greg Hirota
Water pump: GM CTS-V modified by Justin Veazie
Final tuning: Steve Sbelgio
Compression ratio: 8.5:1
Boost: 11.3 pounds
Output: 671 hp at 6,300 rpm
Dyno: Steve Brule, Westech Performance Group
Trans: 4L60E
Shifter: Lokar
Rear axle: Halibrand Champ quick change
Headers: Stainless steel by Jef Olsen
Mufflers: Borla
Tips: Stainless steel by Jeff Johnson
Body: 1941 Willys
Trim: Chrome plated brass made by Lil’ Louie, formed by Justin
Running boards: Eddie Legliu, All American Metal Shaping and Jeff Johnson
Bed: 1946 Chevrolet modified by Evin
Tailgate: Designed by Eric Brockmeyer, fab by Justin and Kev Elliott, welding by Jeff Johnson
Rear fenders: 1946 Chevy widened 3-inches by Chris Camacho, reprofiled by Evin and Justin
Bed floor: Oak crafted by Ryan and Tim DeBoer, base by Jeff Johnson
Paint: Mick’s Paint, Pomona, CA
Painter: Fernando Hernandez
Color: Ferrari blue
Interior: Ron Mangus Interiors
Design: Eric Brockmeyer
Interior panels: Kev Elliott
Steering wheel: 15-inch Corvette-style Veazie Bros.
Seat: Glide, upholstery James Mendoza
Material: Italian leather
Instrument cluster: Classic Instruments
Trim: Justin Veazie
Wiring: Jack Nickerson, JAX Motorsports
Polishing: Steve Jones
Plating: Billy Phelps, MJB Chrome Plating
CNC machining: Baldi Bros.
Machine work: Matt Caracuburru and Mark Herz
Glass: Eddie Koto
Sign writing: Tom Clark
Detailing: Phil Harvey and Serafin Patino
Water jetting: Performance Water Jet Inc.
Wheels: Front ETs narrowed, rear ETs
Tires: Hoosier Pro Street, front 24x7.5R15LT, rear 31x12.5R16LT
