1928 Willys-Knight Model 56 Sedan

Vehicle
1928 Willys-Knight Model 56 Sedan
152 cid, I-6, 45 bhp

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The Willys-Knight featured the Knight Sleeve Valve engine, also known as the “Silent Knight”. The association with legendary engineer Charles Yale Knight, who patented his engine in Britain in 1908 and the U.S. in 1910, began in earnest in 1914 and continued until the end of production year 1933. Knight’s engines replaced conventional valves with two sleeves between the piston and the bore which moved up and down in the cylinders. The result was an unmatched smoothness and silence of operation when compared to conventional engines of the teens and twenties. An added bonus was that carbon build-up actually made the sleeve valve engines run better, making valve jobs unnecessary.

Although the Knight engines were also used in the Daimler, Minerva, Voisin, Mercedes, Sterns-Knight, and Falcon-Knight, the Willys-Knight easily outsold them all. The Willys-Knight was produced in the Willys plants in Toledo and Canada and also by Holden in Australia. The Willys-Knight Standard Six or Model 56 was produced from 1928 through 1929. They had an inline 6, 178 cid Knight sleeve valve engine which produced 45 hp. Nickel plated trim was used throughout the Model 56 production rather than chrome. There were 23,267 Model 56’s built in the U.S. and Canada. The 4 door sedans listed for $1245 in 1928.

Highlights:

  • The Willys Knight featured the Knight Sleeve-valve engine, also known as the “Silent Knight”
  • The Willy’s Knight was produced from introduction in 1914 through 1933
  • More Willys-Knights were produced than all other manufacturers who used the “Silent Knight” engine
  • Only produced in 1928 & 1929
  • 37,931 total cars produced
  • Knight sleeve engine; Quietest running engine of the era; Didn’t need valves, lifters, or tappets
  • Price new: $1,095 – $1,295