UPDATE II: This version of the Power-Lock brochure was posted to eWillys in May of 2023.
I hadn’t seen this version of the Cutlas Power-Lock brochure. Given the 1959 date, this is likely one of the earliest Power-Lock brochures. This brochure doesn’t not include a form number.
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UPDATE April 16, 2020: The bottom brochure examples show a brochure from 1958, probably Cutlas’ first one. You’ll note that the brochure (and the hub itself) was branded “Power-Lock”. However, the 1960 brochure (shown just below this text) lacks any “Power-Lock”branding. Perhaps someone else knows why, but I can find no reason why. Maybe there was some concern about whether the patent would be awarded? (It wasn’t awarded until 1962).
1960 Cutlas Hub Brochure:
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Originally posted Feb of 2019:
This Power-Lock was the first hub patented (1958), copyrighted (1958), and sold under the Cutlas brand. As I mention in my Free-Lock article, for reasons unknown, the president of Free-Lock became the president of Cutlas. Even more curious, the last two model of Free-Lock hubs were WL-57 and WL-58.
And, what was the Initial model of the first Cutlas hub you ask? That would be WL-6, shown below (1958 Cutlas Hub Brochure):
It’s interesting that Cutlas chose to number their original 1958 hub for Jeeps using the WL prefix. This is the same prefix that Warn began using in 1953 when they introduced their initial locking hub, the WL-2, a model number they continued to use until the late 1960s. It would seem likely that “WL” stood simply for “Willys Locking”.
It could be merely coincidental that Cutlas chose this same model number prefix. On the other hand, it could be that Cutlas wanted to use the same prefix as Warn did, but followed by higher digits than Warn used, to make it appear to some that their hubs were later models, and were perhaps further advanced than the Warn models.
Another possibility could be that Kaiser Jeep got involved with the model numbering, and assigned those model numbers to the manufacturers for their respective Jeep-approved hubs. This could have been done to help Jeep dealers avoid confusing the various approved hub models they were selling.
Any thoughts on this, Dave?
In my email to you yesterday, I spaced that Warn was also using that prefix. I can’t imagine that would be a coincidence, but I don’t see any evidence Willys motors forced any other third party products to follow a model or naming scheme.
WL for Warn would make sense, maybe standing for Warn Locking hubs??? Free-Locks early hubs didn’t have model designations, but the later hubs WL-57 and WL-58 did. But, why would Free-Lock use those letters?
It’s a head scratcher.
Yeah, you’re right – I hadn’t thought of that, but the WL prefix could be short for “Warn Locking”. After the WL-1, Warn’s initial Automatic hub was model WA-1, and the first Lock-O-Matic hub was model WO-1.
Toward that end, it would be interesting to know how Warn’s early manual locking hubs for Dodges, which were introduced around the same time as the WL-2’s, were numbered. I don’t have any literature which would indicate that, do you?
Correction, in my reply just above I wrote WL-1, but meant WL-2!
Yes, that would be interesting. I don’t have any data on that.
I think you’re definitely right about the “W” being for Warn, rather than for Willys. The enlargement from the 1964 Warn catalog linked to below shows the model numbers for the Chevy, Dodge, and Ford hubs – and they are all over the place. There are WL numbers in each of those columns, but also D, F, and K prefix’ed model numbers. It’s not surprising that Warn later converted all their hubs to M-prefixed model numbers!
https://www.beamingpix.com/images/2019/02/06/1964-Warn-Pg-4-partial-enlargement.jpg
I have those Cutlas with the 2 big slot screws – great hubs, very mechanically simple. If anyone sees the decals, let me know
Bill,
If I see them, I’ll let folks know. Looks like a couple folks were interested a few years ago: http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/cutlass-power-lock-hubs.102772/
– Dave