EVER wondered what happens when you mix a classic VW van with a single engine fighter jet? Look no further than Oklahoma Willy. Weighing in at 6600lbs and boasting a horsepower speed of 5,000, the vehicle was built by Perry Watkins from Buckinghamshire. After a night at the pub with friends, the idea of Oklahoma Willy was born. Perry told FutureStudiosCars: “We sit at the pub and come up with stupid ideas, I’ll then lock myself in the garage for five years and build it.” The owner of Perrywinkle Customs, Perry is no stranger to wild automotive creations. “It’s a bit like riding on top of a firework,” Perry explained. Taking around six years to build, Perry first bought a Rolls Royce Viper 535 jet engine, originally made in 1978. He stripped it down, polishing everything in aluminum, taking about two years to complete. Next, he added the after burner which took another six months work. Finally, he bought the VW pickup which had spent most of its life on a farm in Oklahoma, taking a further three years to finish. This rare and iconic vehicle is a prized possession of Perry, who doesn’t like to do something that has been done before.The top speed for the vehicle is 300mph, although the fastest Perry has gone is 157mph, an experience he describes as “exhilarating” but a “bit hairy”. The original engine sits in place making the vehicle street legal, providing you don’t fire up the jet. Perry describes the power as “one of the most incredible things you can ever experience.”
00:00It's a bit like riding on a firework. It's really, really fast. Jet power is great fun.
00:10Just one of the most incredible things that you can ever experience.
00:14It is exhilarating, but once you get up to 160 miles an hour, it's a bit hairy.
00:20I'm a bit of a shell off, I suppose. I don't like to do something that somebody has already done.
00:27No stranger to wild automotive creations, this idea was born in classic Perry fashion.
00:34We sit at the pub, we all get drunk, we come up with a stupid idea, and whoever comes up with the stupidest idea,
00:39I'll go away and lock myself in the garage for five years and build it.
00:42To build Oklahoma Willie, I first of all bought the jet engine, a Rolls-Royce Viper 535.
00:48It was made in Bedford in 1978, and it was originally in a BAC Strike Master, which is a single-engine fighter jet.
00:56I stripped that down and rebuilt it, chromed everything in polished aluminium, and that took me two years to complete.
01:02Then we added the afterburner, which was about another six months' work.
01:05Following that, I bought the VW bus to put it on, and that took me another three years.
01:09So all in all, about six years' work. It's a pretty rare, iconic vehicle.
01:13It's been restored to the highest of standards.
01:15Most people who come to see it have never seen anything like it in their life.
01:18A fine build indeed. This 1958 split-screen VW is one of only 60 in the UK, but none pack as much punch as Oklahoma Willie.
01:30Weighing in at 6,600 pounds, its jet engine is packing 5,000 horsepower, giving this beast a potential top speed of 300 miles per hour.
01:42It would probably fall over, but in theory, it would do about 300.
01:46The top speed that I have done is 157 miles an hour.
01:50And the original engine still sits in place, making it street-legal, providing you don't fire up the jet.
01:57Physically, you could start the rocket in the centre of London, but I think it probably wouldn't pass the emissions or the noise regulations.
02:03But yeah, I do drive it regularly on the road. We go shopping in it, but we don't tend to buy many groceries, because there's nowhere to put them.
02:10There's a maintenance tray here, so you can see the entire thing pulls out.
02:14And there you can see, well, the computer and all of the controls that keep the jet running and keep it safe.
02:22We're looking inside the cab.
02:24First impressions when you get in the vehicle is quite what you'd expect to see in a 1958 Volkswagen.
02:29There's one, normal steering wheel, gear lever, handbrake, ignition, speedometer, clutch, brake, accelerator on the floor.
02:39However, I have added a jet, so we have some more controls.
02:42But here we have the main controls for the jet, and here we have all the monitoring gauges and starting buttons.
02:47Down here, there's what we call a dead man's pedal.
02:57I must have put my foot on that first of all.
03:00If during the jet performance anything goes wrong at all, I just release that and everything is closed down.
03:06A computer closes everything down and it cannot be restarted.
03:08Perry and Oklahoma Willie appear at events and festivals all over Europe, performing quarter-mile runs and flame and smoke shows.
03:19I cover the first eighth mile in about 8.5 seconds, and the second eighth mile I do in about two and a half seconds.
03:27So it's getting quick, really, really fast.
03:30It's a bit like riding on top of a firework, the sensation. There's no vibrations.
03:35It's not that noisy because most of the noise is going behind you.
03:38It is exhilarating, but once you get up to 160 miles an hour in a 1958 Brick, it's a bit hairy.
03:46Before a race, you can get a little bit nervous. It's an awful amount of power that you're unleashing in one go.
04:02You're just focusing on the horizon at a point and making sure you stay dead straight.
04:06Jet power is great fun. It's just such an awesome power.
04:10The noise, the smell and the sound, one of the most incredible things that you can ever experience.
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