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This 1943 short film describes the designing of the Willys MB Jeep to meet military needs of being compact, light weight and maneuverable over rough terrain.
The Willys MB (commonly known as a Jeep, formally as the U.S. Army Truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4) was a four-wheel drive utility vehicle manufactured during World War 2. The Jeep became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the United States Army and the Allies during the war, as well as the postwar period. Produced from 1941 to 1945, it evolved post-war into the civilian Jeep CJ, and inspired both an entire category of recreational 4WDs and several generations of military light utility vehicles.
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Development history
Bantam Reconnaissance Car:
When it became obvious that the United States was eventually going to become involved in the war raging in Europe, the U.S. Army contacted 135 companies asking for working prototypes of a four-wheel-drive reconnaissance car. Only two companies responded to the request: American Bantam Car Company and Willys-Overland. The Army had set what seemed like an impossible deadline of 49 days to supply a working prototype. Willys asked for more time, but was refused.
The hand-built prototype was completed for Army testing on September 21, 1940. The vehicle met all the Army's criteria except engine torque.
Willys MA and Ford GP:
The Army felt that the Bantam company was too small to supply the number of vehicles it needed, so it supplied the Bantam design to Willys and Ford, who were encouraged to make their own changes and modifications. The resulting Ford "Pygmy" and Willys "Quad" prototypes looked very similar to the Bantam BRC prototype, and Spicer supplied very similar four-wheel drivetrain components to all three manufacturers.
Fifteen hundred of each of the three models (Bantam BRC-40, Ford GP, and Willys MA) were built and extensively field-tested. Delmar "Barney" Roos, Willys-Overland's chief engineer, made design changes to meet a revised weight specification (a maximum of 1,275 lb (578 kg), including oil and water). He was thus able to use the powerful but comparatively heavy Willys "Go Devil" engine, and win the initial production contract. The Willys version of the car would become the standardized Jeep design, designated the model MB and was built at their plant in Toledo, Ohio. The familiar pressed-metal Jeep grille was actually a Ford design feature and incorporated in the final design by the Army.
Since the War Department required a large number of vehicles to be manufactured in a relatively short time, Willys-Overland granted the United States Government a non-exclusive license to allow another company to manufacture vehicles using Willys' specifications. The Army chose Ford as the second supplier, building Jeeps to the Willys' design. Willys supplied Ford with a complete set of plans and specifications. American Bantam, the creators of the first Jeep, built approximately 2700 of them to the BRC-40 design, but then spent the rest of the war building heavy-duty trailers for the Army.
During the World War 2:
Final production version Jeeps built by Willys-Overland were the Model MB, while those built by Ford were the Model GPW. There were subtle differences between the two. Willys-Overland and Ford, under the direction of Charles E. Sorensen (Vice-President of Ford during World War 2), produced about 640,000 Jeeps towards the war effort, which accounted for approximately 18% of all the wheeled military vehicles built in the U.S. during the war.
Jeeps were used by every service of the U.S. military. An average of 145 were supplied to every Army infantry regiment. Jeeps were used for many purposes, including cable laying, saw milling, as firefighting pumpers, field ambulances, tractors and, with suitable wheels, would even run on railway tracks. An amphibious jeep, the model GPA, or "seep" (Sea Jeep) was built for Ford in modest numbers but it could not be considered a huge success - it was neither a good off-road vehicle nor a good boat. As part of the war effort, nearly 30% of all Jeep production was supplied to Great Britain and to the Soviet Red Army.
WW2 Jeep | Willys MB Military Jeep | Autobiography of a Jeep | 1943
