Monday, May 20, 2024 5:57:20 PM
Willys Jeep: How the US Army Created the Greatest Military Vehicle of All Time
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(Stellantis)
Military.com | By Scott Murdock
Published May 14, 2024
In 1940, Uncle Sam saw storm clouds on the horizon. Germany was steamrolling European countries at a horrifying pace. Japan was collecting island nations like Boy Scout badges all over the Pacific. Italy and the Soviet Union weren’t exactly on their best behavior, either. The U.S. military’s lax attitude since World War I suddenly looked like it might be a fatal mistake. Hell, even the Army’s garage looked bleak.
Necessity is the mother of all invention, as the saying goes, and the U.S. military had plenty of needs. In addition to replacing the pitiful Grumman F3F with something that could survive more than five seconds with Mitsubishis and Messerschmitts, soldiers needed a quick, nimble combat vehicle that wouldn’t get stuck or fall apart on the battlefield.
A now-defunct company named Willys answered the call. What rolled out of the research and development shop a few weeks later was one of the four vehicles Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower credited with winning World War II, according to the automotive historians at Hagerty. The Willys Jeep is an automotive legend to this day, and this is its origin story.
Born for Combat https://images02.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2024-04/Willys_Quad.jpg?itok=2uoII4gQ
Willys won the military’s business with the Quad prototype vehicle that evolved into the now-famous Jeep. (Stellantis)
There were three contenders for the military’s business when the Army asked for a lightweight reconnaissance vehicle. Willys won the contract over Bantam and Ford, although some design elements from Ford’s prototype made it onto the final production vehicle and the company would get in on the action soon enough. According to the car publication Autoweek, the famous T-latches on the hood and seven-slot grille came from the Ford Pygmy rather than the Willys Quad.
After beating the competition, Willys sent the Army a production model called the MA. It was a step in the right direction, but it failed to meet the Army’s restrictive weight requirement. According to historians at Jeep, the company sent its MAs to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union under a lend-lease program. Engineers then went back to the drawing board and got serious about shedding weight. They trimmed body panels and even cut fractions of an inch off bolts to save every possible ounce.
The result of all this obsessive refinement was the Willys MB, or Jeep. The vehicle satisfied the Army’s weight limit of 2,160 pounds. Each one cost $738.74, according to Jeep.
Willys’ Detroit factory cranked out MB Jeeps as fast as possible, but that wasn’t enough to meet wartime demand. According to the automotive site Hemmings, Willys produced 362,000 MB Jeeps, and Ford built another 280,000 GPW Jeeps.
Willys MB: A Heavyweight Fighter in a Featherweight’s Body
The Willys MB could go where other vehicles couldn’t –- and live to tell the tale. (Library of Congress photo)
On paper, the Willys MB didn’t look like much. It was the size of a golf cart with 60 horsepower. It had a three-speed transmission and tires just six inches wide, according to Kaiser Willys, the source for Willys restoration parts and information.
That’s only half the story, though, because it also had a low-range transfer case for crawling over rough terrain. The reliable 2.2-liter “Go-Devil” engine could achieve a top speed of 65 mph and stretch 15 gallons of gas 285 miles -- perfect for scouting battlefields where stopping to fill up wasn’t an option.
[...]
https://www.military.com/off-duty/autos/willys-jeep-how-us-army-created-greatest-military-vehicle-of-all-time.html?ESRC=eb_240515.nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb&utm_campaign=20240515
FacebookXPinterestEmailEmailEmailShare
(Stellantis)
Military.com | By Scott Murdock
Published May 14, 2024
In 1940, Uncle Sam saw storm clouds on the horizon. Germany was steamrolling European countries at a horrifying pace. Japan was collecting island nations like Boy Scout badges all over the Pacific. Italy and the Soviet Union weren’t exactly on their best behavior, either. The U.S. military’s lax attitude since World War I suddenly looked like it might be a fatal mistake. Hell, even the Army’s garage looked bleak.
Necessity is the mother of all invention, as the saying goes, and the U.S. military had plenty of needs. In addition to replacing the pitiful Grumman F3F with something that could survive more than five seconds with Mitsubishis and Messerschmitts, soldiers needed a quick, nimble combat vehicle that wouldn’t get stuck or fall apart on the battlefield.
A now-defunct company named Willys answered the call. What rolled out of the research and development shop a few weeks later was one of the four vehicles Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower credited with winning World War II, according to the automotive historians at Hagerty. The Willys Jeep is an automotive legend to this day, and this is its origin story.
Born for Combat https://images02.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/2024-04/Willys_Quad.jpg?itok=2uoII4gQ
Willys won the military’s business with the Quad prototype vehicle that evolved into the now-famous Jeep. (Stellantis)
There were three contenders for the military’s business when the Army asked for a lightweight reconnaissance vehicle. Willys won the contract over Bantam and Ford, although some design elements from Ford’s prototype made it onto the final production vehicle and the company would get in on the action soon enough. According to the car publication Autoweek, the famous T-latches on the hood and seven-slot grille came from the Ford Pygmy rather than the Willys Quad.
After beating the competition, Willys sent the Army a production model called the MA. It was a step in the right direction, but it failed to meet the Army’s restrictive weight requirement. According to historians at Jeep, the company sent its MAs to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union under a lend-lease program. Engineers then went back to the drawing board and got serious about shedding weight. They trimmed body panels and even cut fractions of an inch off bolts to save every possible ounce.
The result of all this obsessive refinement was the Willys MB, or Jeep. The vehicle satisfied the Army’s weight limit of 2,160 pounds. Each one cost $738.74, according to Jeep.
Willys’ Detroit factory cranked out MB Jeeps as fast as possible, but that wasn’t enough to meet wartime demand. According to the automotive site Hemmings, Willys produced 362,000 MB Jeeps, and Ford built another 280,000 GPW Jeeps.
Willys MB: A Heavyweight Fighter in a Featherweight’s Body
The Willys MB could go where other vehicles couldn’t –- and live to tell the tale. (Library of Congress photo)
On paper, the Willys MB didn’t look like much. It was the size of a golf cart with 60 horsepower. It had a three-speed transmission and tires just six inches wide, according to Kaiser Willys, the source for Willys restoration parts and information.
That’s only half the story, though, because it also had a low-range transfer case for crawling over rough terrain. The reliable 2.2-liter “Go-Devil” engine could achieve a top speed of 65 mph and stretch 15 gallons of gas 285 miles -- perfect for scouting battlefields where stopping to fill up wasn’t an option.
[...]
https://www.military.com/off-duty/autos/willys-jeep-how-us-army-created-greatest-military-vehicle-of-all-time.html?ESRC=eb_240515.nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb&utm_campaign=20240515
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