Willys MB

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Willys MB / Ford GPW
Manufacturer	Willys, Ford
Production	640,000 standardized; 8,690 other (1941 - 1945)
Successor	M151 'MUTT' jeep
Engine	4-cyl. side valves 134 cu.in (2,199 cc) 60 hp (46 kW) at 4000 rpm 105 ft·lbs (142 Nm) at 2000 rpm
Transmission	3-speed + reverse 2-speed transfer case; low range engages front wheel drive
Wheelbase	80 inch / 203 cm
Length	131 inch / 333 cm
Width	62 inch / 157,5 cm
Height	72 inch (183 cm) with top up reducible to 52 inch (132 cm)
Ride height	9 inch (23 cm)
Curb weight	2,290 lbs (~1020kg)
Top Speed	60 mph
Related	Ford GPA 'Seep'
Similar	VW Type 82 Kubelwagen

The Willys MB US Army Jeep, along with the nearly identical Ford GPW were manufactured from 1941 to 1945. They are the iconic World War II Jeep.

[edit] Introduction

On its illuminating page on the Jeep's evolution, the offroader.com website states:

From humble origins -- a handful of prototypes built by three different manufacturers -- the Jeep 1/4-ton utility vehicle has evolved over the years into one of the most popular and versatile vehicles ever made. Named the "Universal Jeep" by Willys-Overland shortly after World War II, it's been used in combat and for desert racing, for rock crawling or daily driving . . . in short, if there's a road or trail anywhere in the world, chances are that sometime, somehow, a Jeep has driven over it. [...]
The hero of World War II [...] served in every theater of war, in every conceivable role, and with every Allied army. They were also given modifications including longer wheelbases, skis, armor plating, railway wheels, and weapons mounts of various types. This vehicle changed the way [people,] Americans [and foreigners] looked at the automobile and added a new word to our vocabulary: Jeep.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower himself listed the jeep as one of the most important tools that won the war.

[edit] History

Even though the world had seen wide-spread mechanisation of the military during World War I, and the US Army had already used 4x4 trucks in it, supplied by the Four Wheel Drive Auto Co. (FWD), by the time World War II was dawning, the United States Department of War were still seeking a standardized light cross-country and reconnaissance vehicle.

As tensions were heightening around the world in the late Thirties, the US Army put the word out to American automobile manufacturers to come up with suggestions to replace its existing, aging light motor vehicles, mostly motorcycles and sidecars but also some Ford model-T's[1][2]. This resulted in several prototypes being presented to army officials, like five Marmon-Herrington 4x4 Fords in 1937, and three Austin roadsters by American Bantam in 1938 (Fowler, 1993). However, the US Army's requirements were not formalised until July 11, 1940, when 135 U.S. automotive manufacturers were approached to submit a design conforming to their specifications, for a vehicle the World War II training manual TM 9-803 described as "... a general purpose, personnel, or cargo carrier especially adaptable for reconnaissance or command, and designated as 1/4-ton 4x4 Truck."

Marmon-Herrington All-Wheel-Drive converted Ford 1/2 ton truck. Sometimes called the "Grandfather of the Jeep". Delivered in small numbers to the Belgian Army and some other countries circa 1936.

The Bantam no.1 'Blitz Buggy'.

Willys MA jeep at the Desert Training Center, Indio, CA, June 1942.

By now the war was underway in Europe so the rush was on and the Army's tender was quite demanding. Company's bids were to be received by July 22 (just eleven days later). They were given 49 days to submit their first prototype, and 75 days for completion of 70 required test vehicles. The Army's Ordnance Technical Committee specifications were equally demanding: the vehicle would be four-wheel drive, have a crew of three, on a wheelbase of no more than 75 (later 80) inches and tracks no more than 47 inches, a fold-down windshield, 660 lbs payload and be powered by an engine capable of 85 pound feet of torque. The most daunting demand however was an empty weight of no more than 1300 lbs (590 kg).

Only three companies entered: American Bantam Car Company, Ford Motor Company and Willys-Overland Motors. Though Willys-Overland were the low bidder, Bantam received the bid being the only company that committed to pilot car delivery in 49 days and total delivery in 75 days. Under the leadership of designer Karl Probst Bantam built their first prototype, dubbed the Blitz Buggy (and in retrospect "Old Number One"), and delivered it to the Army's vehicle test center Camp Holabird, Maryland on September 23, 1940. This presented Army officials with the first of what would eventually evolve into the World War II US Army Jeeps: the Willys MB and Ford GPW.

Since the Bantam Company did not have the production capacity nor fiscal stability to deliver on the scale needed by the War Department, the two losing bidders, Ford and Willys, were encouraged to go ahead with building their own pilot models for testing. The contract for building the new reconnaissance car was to be determined by a test trial. As testing of the Bantam prototype took place from September 27 to October 16, Ford and Willys technical representatives present at Holabird, were given ample opportunity to study the vehicle's performance. Moreover, in order to expedite production the War Department forwarded the Bantam blueprints to Ford and Willys, claiming that the government owned the design. Bantam did not dispute due to its precarious financial situation. By November 1940 Ford and Willys each submitted prototypes to compete with the Bantam in the Army's trials. The pilot models, that had turned out very similar to each other, the Willys Quad and the Ford Pygmy, were joined in testing by Bantam's entry that had evolved into a Mark II, called the BRC 60. By then the US and its armed forces were already under such pressure, that all three cars were declared acceptable and orders for 1500 units per company were given, for field testing. At this time it was acknowledged that the original weight limit was unrealistic, and the limit was raised to 2160 lbs (980 kg).

For these respective pre-production runs, each vehicle received a make-over and was renamed. The Bantam's was called the BRC 40. After losing 240 lbs, Willys' car's designation was changed to "MA" for "Military" model "A". The Fords went into production as "GP", with "G" for a "Government" type contract and "P" commonly used by Ford to designate any passenger car with a wheelbase of 80 inches. Ford's GP designation did not represent "general purpose", that was the government's description. Bantam ceased motor vehicle production after the last one was built in December of 1941.

By July 1941, the War Department desired to standardize and decided to select a single manufacturer to supply them with the next order for another 16.000 vehicles. Willys won the contract mostly due to its more powerful engine (the Willys Go Devil engine) which the soldiers raved about, and its lower cost and lower silhouette. Whatever better design features the Bantam and Ford entries had were then incorporated into the Willys car, moving it from an "A" designation to "B", thus the "MB" nomenclature. For example, if the gasoline tank was directly beneath the driver's seat, combining the two main target areas into one, it would lessen the chance of a catastrophic hit.

By October 1941, it became apparent that Willys-Overland could not keep up with production demand and Ford was contracted to produce them as well. The Ford car was then designated as "GPW" with the "W" referencing the "Willys" licensed design. During World War II, Willys produced 363,000 Jeeps and Ford produced some 280,000. Some 51,000 of which were exported to Russia under the Lend-Lease program during the war.

Apart of that another 13,000 (roughly) amphibian jeeps were built by Ford under the name GPA (nicknamed 'Seep' for Sea Jeep). Inspired by the larger DUKW the vehicle was produced too quickly and proved too heavy, too unwieldy, and had very little freeboard. In spite of participating successfully in the Sicily landings (September 1943) most GPA’s were routed to Russia under the Lend-Lease program. The Russians were sufficiently pleased with its ability to cross rivers, to keep developing it after the war.

[edit] Origin of the term "jeep"

Photostat facsimile of the 1941 article.

Photostat facsimile of Red Hausmann's jeep being demonstrated for the reporter.

One account of the origin of the term "jeep" begins when the prototypes were being proven at military bases. The term "jeep" was used by soldiers for any untried or untested piece of personnel or equipment. In early 1941, Willys-Overland staged a press publicity event in Washington, D.C., having the car demonstrate its prowess by driving up the Capitol steps. Irving "Red" Hausmann, a test driver on the Willys development team, who had accompanied the car for its testing at Camp Holabird, had heard the soldiers there referring to it as a jeep. He was enlisted to go to the event and give a demonstration ride to a group of dignitaries, including Katherine Hillyer, a reporter for the Washington Daily News. When asked by the reporter, Hausmann too called it a Jeep. Hillyer's article appeared in the newspaper on February 20, 1941, with a photo showing a jeep going up the Capitol steps and a caption including the term 'jeep'. This is believed to be the most likely cause of the term being fixed in public awareness. Even though Red did not create or invent the word Jeep, he very well could be the one most responsible for its first news media usage.
For more theories about origins of the word "jeep", see the origin of the term "jeep".

[edit] Grille

Willys MB (US Army).

Willys made its first 25,000 MB Jeeps with a welded flat iron "slat" radiator grille. But it was Ford Motor Company that first designed and implemented the now familiar and distinctive stamped, slotted steel grille into its cars, which was lighter, used fewer resources and was less costly to produce. Along with many other design features innovated by Ford, this was adopted by Willys and implemented into the standard WW II Jeep by April 1942.

Even today, some 65 years later, the Jeep automakers proudly retain the historical connection to the visage of their ancestors by using a trademarked grille featuring a standard number of vertical openings or 'slots'. However, in order to be able to get theirs trademarked, Willys gave their post-war jeeps seven slots instead of Fords grille-design that had nine. Through a long path of corporate take-overs and the like, AM General Corporation ended up with the rights to use the seven-slot grille as well, which they in turn extended to General Motors when they sold GM the rights to the Hummer name in 1999.

[edit] Post-war

After the war, Ford had no further interest in producing jeeps, but Willys took its four-wheel drive marvel to the public with its CJ (for Civilian Jeep) versions, making these some of the first mass-produced 4x4 civilian vehicles ever.
The first CJ-models were essentially the same as the MB, but for such alterations as: powered windshield wipers, a tailgate, and therefore a side-mounted spare tire, a rear view mirror and civilian lighting. Also the civilian jeeps had amenities like naugahyde seats, chrome trim and came in a variety of colors. Mechanically, a heftier T-90 transmission replaced the Willys' MB's T84 in order to appeal to the originally considered rural buyers demographic.

Dutch Army M38A1.

M606 in Colombia.

Before the Willys-Overland company was absorbed into other companies over the years (currently called Jeep® and part of Daimler-Chrysler), its entity continued to supply the War Department as well as befriended nations with military jeeps for several more decades.
In 1950 the first post-war jeep, the M38 (or MC), was launched, based on the 1949 CJ-3A. In 1953 it was quickly followed by the M38A1 (or MD), featuring an all new "round-fendered" body in order to clear the also new, taller, Willys Hurricane engine. This jeep would later be developed into the CJ-5 launched in 1955. Similarly its ambulance version, the M170 (or MDA), featuring a 20-inch wheelbase stretch, was later turned into the civilian CJ-6.
Before the CJ-5, Willys offered the public a cheaper alternative with the taller F-head engine in the form of the CJ-3B, that simply used a CJ-3A body with a taller hood. This was quickly turned into the M606 jeep (mostly used for export, through 1968) simply by equipping it with the available heavy-duty options such as larger tires and springs, and by adding black-out ligting, olive drab paint and a trailer hitch. After 1968, M606A2 and -A3 versions of the CJ-5 were created in a similar way for friendly foreign governments.
Licenses to produce CJ-3B's were issued to manufacturers in many different countries, and some (like Mahindra in India) continue to produce them in some form or another to this day. The WWII Jeep inspired many imitations and new creations from competing manufacturers. Land Rover, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and a few others all owe their beginnings in the 4x4 world to the inspiration of the military Jeep.

The concept of the compact military jeep had continued usage during the Korean and Vietnam wars before being replaced by the much larger Humvee in the nineteen eighties. In Korea it was mostly deployed in the form of the M38, a direct descendant of the Willys MB. In Vietnam the most used jeep was the then newly designed Ford M151 'MUTT', that featured such state-of-the-art technologies as a unibody construction and all around independent suspension with coil-springs. Apart from the mainstream of - by todays standards - relatively small jeeps, an even smaller vehicle was developed for the US Marines, suitable for airlifting and manhandling: the M422 'Mighty Mite'.
Eventually the US military decided on a fundamentally different concept, choosing a much larger vehicle that would not only take over the role of the jeep, but would also replace all other light military wheeled vehicles: the HMMWV or Humvee.

In 1991 the Willys-Overland Jeep MB model was designated an International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

[edit] Production

[edit] Trivia

• In the 2006 film Cars, the character Sarge is based loosely on both the Willys MB and its successor, the Jeep CJ.
• General George Patton sometimes referred to the GPW/MB jeeps as peeps.
• A Jeep being officially awarded a Purple Heart, after being damaged in 2 beach landings, and being sent home after WWII^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Images

Bantam no.1 Blitz Buggy	Bantam BRC 40	Ford GP	Willys MA
WWII-vintage slat grille	Ford's stamped steel grille design on a 1945 Willys	Willys MB	WWII Jeep in the STEAM Museum, Swindon, GB
Willys jeep	Jeep with top up	The WWII jeep with M-100 trailer, Potsdam, Germany	Heavily armed US 3rd Infantry jeep, Newfoundland, 1942

[edit] Further reading

• The American Society of Mechanical Engineers: The JEEP MB^®, An International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, Jeep House, Toledo (Ohio) 1991, code H152 (No ISBN)
• Fowler, Will: Jeep Goes to War, Courage Books, Philadelphia (Pa) 1993, ISBN 1-56138-235-3

[edit] External links

• The History of... Jeeps in Olive Drab - a History of the GI Jeep
• The Universal Jeep
• Bantam jeep story
• Bantam jeep at 42fordgpw.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bantam BRC 40

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