 
The Jeep
In 1940-1941, Delmar Roos and a team of engineers at the Willys-Overland
Company (now the
DaimlerChrysler
Corporation) designed the famous Jeep in Toledo, Ohio. The four-wheel-drive vehicle, built
for rough use, helped The Allies win World War II and has been called the most important piece of military equipment used in the war.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower reportedly said that
America could not have won World War II without it.
 In
1940, the Army put together a list of specifications for a new vehicle that
could handle rough terrain and challenging weather conditions. 135 automotive
companies were invited to try to design the new vehicle - but they had to do it
within 49 days. The original specifications
were printed in the Quartermaster Corps, on July 7, 1940. The specs required:
- A driving front axle with 2-speed transfer
case including provisions for disengaging the front axle drive
- A body of rectangular design with a folding
windshield and 3 bucket seats
- Increased engine power
- Means for towing
- 30-caliber machine gun mount
- Blackout lighting
- Oil-bath air cleaner
- Hydraulic brakes
- Full floating axles
- Wheelbase of 80"
- Maximum height of 40"
- Maximum weight of 1275 lbs.
- Approach and departure angles of 45 and 40
degrees, respectively
- Must reach 50 mph on hard surface
- Special bracing for a pintle hook setup
- No aluminum to be used for cylinder head
- At least 4 cylinders
- 8 of the 70 vehicles to be made had to be
four-wheel-steer
The Bantam Company delivered its model on
September 23, 1940, but it was 730 pounds overweight. Willys Overland provided two
versions of its model called "the Quad" on November 11. Ford had their model,
"the Pigmy" in by November 23. Both the Willys-Overland and the Ford models
incorporated some of the Bantam designs -- which was understandable as they were
were each given free access to Bantam's blueprints. The Army liked all three
design and ordered 1500 of each. Testing led to modifications on all three, and
the final versions were called the Bantam 40 BRC, the Willys MA and the Ford GP
(G for Government, P for 80" wheelbase).
In 1941 the War Department narrowed production to
one model, the Willys-Overland, because it met the task and was lower priced
than the others. The single model was manufactured by both Wills-Overland and
Ford under the name GPW - with the W representing "Willys." Willys-Overland and Ford produced more than 637,000 Jeeps
between 1941 and 1945. The basic
model was later modified to make military amphibious vehicles, ambulances,
tractors, and mail delivery vehicles.
What's a Jeep?
 The
word "Jeep" was first coined during WWI. Major E.P. Hogan wrote a history
of
Jeep development for the Army's Quartermaster review in 1941. In it, he
explained that the word "Jeep" "is an old Army grease monkey term that dates
back to WWI and was used by shop mechanics in referring to any new motor
vehicle received for a test." Jeep also likely was derived from the coding GP (G
for Government, P for 80" wheelbase).
What About Popeye?
In 1936, the popular comic strip Popeye
introduced the word Jeep with its character "Eugene
the Jeep." Eugene could say the words "Jeep, Jeep."
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