Best video-history of the initital creation of the "Original Jeep". The video shows the story of the "Jeep" from its original Bantam roots, all the way through its initial civilian use.
In the late 60s I drove my first car, a Willis Jeep station wagon version. The front half looked the same and the back half was a box inclosing and now for room for another row of seats and cargo. It was 4 cylinder 2 wheel drive. My father painted it my choice of copper metallic with cream trim. I wish I had it today.
I was in the Marine Corps in the mid 1960's and I drove a Jeep that would go damn near anywhere. In 1967 they introduced a new jeep design that was a piece of crap. It rolled over too easily on curves and killed several guys; so it was phased out.
The M151. Design began in 1951, adopted for use 1960, produced (later variant) through 1978. The design had been improved, the M151A2 version with improved trailing arm rear suspension to address the rollover issue. They were still considered too dangerous for surplus sale, most being torch cut into large chunks prior to sale.
Keep in mind probably a majority of MB's & GPW's were left in the theaters where they were used, Europe, Pacific Theater and and Korea along with trucks and other war material, some were dumped off ships into the ocean. It was deemed not economical to bring this stuff back. I doubt much thought was given to the impact on new car sales in the US since it would take a while for auto manufactures to switch back from war production to civilian automobiles, some time in 1946 I believe. Anyway the DRMO ( Defense Reutilization Marketing Office) deemed them a safety hazard and cannot be sold to the public unless the whole thing was torch cut down the middle, supposedly making them only useful for parts or scrap. Although not as vibrant as it used to be there is still a large market of original WWII Jeep parts in France and some other countries as well as some complete Jeeps.of course not all jeeps met the fate of being cut but a lot did. Europe was a treasure trove of war material after WWII and to a lesser extent today. Civilians gathered all manner of equipment off the battle field, Thompsons, MG 34's and 42's MP40's, M1's the list goes on, and stored it in attics and barns. There is still a lot of dwat arms in Europe today.
"GP 1/4 ton" the above photo is a Bantam, NOT a "Jeep". Bantam created this vehicle and FRD gave it to FORD & Kaiser... Only the BANTAM has the radiused grill
WW2 'standard Jeeps' (Truck, 1?4 Ton, 4X4, G503), whether Willys MB or Ford GPW, ran the Willys 'Go Devil 134 cubic inch engine which was a 'flathead' 4 cylinder. Gearbox was T84 three speed with Dana/Spicer T90 transfer case.
I’ve owned over 2 dozen Jeeps since the late 1960’s including 2 MB’s and 1 Ford GPW. Ford apparently wanted to make sure everyone knew who made the GPW. While restoring my GPW 8 realized every nut, bolt, lug nuts wheel studs ect and a F stamped on it. The cylinder head had Ford scrolled on it.
Quality control. Nearly every part of an MB could be interchanged with a GPW and vice-versa as they often were in field use. If a part failed on a _Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4X4, G503,_ Ford wanted to be able to identify whose part it was.
@@-oiiio-3993 It was strictly an ego thing with old Henry Ford who was still involved with the company even though Edsel was technically in charge of the company until he died in the middle of the war. Bantam, Willys and Ford all got their parts out of the same parts bin during the war. Several articles have been written about this going back to the late 1980’s in various magazines.
@@supersami7748 Such is your (and others') assumption. Ford cast 134 inch 'Go Devil' engines of the Willys design (for which Willys got no royalties) - an engine that Bantam never used. Many body parts for the Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4X4, G503 were produced at Ford plants. ACM, who made 'body tubs', also marked trailer tubs for Bantam differently than those for Willys for much of their production. Ford did not mark the Dana/Spicer transmissions or transfer cases... . The bottom line is that Ford produced vehicles as subcontractor with parts that would likely be (and certainly were) mixed with non Ford built vehicles and vice-versa. It was a matter of quality control.
A good history of the Jeep however it made me cringe every time they said "Willeez" when the correct pronunciation is "Williss". John Willys was the founder of the Willys-Overland Co. He was English and his last name is pronounced "Williss" not "Willeez" . Watch some old commercials for the Willys-Overland Co. vehicles and see for yourself the correct way to pronounce Willys. Have some respect for the founder. These , So called Historians on the video should know better.
I did not say he was born in England only that he was of English decent. "John North Willys (correctly pronounced Will-is) was born in a small central-western New York village called Canandaigua on October 25, 1873." excerpt from John North Willys( of Willys-Overland ) Biography by Curtis Redgap. If you watch early adds for Willys-Overland vehicles i.e. the Willys Areo etc. you will see that it is correctly pronounced Will-is.
And? So? I should be upset about you cringing? Why? Enough of self appointed language police sticking their noses where they need not be. LOLOLOLOLOLOL
the man may have pronounced his name as willis but it says willeez....stop trying to correct every 500 million men women and children since 1941 who has pronounced it as willeez
Damn, the front end of the Bantam model was one ugly sumbitch....so was the original Willy's...I've got a 1944 Ford GP runnin a Ford 289 K-Code out of a wrecked 66 Mustang putting damn near 300hp to the ground, 4spd w/a Warn manual overdrive, Dana 44 posi rear Dana 35 posi front end, it's a savage....
There was no 1944 GP, it would be a GPW. Ford's GP was a 'pre - standard' model of which 1,500 (later increased for Lend Lease) were contracted to compete with Bantam's BRC and Willys' MA for the eventual G503 contract. The contract for _Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4X4, G503_ was awarded in 1941 to Willys Overland who would build over 360,000 of their MB model (Military, Second contract). Ford was named subcontractor to G503 and built over 280,000 of their GPW model by war's end. Ford's _GP_ denoted Government, 80" wheelbase ('P' was Ford internal code for 80" w/b), GPW was Government, 80", Willys pattern.
I heard that the government had agreed with the manufacturers not to sell surplus Jeeps to the public . Doing so would have lessened sales of new cars . So the military Jeeps were cut in half and sold for scrap . That, at least is what I was told and ,if true, it represents government wastefulness .
The exact opposite was done at the end of WW2. 'Jeeps' had been reconditioned / rebuilt at ordnance facilities in the U.S. and abroad during the war (thus the nearly complete parts interchange between Ford GPW / Willys MB). At war's end refurbishment continued with several outside firms under contract to rebuild vehicles at government expense prior to surplus sale. Thousands of Ordnance refurbished 'Jeeps' were sold as surplus through the 1940s, 50s, 60s. Here is a _partial_ list of firms contracted by Ordnance in the U.S. and quantities rebuilt. There were also facilities in Europe, Asia, Africa. 1. Bechtel McCone 4,986 2. Allison Steel Manufacturing Company 2,865 3. Moore Equipment Co 2,443 4. Higgins Plastic Corp 1,850 5. Stewart & Stevenson 1,750 6. W.A. Bechtel 1,555 7. Bishop McCormick & Bishop 343 8. International Diesel 267 9. Vancura Motor Company 66 10. A.M. Meyerstein 49 It was the (decades later) HMMWV that was seldom sold as surplus for some years, possibly a deal made to protect civvy sales of the 1980s - 90s 'Humvee' or just a continuation of GRMO policy to not sell intact M151 vehicles as they were considered dangerous / unfit for civilian use.
Unfortunately this is partially true. Many GPW's & MB were not considered road worthily enough for highway use and were cut in half, thankfully not all were.I own a very original 1945MB that was never cut.
@@carlwojtaszek5960 That is not the same as _"...the government had agreed with the manufacturers not to sell surplus Jeeps to the public . Doing so would have lessened sales of new cars. So the military Jeeps were cut in half and sold for scrap .[sic]"_ Not all vehicles that went into Ordnance refurbishing came out as rebuilt. They went in as anything from lightly used to wrecks that had been hit by artillery fire and still had salvegable parts. The objective was to assemble as many complete, viable, surplus vehicles for sale as possible - quite the opposite of the OP's statement.
Les trois meilleurs voitures du vingtième siècle: La Jeep Willys ou Ford, La deux chevaux Citroën, et la DS 19 Citroën, tout le reste c sont des caisses à savon./
Questo individuo, non sa che la vettura più fabbricata al Mondo, è la "WV" mod. 'Maggiolino', e suoi diretti derivati: 23.000.000. Seguita dalla Ford/mod.'T':16.000.000. La Citroen "2CV", fu progettata da F.Porsche, mentre era prigioniro dei Francesi (dopo la 2GM), e liberato da un imprenditore Italiano, che ne ha pagato l'ignobile"riscatto".
Willys (pronounced /ˈwɪlɪs/, "Willis" [2])[5] [1] was a brand name used by Willys-Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys.
There were several promotional films made , and paid for by Willy's Overland that pronounced the name as Willeez , not Willis . As it was their company , you'd think that they would know how to say it .
Unions have been the cause of a lot of good companies to go under. I agree. Fair is fair, but some dude pushing a broom doesn't deserve $25 an hour, full medical, dental and vision benefits, and a pension.
the willy's MA's colum shift is a real b! tch excuse me guys ~ ive driven many jeeps ( i ❤jeeps ) the GP ford & BRC40 bantam are a pleasure to drive , the willy's MA is not fun
Thank you for including American Bantam. When ever I talk about the Jeep they only know Willys and Ford.
In the late 60s I drove my first car, a Willis Jeep station wagon version. The front half looked the same and the back half was a box inclosing and now for room for another row of seats and cargo. It was 4 cylinder 2 wheel drive. My father painted it my choice of copper metallic with cream trim. I wish I had it today.
They should start to make the original jeep and sale it in a box to be put together by the buyer. I'll buy one for sure!
A company from India does and it's called a Roxor. Available in the US
@@chrishorton6605 I've seen videos on this, but they aren't street legal and they have modern diesel engines.
no problem find a Jeep specialist (like Kaiser Willys) and go for it. But at a certain cost, you'll understand :-)
@@00razmataz princes auto is selling a replica... $2000 CND. Just like an ATV. Not too bad. Thanks
Joel The Jeep , as it was, wouldn’t be legal for street use in the USA either.
Good documentary, more complete and accurate than most.
When Willys expanded to trucks from the jeeps keeping the PTO with all the attachments they offered there wasn`t anything a Willys couldn`t do.
Thanks for posting this I enjoyed it!
I was in the Marine Corps in the mid 1960's and I drove a Jeep that would go damn near anywhere. In 1967 they introduced a new jeep design that was a piece of crap. It rolled over too easily on curves and killed several guys; so it was phased out.
The M151. Design began in 1951, adopted for use 1960, produced (later variant) through 1978.
The design had been improved, the M151A2 version with improved trailing arm rear suspension to address the rollover issue. They were still considered too dangerous for surplus sale, most being torch cut into large chunks prior to sale.
Jeep is mighty evergreen forever ❤️ Hence the US company should have done manufacturing with same specification again
A friend of mine in the Marines built a jeep really cool
Keep in mind probably a majority of MB's & GPW's were left in the theaters where they were used, Europe, Pacific Theater and and Korea along with trucks and other war material, some were dumped off ships into the ocean. It was deemed not economical to bring this stuff back. I doubt much thought was given to the impact on new car sales in the US since it would take a while for auto manufactures to switch back from war production to civilian automobiles, some time in 1946 I believe. Anyway the DRMO ( Defense Reutilization Marketing Office) deemed them a safety hazard and cannot be sold to the public unless the whole thing was torch cut down the middle, supposedly making them only useful for parts or scrap. Although not as vibrant as it used to be there is still a large market of original WWII Jeep parts in France and some other countries as well as some complete Jeeps.of course not all jeeps met the fate of being cut but a lot did.
Europe was a treasure trove of war material after WWII and to a lesser extent today. Civilians gathered all manner of equipment off the battle field, Thompsons, MG 34's and 42's MP40's, M1's the list goes on, and stored it in attics and barns. There is still a lot of dwat arms in Europe today.
"GP 1/4 ton" the above photo is a Bantam, NOT a "Jeep". Bantam created this vehicle and FRD gave it to FORD & Kaiser... Only the BANTAM has the radiused grill
Dream, not a car
ADAM, i was replying to Carl. Get it? Read and sort out what was posted.
'
how many cyclinders this jeep...
auto or manual...
where is XR-311 car
bestamerica, 4 cyl side valve, of course manual .
WW2 'standard Jeeps' (Truck, 1?4 Ton, 4X4, G503), whether Willys MB or Ford GPW, ran the Willys 'Go Devil 134 cubic inch engine which was a 'flathead' 4 cylinder. Gearbox was T84 three speed with Dana/Spicer T90 transfer case.
Where's Nellybell?
interesting
A very useful vehicle for breaking your coxis
I’ve owned over 2 dozen Jeeps since the late 1960’s including 2 MB’s and 1 Ford GPW. Ford apparently wanted to make sure everyone knew who made the GPW. While restoring my GPW 8 realized every nut, bolt, lug nuts wheel studs ect and a F stamped on it. The cylinder head had Ford scrolled on it.
Quality control.
Nearly every part of an MB could be interchanged with a GPW and vice-versa as they often were in field use.
If a part failed on a _Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4X4, G503,_ Ford wanted to be able to identify whose part it was.
@@-oiiio-3993 It was strictly an ego thing with old Henry Ford who was still involved with the company even though Edsel was technically in charge of the company until he died in the middle of the war. Bantam, Willys and Ford all got their parts out of the same parts bin during the war. Several articles have been written about this going back to the late 1980’s in various magazines.
@@supersami7748 Such is your (and others') assumption.
Ford cast 134 inch 'Go Devil' engines of the Willys design (for which Willys got no royalties) - an engine that Bantam never used. Many body parts for the Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4X4, G503 were produced at Ford plants. ACM, who made 'body tubs', also marked trailer tubs for Bantam differently than those for Willys for much of their production. Ford did not mark the Dana/Spicer transmissions or transfer cases... .
The bottom line is that Ford produced vehicles as subcontractor with parts that would likely be (and certainly were) mixed with non Ford built vehicles and vice-versa.
It was a matter of quality control.
Cancelling the Jeep and Land Rover will go down as some of the biggest military mistakes ever.
I very much doubt that ..its one of the militarys wiser decisions
A good history of the Jeep however it made me cringe every time they said "Willeez" when the correct pronunciation is "Williss". John Willys was the founder of the Willys-Overland Co. He was English and his last name is pronounced "Williss" not "Willeez" . Watch some old commercials for the Willys-Overland Co. vehicles and see for yourself the correct way to pronounce Willys. Have some respect for the founder. These , So called Historians on the video should know better.
How can he be English when he was born in New York?
I did not say he was born in England only that he was of English decent. "John North Willys (correctly pronounced Will-is) was born in a small central-western New York village called Canandaigua on October 25, 1873." excerpt from John North Willys( of Willys-Overland ) Biography by Curtis Redgap.
If you watch early adds for Willys-Overland vehicles i.e. the Willys Areo etc. you will see that it is correctly pronounced Will-is.
And? So? I should be upset about you cringing? Why? Enough of self appointed language police sticking their noses where they need not be. LOLOLOLOLOLOL
@Carl Woj….get over yourself you pedantic douche. Now watch me depart in my Jag-u-are.
the man may have pronounced his name as willis but it says willeez....stop trying to correct every 500 million men women and children since 1941 who has pronounced it as willeez
It's "Willis" not "Willees".
Spencer Branting it is now, “willieees” is now part of the automotive lexicon
Recneps Gnitnarb ...then the name "Willis" is misspelled as there is no "y" in that name...
@@branon6565 John North Willys, for whom the company was named, pronounced his name _Will - iss_ as do his descendants.
@@-oiiio-3993 but , how did his forefathers pronounce it ? If you were named Billy would you go around introducing yourself as Billis ?
@@bobbrinkerhoff3592 'Billy' is not 'Billys'.
Damn, the front end of the Bantam model was one ugly sumbitch....so was the original Willy's...I've got a 1944 Ford GP runnin a Ford 289 K-Code out of a wrecked 66 Mustang putting damn near 300hp to the ground, 4spd w/a Warn manual overdrive, Dana 44 posi rear Dana 35 posi front end, it's a savage....
There was no 1944 GP, it would be a GPW.
Ford's GP was a 'pre - standard' model of which 1,500 (later increased for Lend Lease) were contracted to compete with Bantam's BRC and Willys' MA for the eventual G503 contract.
The contract for _Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4X4, G503_ was awarded in 1941 to Willys Overland who would build over 360,000 of their MB model (Military, Second contract). Ford was named subcontractor to G503 and built over 280,000 of their GPW model by war's end.
Ford's _GP_ denoted Government, 80" wheelbase ('P' was Ford internal code for 80" w/b), GPW was Government, 80", Willys pattern.
A cj 5 in a 📦
That's why we sold to the Italias
I heard that the government had agreed with the manufacturers not to sell surplus Jeeps to the public . Doing so would have lessened sales of new cars . So the military Jeeps were cut in half and sold for scrap . That, at least is what I was told and ,if true, it represents government wastefulness .
The exact opposite was done at the end of WW2.
'Jeeps' had been reconditioned / rebuilt at ordnance facilities in the U.S. and abroad during the war (thus the nearly complete parts interchange between Ford GPW / Willys MB). At war's end refurbishment continued with several outside firms under contract to rebuild vehicles at government expense prior to surplus sale.
Thousands of Ordnance refurbished 'Jeeps' were sold as surplus through the 1940s, 50s, 60s.
Here is a _partial_ list of firms contracted by Ordnance in the U.S. and quantities rebuilt. There were also facilities in Europe, Asia, Africa.
1. Bechtel McCone 4,986
2. Allison Steel Manufacturing Company 2,865
3. Moore Equipment Co 2,443
4. Higgins Plastic Corp 1,850
5. Stewart & Stevenson 1,750
6. W.A. Bechtel 1,555
7. Bishop McCormick & Bishop 343
8. International Diesel 267
9. Vancura Motor Company 66
10. A.M. Meyerstein 49
It was the (decades later) HMMWV that was seldom sold as surplus for some years, possibly a deal made to protect civvy sales of the 1980s - 90s 'Humvee' or just a continuation of GRMO policy to not sell intact M151 vehicles as they were considered dangerous / unfit for civilian use.
Unfortunately this is partially true. Many GPW's & MB were not considered road worthily enough for highway use and were cut in half, thankfully not all were.I own a very original 1945MB that was never cut.
@@carlwojtaszek5960 That is not the same as _"...the government had agreed with the manufacturers not to sell surplus Jeeps to the public . Doing so would have lessened sales of new cars. So the military Jeeps were cut in half and sold for scrap .[sic]"_
Not all vehicles that went into Ordnance refurbishing came out as rebuilt. They went in as anything from lightly used to wrecks that had been hit by artillery fire and still had salvegable parts. The objective was to assemble as many complete, viable, surplus vehicles for sale as possible - quite the opposite of the OP's statement.
@@-oiiio-3993 how do you explain all the 40 foot trailers loaded with half cut jeeps in 70s 80s?
@@rctopfueler2841 The M151 vehicles were 'demilled' prior to DRMO sale.
Did iss cwazzy
Les trois meilleurs voitures du vingtième siècle: La Jeep Willys ou Ford, La deux chevaux Citroën, et la DS 19 Citroën, tout le reste c sont des caisses à savon./
Questo individuo, non sa che la vettura più fabbricata al Mondo, è la "WV" mod. 'Maggiolino', e suoi diretti derivati: 23.000.000. Seguita dalla Ford/mod.'T':16.000.000. La Citroen "2CV", fu progettata da F.Porsche, mentre era prigioniro dei Francesi (dopo la 2GM), e liberato da un imprenditore Italiano, che ne ha pagato l'ignobile"riscatto".
Willys (pronounced /ˈwɪlɪs/, "Willis" [2])[5] [1] was a brand name used by Willys-Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys.
There were several promotional films made , and paid for by Willy's Overland that pronounced the name as Willeez , not Willis . As it was their company , you'd think that they would know how to say it .
Good thing the UAW was not involved with the Jeep the enemy could have had victory if they were.
You're right about that....it was the union of A L L Americans that produced the hardware required to win that war.
Unions have been the cause of a lot of good companies to go under. I agree. Fair is fair, but some dude pushing a broom doesn't deserve $25 an hour, full medical, dental and vision benefits, and a pension.
@@Ringele5574 ....I worked st Jeep for over 30 years and never saw any pushing around a broom....it was our job to keep our own work areas clean
And now, JEEP is owed by the weakest axis power. FIAT.
Fiat, the best power there is.
@@fransbogers5466 - FIAT = Fix It Again Tony.
JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket.
jeep is still a jeep no matter who owns the title to the company
@@healthyamerican - A money pit, no matter who owns it.
B A true...but fun fun fun
Quando corona vírus acabar, vou buscar um JEEP WYLLYS 1942.
the willy's MA's colum shift is a real b! tch
excuse me guys ~ ive driven many jeeps ( i ❤jeeps ) the GP ford & BRC40 bantam are a pleasure to drive , the willy's MA is not fun
Natzis ! what natzis !? GERMAN !!!!!!!!!!!!
Wojtek Wesolowski ....KRAUTS
Hitler was Austrian.