The name Jeep comes from the military vehicle designation GP (government purposes). Sources dispute this saying that the jeep was used for specific things and never referred to as Government Purposes. The Ford GPW actually stands for G-government use, P to describe the 80″ wheelbase, and the W to indicate it’s Willy Overland engine. Some suggest the name came from soldiers that named it after a popular character in the cartoon Popeye, Eugene the Jeep.

The definition of Jeep describes it as 4 wheel drive, 1/2-1 1/2 ton vehicle for recon or other Army function.

In early 1941 the company Willys Overland showed the Jeeps off the road performance by driving it up the steps to the Capital building in Washington, DC.

The company Willys Overland in June 1950 registered the name Jeep as their own.

During World War II the Army asked the bankrupt company American Bantam for a prototype for a jeep. They gave them 49 days to do it. Karl Probst was brought on by American Bantam and went to work for no money on July 19, 1940. Bantam submitted their bid on July 22, 1940 complete with the blueprints for the jeep. The prototype was hand built from automotive parts on hand and completed in Butler, Pennsylvania then driven to Camp Holabird in Maryland for testing. On September 21, 1940 the testing began and the result was that the body met the Army’s requirement but the engine torque did not.

The Army then gave the Bantam designs and blueprints to Willys and Ford to submit their own designs and changes to the Bantam design. Ford made the “Pygmy” and Willys made the “Quad”. 1,500 of the Ford, Willys, and Bantam were made. Spicer supplied similar 4 wheel drive train components to all three companies. Chief engineer for Willys Overland, Barney Roos made changes with revised weight requirements to include oil and water and was then able to use their engine “Go Devil”.

Jeeps built by Willys Overland were Model MB and those built by Ford were GPW. 640,000 Jeeps were built by Willys Overland and Ford under the supervision of Charles E. Sorensen, Vice President of Ford during World War II. This was 18% of all wheeled military vehicles built here in the United States during World War II.

Every division of the US Military used Jeeps. 145 on average were given to infantry groups. They used Jeep for many different things, field ambulances, cable laying, tractors, fire fighting and saw milling.

Jeep has gone through lots of owners beginning with Willys. They produced the first civilian Jeep in 1945 and got the trademark for Jeep in 1950.

One division of Chrysler Corporation now owns the trademark on the name Jeep. The original grille had 9 slots and was related to the World War II Ford jeep. Since it weighed less than the Willys Slat Grille, it was put into the “standardized Jeep” design.

Today there are many cars named Jeep, but a true dyed in the wool Jeep lover will always long for that original Willys Jeep.

Author Bio: Lawrence Reaves writes for Empire Covers, a leading provider of car covers, truck covers, boat covers, and other vehicle covers and accessories. Empire Covers can be found online at: EmpireCovers.com or at their blog EmpireCovers-Blog.com .

Category: Automotive
Keywords: Jeep, Jeep history, Willys Overland, World War II