What’s your experience with Jeeps?
Founded in 1908 and shortly after renamed Willys-Overland in 1912, Willys became the second largest automobile manufacturer in America behind Ford. The Great Depression hit Willys hard, but there was hope during our nation’s darkest time.
During World War II, the American government contracted two companies to build its military vehicles - Ford & Overland Automotive. They needed small, yet capable cars that would be easy to work on in the field and reliable under heavy use.
▴2 The engineering goal of the Willys Military truck was to create an engine that produced 15hp at 4400rpm while being ran for 150 hours straight! It took them 2 years, but they got the motor tough as nails and its success during the war generated close to 360,000 units being built.
▴3 -▴4 Due to their incredible utility during the war, Willys decided to continue production of their truck and slowly gained traction, primarily to farmers and those who utilized the truck on undeveloped terrain.
The first generations of these trucks were labeled as “CJ” for “Civilian Jeep”. But the question of where does the term Jeep come from? Historians give two possible explanations.
1) “Jeep” is a slurred pronunciation of the military acronym for General Purpose “GP”.
2) The term Jeep goes as far back as World War 1 when unproven soldiers or military equipment was called Jeep.
▴5 - ▴7 Either way, the name caught on and Willys patented the word Jeep and assigned it to all of their utilitarian vehicles. Over the past half century, the Jeep has transitioned from military grade truck to more recently being everywhere as the go to car for ruggedness, utilitarianism, and exploration.
▴8 Many nations have built their brand of SUV on the shoulders of the Willy, but there is and always will be only one Jeep.
📸Sources: 1, 3 - 7 wikipedia | 2,8 pixabay |