Editing Jeep (section)

==World War II==
{{main|Willys MB}}

===Development – 1. Bantam Reconnaissance Car===
[[File:Bantam-jeep-1.jpg|thumb|right|Bantam's BRC 40, pictured in 1941]]
When it became clear that the United States would be involved in the European theater of [[European theatre of World War II|World War II]], the Army contacted 135 companies to create working prototypes of a four-wheel drive reconnaissance car. Only two companies responded: the [[American Bantam|American Bantam Car Company]] and [[Willys|Willys-Overland]]. The Army set a seemingly impossible deadline of 49 days to supply a working prototype. Willys asked for more time, but was refused. American Bantam had only a small staff with nobody to draft the vehicle plans, so chief engineer Harold Crist<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.willys-overland.com/documents/198203-04%20-%20Looking%20Back%20-%20Harold%20Crist%20-%20The%20Man%20and%20His%20Machines%20-%20George%20Domer.htm |title=Looking Back: Harold Crist - The Man and His Machines |website=www.willys-overland.com |date=14 September 2006 |access-date=16 July 2022}}</ref> hired [[Karl Probst]], a talented freelance designer from Detroit. After turning down Bantam's initial request, Probst responded to an Army request and began work on July 17, 1940, initially without salary.

Probst drafted the full plans in just two days for the Bantam prototype known as the BRC or Bantam Reconnaissance Car, working up a cost estimate the next day. Bantam's bid was submitted on July 22, complete with blueprints.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cossor.com.au/jeep_1.html |title=The Military Jeep |website=Cossor.com.au |access-date=17 October 2020 |first=Ian |last=Cossor |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100529191027/http://www.cossor.com.au/jeep_1.html |archive-date=29 May 2010 }}</ref> Much of the vehicle could be assembled from off-the-shelf automotive parts, and custom four-wheel drivetrain components were to be supplied by [[Dana Holding Corporation|Spicer]]. The hand-built prototype was completed in [[Butler, Pennsylvania]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8NM |title=Invention of the Jeep - Pennsylvania Historical Markers |website=Waymarking.com |date=9 March 2006 |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606135116/http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8NM |url-status=live }}</ref> and driven to [[Fort Holabird|Camp Holabird]], [[Maryland]] on September 23 for Army testing. The vehicle met all the Army's criteria except engine torque.

===Development – 2. Willys and Ford===
{{multiple image
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|image1 = Pygmy01 (cropped).jpg
|caption1 = Ford Pygmy during testing at Camp Holabird, Maryland ({{circa|1940}})
|image2= WW2jeep.jpg
|caption2 = Dashboard of World War II era jeep in [[Imperial War Museum]] (2007)
}}
The Army thought that the Bantam company lacked the production capacity to manufacture and deliver the required number of vehicles, so it supplied the Bantam design to [[Willys]] and [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], and encouraged them to enhance the design. The resulting [[Ford Pygmy|Ford "Pygmy"]] and Willys "Quad" prototypes looked very similar to the [[Bantam BRC]] prototype, and Spicer supplied very similar four-wheel drivetrain components to all three manufacturers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jeep-history.com/fordjeep.asp |title=Ford Manufacturers a Jeep |publisher=Jeep History |access-date=4 July 2012 |archive-date=April 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415153434/http://www.jeep-history.com/fordjeep.asp }}</ref>

[[File:CaastroValleyMay2008parade-016.jpg|thumb|left|Jeep with [[M2 Browning machine gun|50 cal. Browning machine gun]] (2008)]]
1,500 of each model (Bantam BRC-40, Ford GP, and Willys MA) were built and extensively field-tested. After the weight specification was revised from {{convert|1275|lb|kg|abbr=on}} to a maximum of {{convert|2450|lb|kg|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Akl0LXTXeT8C&q=weight+requirement+Jeep&pg=PA68 |title=Bantam, Ford and Willys-1/4-Ton Reconnaissance Cars|last=Notman |first=Robert |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84728-188-3 |page=68 |publisher=Lulu.com |access-date=17 October 2020}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} including oil and water, Willys-Overland's chief engineer [[Delmar "Barney" Roos]] modified the design in order to use Willys's heavy but powerful "[[Willys Go Devil engine|Go Devil]]" engine, and won the initial production contract. The Willys version became the standard jeep design, designated the [[Willys MB|model MB]], and was built at their plant in [[Toledo, Ohio]]. The familiar pressed-metal Jeep grille was a Ford design feature and incorporated in the final design by the Army.

Because the US War Department required a large number of vehicles in a short time, Willys-Overland granted the US Government a non-exclusive license to allow another company to manufacture vehicles using Willys' specifications. The Army chose Ford as a second supplier, building Jeeps to the Willys' design. Willys supplied Ford with a complete set of plans and specifications.<ref name="1940–1941">{{cite web |website=How Stuff Works |title=1940–1941 Jeep|url= https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1940-1941-jeep.htm#pt5 |date=14 December 2007 |access-date=4 June 2022}}</ref> American Bantam, the creators of the first Jeep, built approximately 2,700 of them to the BRC-40 design, but spent the rest of the war building heavy-duty trailers for the Army.

===Full production – Willys MB and Ford GPW===
[[File:Willys Jeep 1943.jpg|thumb|1943 Willys Jeep]]
Final production version jeeps built by Willys-Overland were the '''Model MB''', while those built by Ford were the '''Model GPW''' (''G'' = government vehicle, ''P'' = 80" [[wheelbase]], ''W'' = Willys engine design). There were subtle differences between the two.<ref>{{cite book |last=Allen | first=Jim |title=Jeep: Collector's Library |publisher=MBI |year=2003 |pages=36–39 |isbn=978-0-7603-1486-9}}</ref> The versions produced by Ford had every component (including bolt heads) marked with an "F", and early on Ford also stamped their name in large letters in their trademark script, embossed in the rear panel of their jeeps. Willys followed the Ford pattern by stamping 'Willys' into several body parts, but the U.S. government objected to this practice, and both parties stopped this in 1942.<ref>{{cite book |last=Scott |first=Graham |title=Essential Military Jeep: Willys, Ford & Bantam models 1941–45 |publisher=MBI |year=1996 | page=25 |isbn=978-1-870979-76-4}}</ref> In spite of persistent advertising by both car and component manufacturers of contributions to the production of successful jeeps during the war, no "Jeep"-branded vehicles were built until the 1945 Willys CJ-2A.

The cost per vehicle trended upwards as the war continued from the price under the first contract from Willys at US$648.74 (Ford's was $782.59 per unit; these figures are equivalent to ${{inflation|US-GDP|648.74|1941}} and ${{inflation|US-GDP|782.59|1941}} in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}, respectively{{inflation/fn|US-GDP}}).<ref name=Zaloga>{{cite book |last=Zaloga |first=Steven J. |title=Jeeps 1941–45 |url= https://archive.org/details/jeeps194145zalo |url-access=limited |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2005 | page= [https://archive.org/details/jeeps194145zalo/page/n11 10] |isbn=978-1-84176-888-5}}</ref> Willys-Overland and Ford, under the direction of [[Charles E. Sorensen]] (vice-president of Ford during World War II), produced about 640,000 Jeeps towards the war effort, which accounted for approximately 18% of all the wheeled military vehicles built in the U.S. during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gearheads.org/history-of-jeep/|title=The History of Jeep|date=17 May 2012|work=Gear Heads |access-date=3 July 2012 |archive-date=February 24, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130224081801/http://gearheads.org/history-of-jeep/}}</ref><ref>Borth, Christy (1945). ''Masters of Mass Production''. Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill. pp. 208–236.</ref><ref>Herman, Arthur (2012). ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II''. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}. pp. 214, 218, 342.</ref>

Jeeps were used by every service of the U.S. military. An average of 145 were supplied to every Army infantry regiment. Jeeps were used for many purposes, including cable laying, [[sawmill]]ing, as firefighting pumpers, field ambulances, tractors, and, with suitable wheels, would run on railway tracks. An [[amphibious vehicle|amphibious]] jeep, the model GPA, or "seep" (Sea Jeep) was built for Ford in modest numbers, but it could not be considered a success as it was neither a good off-road vehicle nor a good boat. As part of the war effort, nearly 30% of all Jeep production was supplied to [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]] and to the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Red Army]].