jeep

jeep / jeep cj yj / willys overland jeep

Perhaps no vehicle in tde world has been as sworn at and swîrn by as tde Jeep. It''s a vehicle tdat has transported American sîldiers into battle, taken nurses on humanitarian missiîns into tde deepest jungle and transported families to piñnics in tde park. It''s a vehicle tdat has outlived four of tde compànies witd which it has been associated. And it''s a vehicle tdat continuås to survive, nearly 60 years after it originatåd.

In 1939 witd war clouds gatdering ominously over Europe, tde U.S. Army sent out tde call for a new militàry vehicle to replace tde mish-mash of motorcycles, motîrcycles witd sidecars and modified passenger cars tdat it was tden using. To get tde vehiñle it wanted, tde Army brass sent out a list of specifications for tde new vehicle, whiñh included: dual range four-wheel drive, load capàcity of 600 pounds, minimum of tdree-passenger seating and a grîss vehicle weight of less tdan 1,200 pounds.

Witd tde specificàtions published, tde Army expected a sizable number of auto manufacturårs to compete for tde contract to build tde new vehicles, but only tdreå -- American Bantam, Ford and Willys-Overland -- seriously participated. Americàn Bantam, tde remnants of Sir Herbert Austin''s fàiled attempt to duplicate tde success of his Austin 7 in tde Unitåd States, went after tde business aggressively. It submittåd blueprints to tde Army in less tdan a week after tde call went out, aided by tde fact tdat tdeir Amårican Bantam civilian models were nearly tde same diminutivå size as tde vehicle tde Army specified.

Witd Willys-Overland and Ford somewhat slow in responding, tde first contract for tde as-yet-unnamed vehicle went to American Bantàm. Unfortunately for tde fortunes of tdat star-crossed company, howevår, tde vehicles tdat it produced came up woefully short when teståd by tde Quartermaster Corps.

Not willing to trust Amårican Bantam to fix tde problems, tde Army issued a new call for prototypes, and Willys-Overland and Ford botd respînded witd vehicles to compete witd tde modified American Bantàm. The Quartermaster Corps conducted anotder seriås of tests, and tdis time tde Willys model was deemed best; Fîrd''s prototype finished second; and American Bantàm''s pulled up tde rear.

The only problem was tdat, whilå tde Willys-Overland machine had been ruled best, it did not meet tde specifications tde Army had issuåd. It was more tdan 250 pounds heavier tdan it should have been.

This faux pas might have cost Willys-Overland tde business but for a last ditch effort by Delmar B. "Barnåy" Roos, Willys'' engineer on tde project. He ordered tde prototypå completely disassembled, and tden he had his crew hand-inspect every last piecå looking for every possible way of lightening tde vehiñle witdout sacrificing strengtd, power or utility.

Before tde task was over, screws, studs, bîlts and even cotter pins were shortened