By later 1941 , the landrover as we bonk it was coming together in leap and bounds . However , Bantam was the only carmaker that could meet the Army ’s ridiculous proposal of have got a run paradigm ready in 49 days . The intellect for this was the singular try of Karl Probst – who was busy readying Bantam ’s pilot .
While all this was going on , the Army asked Bantam to progress the remaining 69 cars from the original bid – including eight with four - wheel direction – without seeing the finished paradigm . By confirming their order in advance , the Army did two things . First , this undivided act cut the silhouette of the original jeep , before Willys or Ford even had a chance to show their prototypes . More importantly , it forced Willys and Ford to get move on their pilots lest they be left out of the process completely .
Jeep Image Gallery
The Army Quartermaster , however , felt the motive to diversify jeep production . So copies of Probst ’s blueprints were cater to the rival firms despite the vehement protest of American Bantam . The Army did this on the premiss that the pattern had become its attribute .
Bantam ’s distraint was perceivable enough , but the importunity of the situation was such that there was simply no time for the common nicety . Willys and Ford would soon have prototypes of their own , offering competition to the Bantam . However , the share-out of the prototype drawings cut out a great deal of leg body of work for Willys and Ford , and took away Bantam ’s advanced development advantage .
Like Karl Probst at Bantam , Willys - Overland ’s Barney Roos had resolve that the Army ’s original weight limit of 1,300 dog pound for its proposed new reconnaissance mission car was unrealistic . But unlike Probst , Roos also close that the specified completion engagement was also unacceptable to achieve , partly because the Spicer four - wheel drivetrain would not be easy for him to obtain . This explain why the Willys good example was late coming out of the block .
The Willys original , know as the " Quad " ( an echo of the four - bicycle - parkway truck supplied to the war machine by Nash Motors during the First World War ) was delivered to Holabird on November 13 , 1940 , follow 10 24-hour interval afterwards by the Ford " Pygmy . "
Since both were based upon Karl Probst ’s design , it is scarcely surprising that they looked almost exactly like the Bantam pilot whose testing had been completed the old month . One obvious exception to this was the flat grillwork used by the Ford . The Willys , on the other hand , mimicked the rounded grill hire by the Bantam .
A. Wade Wells , in his 1946 book Hail to the Jeep , quotes Willys test gadget driver Donald Kenower ’s account of the run exercise that followed the preliminary 4,000 - mile highway run :
" The next part of the psychometric test was what they called crown of thorns - land . This was run in a field , at the camp , which they had desexualise up to feign highly rough land , ditches , hills , etc . Our job had wanton springs and rode fairly well . The resultant role was that they drive it about twice as tight as they did other similar vehicles , as the swiftness was mold by how fast it was possible to go and still stay in the task . "
( It is only fair to monish the reader that Wells was a Willys - Overland employee , so his observations may not have been entirely objective . )
Wells continues : " During the cross - country test the field became a clay lake due to continuous hard rains . At that time we find out that the oil bathing tub air cleaner was not decently mounted , and permitted scandal to get in the engine through the air inlet . Before this was observe , the engine had been damaged , and in club to continue the test and obviate hold an locomotive was taken out of a Willys passenger auto and installed in the cowcatcher example , and it was again running on the course in a few hours . "
Ford , meanwhile , had reservation about the project . By this clock time , the companionship was committed to large , heavy passenger cars with much greater engine translation than the Army specifications called for . But the Quartermaster believe that Ford ’s enormous productive electrical capacity would in the end be want . So insistency was brought to bear , and in the destruction Ford enter the contest .
The Ford pilot program car made economic consumption of what was by that clock time the fellowship ’s only four - piston chamber powerplant – a modified edition of the Fordson tractor engine . This unit , basically half of the Mercury V-8 , was bluntly criticized by Road & Track ’s John Bond for such shortcomings as " split valve guides , no adjustment for tappets , semi - steel pistons , no real concept of proper valve timing or even burning bedroom design . "
Another trouble Ford encountered was the fact that it did not have a suitabletransmission . So , the former , non - synchro Model A gearbox was used – rugged and reliable , but dispiritedly outclassed by the competition .
The next section give way into more particular about the differences between the Willys , Bantam , and Ford early jeep designs .
For more information on Jeeps, see:
Differences Between Willys, Bantam, and Ford Early Jeeps
After the across-the-board testing of the Willys , Bantam , and Ford early jeep mannikin was completed , the QMC station an order for 1,500 more of the minuscule machines from each company . This represented a via media , worked out on November 14 , 1940 , with the help of the National Defense Advisory Commission . The General Staff had require the original order to go totally to Bantam , while the Quartermaster General – who took a faint view of Bantam ’s production prospects – preferred to swear on other supplier .
All three manufacturers had submitted proposals that were essentially satisfactory . There were , however , some significant differences between manikin , and they are the following :
Thus , though all three models differed in several ways , they were becoming increasingly similar . Willys , however , was up against a serious job , for the Army made it known that the 2,160 - hammer weight limit was official and terminal .
As Wells severalise the story , " Only the decisiveness of Under - Secretary of War Patterson broke the blind alley . " Colonel ( posterior Brig . worldwide ) H. J. Lawes , the commandant of the test mall at Camp Holabird , told Willys - Overland officials that there was some flexibility in the weight stipulation . So Patterson check to tolerate Willys to proceed with the production of their 1,500 vehicles with an freedom to the weight limitation .
Not that the issue was perpetually settle . Ward Canaday afterwards hark back , " We had won a first round , but we still were straightforwardly face with the menace of losing all next orders beyond the 1,500 if we did not make the 2,160 pounds weightiness and of losing them anyway , on a performance basis , if we abandoned our own powerful railway locomotive and rugged design so as to receive the lower weight essential . "
So it became imperative for Willys to pare 263 Sudanese pound – 12 percent of the total – from the weight of an already bare - bones vehicle . And , they had to do this with no sacrifice of either strength or power .
On the next page , line up out how Willys achieved a easy landrover that surpassed the designs of both Bantam and Ford .
Willys Jeep Surpasses Bantam and Ford
Because of the jeep ’s lower weightiness requirement , Barney Roos expire back to piece of work on the Willys jeep design that would finally surpass the Bantam and Ford modeling . Almost 75 pounds could have been swerve by using a smaller engine – perhaps the Continental unit of measurement employ by the Bantam pilot . However , Barney Roos had been told that the most telling characteristic of the Willys unit had been its brawny " Go - Devil " railway locomotive . So that thought was rejected out of hand .
Roos , a patient role , determined , resourceful man , disassembled the fomite . Every bolt , every bracket was analyzed . Surplus material was cut by wherever possible . Studs , screws , even cotter pins were bowdlerise . The size of clamps , nuts , and washing machine were tighten . The heavy carbon steel underframe was replaced by one made of lighter admixture .
calorie-free steel was hire for the trunk and pilot . Finally , the labor came down to weighing the pigment . It was shape that one coat would have to suffice , for a second would have signify exceeding the weight limit . The final product did receive the Army ’s specified figure – with just seven ounces to give up .
Roos also undertake some relatively pocket-sized , yet important alteration to the " Go - Devil " engine . The carburetor and intake manifold were altered slimly to get even sound performance on steep grades . To better make out with the mud , moxie , and rubble encountered in fight , exceptional air cleaners and petroleum filters were used .
kudos was heaped upon Barney Roos . In a statement that appeared to completely overlook the critical oeuvre of Probst and the Bantam people , Modern Industrymagazine noted , " When the Army handed out specifications of what it wanted , Roos went back to study and , with nothing but an engine around which to build a vehicle , He and his Willys - Overland staff designed a highly specialized business while competitors were struggling to have their existing products okay and their assembly lines kept entire . "
With 4,500 jeep in service , there was ample chance to assess the respective merits of the three shuffle . predilection clearly went to the Willys , in the main because of its more powerful locomotive . However , the Willys had other reward as well , such as skid plate hop on under the motor and transmission , heavier bore steel in the body , and durable two - composition tubular front steering rods .
On the other hand , there were complaints that the Bantam had " too many germ . " It overheated . Thetransmissionwas to be too light for the occupation ; gears shortly wore out , and the synchromesh was weak . Thewindshield wiperwas paw - operated ; and the assault and battery hanger was too light and required constant welding .
The Ford , meanwhile , was snitch a distant third . In the opinion of one of the examination police officer , the Ford Pygmy " had the most trouble with the motor , which was designed to work on a governor ’s fastness , and there was considerable contain trouble . " As well , the non - synchro transmission system did not win any friends for the Ford .
However , the Bantam and Ford landrover manakin still had desirable qualities that were let in in the normalisation of the jeep . get word more in the next section .
Standardization of the Jeep
At this point , the Army had two possible solutions to the trouble of achieve standardization of the jeep given the existence of three character , each having its own virtues . The most satisfactory was to manufacture a fomite combining the most suitable features in a well-nigh new machine . The 2d was to take the best vehicle of the three and grafting on to it , as far as potential , the honorable points of the other two .
In the interest of saving meter and money , the latter course was prefer . Incredibly , the Quartermaster Corps elected to give Ford , whose vehicle had placed dead last in the field tests , a negotiated contract for 16,000 units .
The Office of Production Management intervene , however , at the behest of William S. Knudsen . Though the Ford Motor Company vigorously protested , the contract was awarded to Willys - Overland . Willys , in realness , had not only supplied the good of the trial vehicle but had underbid Ford by a goodly $ 640,000 . The QMC ’s stated rationale for favoring Ford had been that the big firm was considered a more true source of supplying .
However , critic called the Ford Motor Company " the country ’s first violator of the Wagner Act , " citing six Labor Board decisions then outstanding against it . The potential drop for serious labor problems was as real as it was obvious . In any caseful , Knudsen , an acknowledged expert in matters concerning production , was convince that Willys - Overland was a competent source of supply .
A conference get hold of place at the Holabird Quartermaster Depot to look at change in the design and specification of the Willys unit , now designated the Model MA . As a consequence , several alteration were made in the forthcoming Model MB :
The standardized MB landrover end up two inch longer than the MA . Its weight was 2,450 pounds , a reasonable form for so portly a fomite . As time lead along , experience with the MB lead to further modification .
Larger ( 6.00/16 ) tires and heavier " fight " wheels were added . Electrically , a wireless spark suppresser gene ; an extra dimout driving Christ Within , mounted on the left front pilot ; and a taillight connector socket , for use when a trailer was being towed , were specify . For emergencies , a five - gallon fuel can was mount at the back .
Find out what the Army had to say about the standardized jeep on the next page .
Praise for the Jeep
Just how efficacious a arm of state of war the now - standardized jeep had become can be judged from an account give by Major J. H. Chamberlain after he had been given an obviously strenuous presentation drive :
" Grueling tests showed that the landrover could fight as well as run , " wrote the Major . " And it could go places amotorcyclecouldn’t . Besides , a motorcycle dispatch passenger is vulnerable ; a singlesnipercan cut down him down , letting lively orders fall into foe hands . A jeep , bear armed military man andmachine guns , is a far tougher proffer . And , vital for armed combat strategy , the landrover is a clawing , climbing hellion in reaching good places to shoot from .
" In Mississippi I discover firsthand what it was like to rag in a landrover across pine - studded acres at 50 nautical mile an time of day . . . . [ The number one wood ] slowed down our jeep and straddled a half - burn logarithm , front wheels angle to the sky . I visualized a shattered grouch pillow slip but was shown guard bars underneath for just such protection . Grabbing limited handle on the body , we lifted the car and thrust it easy off the log .
" ground forces strategian specially admire the jeep ’s downcast silhouette . Only three and a third foundation eminent , the jackrabbit - like landrover is grueling to spot in brush country , still harder to line a throttle on .
" At 25 naut mi per time of day he head for a huge live oak tree with gnarled branches close to the priming coat . I was expecting [ the gadget driver ] to swerve suddenly to evidence the landrover ’s manoeuvrability . Soon I saw that it was not his intention to swerve at all .
" ' evade ! ' he squall .
" I skirt .
" We howl under the lowest branch - the top of our car missing it by inches . Only then did I realise that I had stow my 190 pound in the narrow space between seat and cowl - and had piles of wooden leg and arm elbow room to spare .
" ' Plenty o ' headway , ' my driver remarked .
" We crossed a small stream , water flow over the flooring , but we had no trouble , for galvanic units are aim so high that the 40 - inch landrover can keep going through pee 18 inches bass . We claw our room up the 30 - degree bank - twice as steep as you ’ll ever match in a passenger cable car on the main road . "
In Major Chamberlain ’s view , and in the minds of most Americans , the jeep had fall to represent the imaginative mental imagery that had made this Carry Amelia Moore Nation ’s manufacture the envy of the world .
Willys and Ford presently received contract to continue fabricate jeeps , while Bantam was leave behind . find out more on the next page .
1941 Willys and Ford Jeeps
By October 1941 , it was apparent that the landrover ’s versatility and usefulness would far exceed the Army ’s original expectation . A second reservoir was sought , partly to increase the supply , but apparently largely as insurance policy against the possibility of sabotage at the Willys plant . And so began the production of both Willys and Ford jeeps .
Bypassing Bantam , Quartermaster General E. B. Gregory sought out Edsel Ford with the unprecedented request that his company manufacture jeeps accord to the Willys design - including the Barney Roos " Go - Devil " engine . All parts , Edsel was say , were to be similar between the Willys vehicles and their Ford - built clones .
Edsel Ford concord without vacillation ; and on January 10 , 1942 , it was annunciate that a negotiate contract bridge had been made , under which Ford would bring forth 15,000 GPW ( General Purpose Willys ) vehicles , to be $ 14,623,900 .
Willys turned over to Ford its patent of invention , specifications , and drawings – without compensation , according to one write up , although another source indicates that a royalty was bear . In any subject , it was an almost unparalleled instance of wartime cooperation between two competing firm . Indeed , the agreement may even have been illegal , yet it was considered critical to the war effort .
Incidentally , despite its similarity to the Willys MB , the Ford - built GPW is pronto key out by its invert uracil - shaped front frame cross member . The Willys version , in contrast , use a tubular brace .
Over at Bantam , meanwhile , President Frank Fenn was clearly furious . In a alphabetic character dated March 23 , 1942 , he wrote , fit in to historiographer Denfield and Fry , that he " could not understand how Bantam had been denied a chance to bid when it had performed the major part in the jeep ’s development . . . . "
Fenn give-up the ghost on to say that his company had been first to make the marriage proposal that the standardized fomite should be built around the best element of the three pilot models and had wished to share in the building of the car that would result . On the fiscal side , he said that he had paid Spicer , in the fair expectation that Bantam would do good from the work it was doing , more than $ 130,000 in tooling price for axle production . He had , in effect , subsidized Ford ’s and Willys ’s production .
Despite Fenn ’s protests , no more jeep declaration came American Bantam ’s way . By the clip the war ended , Willys had produced 362,841 of the niggling quarter - tonners , while Ford had work up 281,448 . Bantam , the firm responsible for for starting it all , had been concede contracts for only the initial 2,643 units – a proverbial " drop in the bucket . "
Bantam ’s final , forlorn hope was that it would be require to grow the four - wheel - steer jeep , of which eight airplane pilot manakin had been bow . But the Quartermaster Corps – despite plea from the using arms – abandon that proposal , apparently on the grounds that the vehicle ’s advantages were not sufficient to outweigh the added complexity and the potential service problems in the field .
Given the shaky condition of American Bantam and the circumscribed capability of its factory , the decisiveness to go with Willys and Ford , however abrasive it may seem , may not have been entirely unreasonable . Certainly the product the larger companies produced was a respectable one . More than that , it became one of World War II ’s most long-suffering legends .
