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Only three companies took
up the challenge — Ford Motor company,
Willys-Overland, and American Bantam Car
Company. Bantam was the quickest —
they submitted blueprints of the proposed
vehicle in five days flat, and this won
them the initial contract for 70 Jeeps.
However, it must be said here that the Bantam
crumbled under testing by the army quartermaster.
Meanwhile World War II had broken out in
Europe, and there was an urgent need for
such vehicles. Prototypes were accepted
from the other two companies as well. Bantam
delivered 2675 units in 1941. A total of
4,458 units were built by Ford and 1,500
by Willys Overland, the same year.
Some hiccups and modifications later, the
Willys model became universal, but had to
use some of the Ford and Bantam parts on
it. In July 1941, these vehicles were needed
in large numbers, and for $738.74 a piece,
Willys won the contract. The other two companies
did not have mass production technology,
so they could not be awarded a part of the
contract. However they were asked to build
Jeep trailers and other peripherals. The
Willys plant was producing one Jeep every
one-and-a-half minutes. The extra production
was quickly absorbed for haul trailers,
artillery, to operate timber saws, and also
to pull railroad cars.
It is said that the history of the Jeep
is a "portrait of American engineering".
Its performance in World War II was extraordinary.
According to Lt. Col. Manuel A. Conley,
the Jeep could operate without strain from
three to 60 miles per hour. It could handle
a 40 degree slope, turn in a 30 foot circle,
and tilt left or right on a 50 degree angle
without tipping over. It would "go
places where tankers quit and birds would
go back exhausted". He said, "Good
Lord, I don't think we could continue the
war without the Jeep. It does everything.
It goes everywhere. It's as faithful as
a dog, strong as a mule, and as agile as
a goat. It constantly carries twice what
it was designed for, and keeps on going.
It doesn't even ride so badly after you
get used to it." Another army officer
said, "It can do everything except
bake a cake".
"The Jeep became a sign, the emblem,
the alter ego of the American fighting machine,"
Conley chronicled. The end of an era came
in 1981. The armed forces ended their orders
for Jeeps and a new vehicle was ushered
in. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled
Vehicle (Hummer) replaced the quarter ton
Jeep in order to keep up with the new age
of computers and technology.
The Jeep had stood the test of time. Jeep
expert Michael VanderPloeg goes as far as
to say, "The Jeep's history certainly
makes it eligible for the most valuable
player award, if the army had such an honor."
Civilian Jeeps also found their place in
the sun — trekking through mud, and
climbing over rock... Without a doubt, the
Jeep had entrenched itself in mainstream
America...
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