Posted 05 July 2008 - 03:24 AM
Random replies to things I've read in this thread...
Clarence Kramer of Ford designed the radiator protector (or grill) that Willys was later ordered to use on the standardized jeep model of WWII, that W-O continued to use (albeit with seven slots instead of the wartime nine) after the war, illegally trademarked along with the name "Jeep" in (about) 1950, and continues to use to this day. Roughly twenty five thousand MBs were produced with the Willys designed radiator protector which looks just like the welded together iron of any other military truck of the era.
So, Jim, if the front "hat channel" cross member is not the what makes the Ford "weaker" in your eyes, is it the different tub gussets beneath the fire wall? I know it's not the tool box lids, because Ford's were cooler than Willys'. The open channel frames needed to be reinforced with another c-channel to "box" them, but I believe that this was a failing of both models. In fact, until Ford got its frame production under way, they used Willys frames. Very early GPWs (early to mid 1942) often have the Willys tube front crossmember giving away who manufactured the frame. There is also evidence on some very early Ford models of a small plate welded to the top of the frame where it turns back to horizontal beneath the firewall. Presumably, this was to reinforce a weak spot.
The first Land Rover was built on a WWII jeep chassis and body. In fact, you can see the tool box lids and the curve of the back of the tub of the WWII jeep in the back.
When giving a "jeep history lesson" at our club's annual campout, I liked to follow this theme: Many people have tried to "out-jeep" the jeep. Where are they now? Mid America Research Corporation and AMC (before they bought Jeep) with the Mighty Mite; Land Rover with the Defender 89; Austin with the Champ and Gypsy; Suzuki with the Samurai; Nissan/Datsun with the Patrol; International Harvester with the Scout, Scout 80, Scout 800, and Scout II; Ford tried to steal it back with the M151 MUTT; Crosley with the Farm-O-Road, Ford again with the Bronco, and Toyota with the FJ-series among others have all tried to cut into the market share of the short wheelbase jeep. Where are they now? With the exception of the new FJ, none of these vehicles exist in 2008 and the Toyota is more of a retro homage to the old Land Cruiser than a serious attempt at an offroad rig.
The word "jeep" is more than just a slurring of the letters GP which was Ford's pre-standardized jeep. The G designates a government contract vehicle and the P denotes an eighty inch wheelbase reconnaissance car. When the W was added, it was because Ford was ordered to produce their jeep to the Willys design and Willys turned over copies of their blueprints. Similarly, the A in GPA (for Ford's jeep built with a hull and a propeller) was for "Amphibious". When someone says that GP stands for "General Purpose" or GPW for "General Purpose Wagon", someone should punch them in the mouth. After about twenty or thirty years, maybe about half of the population will stop saying it. Willys' pre-standardized jeep was the "MA" for Military model A. Jim's MB is a model B. The M38 was known internally as the MC and the M38A1 was the MD.
The word "jeep" was used to describe a pre-war tractor built by Minneapolis-Moline, any small cheaply made (or cheap looking vehicle), or even a new and unproven recruit. The Popeye cartoon had Eugene the Jeep who could pass through walls and go anywhere because he lived partially in another dimension. When asked what the name of the car was, one of the designers told a reporter that it was a "jeep" and it was described in the papers as a "jeep". All of these are plausible explanations for how the truck earned its name.
You'll notice that I use the terms "jeep" and "Jeep". My Mighty Mite is a jeep, my TJ is a Jeep. One is a 1/4 ton four wheel drive vehicle built to meet a military specification and the other was built by the Jeep corporation. Jim's MB is a jeep (remember Jeep as a corporation did not exist when it was built) and Wild Bill's wife's KJ Liberty is a Jeep. M151 MUTTs were built by Ford, Kaiser-Jeep, and American Motors. Which ones are jeeps and which are Jeeps? They're all jeeps in my eyes since they are built to be 500 pound capacity four wheel drive trucks for the military. OK, well the Kaiser built models of the early sixties can claim to be Jeeps with the capital J, but so can the Kaiser-Jeep M35A2 two and a half ton truck. You may also notice that I alternately refer to the jeep as a car and a truck. Several years back, a fellow member of the PRJ heard me call it a car and said "that's a five dollar fine for calling a jeep a car". "But the first jeep was the Bantam Reconnaissance Car" I said. "Oh, well never mind" then he answered. A few minutes later in conversation, I referred to it as a truck. "Now you'll at least pay the fine for calling it a truck" he said. "No, the dash plaque of every military jeep says 'Truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4'." "Damn, it's like bringing a knife to a gunfight" he said. Besides, I was not informed of any such rule when I joined the Peace River club so I had no intention of paying any fines.
When AMC bought Jeep from Kaiser in 1970, they split off the Government Products Division and renamed it AM General. AMG continued to built M151A2s for the military, (and DJs for the post office) but they're not Jeeps. Now you know why the Hummers wear the jeep grill designed all those years ago by Mr. Kramer.
Many foreign companies were licensed to build jeeps in their countries. Hotchkiss-Jeep built a version of the MB in France up until 1968, Mitsubishi built a version of the CJ-3B that you could buy in the Canadian market as late as 1998. Mitsu even license built a version of the Willys all steel wagon. Bravo of Spain built -3Bs and 5s. Ford of Brazil built a M38A1 and Ford of Canada built M38 CDNs for the Canadian military. The Mahindra brothers assembled CKD (Complete Knock Down) jeeps out of boxes until they purchased the rights to market versions they built in India. To this day, they still build a -3B as well as vans, trucks, and buses based on the Forward Control. An Egyptian company built a long wheelbase version of the CJ-3B and one of them can be seen for a second or two in the movie Sahara.
There are at least four recognized olive drab colors documented on WWII jeeps, last I knew. Marine jeeps were requisitioned by the Navy from the Army before they were requisitioned by the Marines. A "proper" Marine GPW can have a coat of red oxide primer, a coat of olive drab, a coat of gloss gray from the Navy's repaint, and a coat of the Marines' forest green over the gray. It makes for some interesting overspray colors in the wheel wells of a good resto.
Legend has it that the reason for "Ford" or an "F" in script being cast or stamped onto every interchangeable (or identical to a MB) part of a GPW is that because the military required a full replacement warranty on every part, Henry Ford said he'd be damned if he was going to replace broken Willys parts. So everything from the seat backs and fenders, wheels and pintle hitch, spring perches and bolts had some marking to designate it as a piece that was assembled in one of the twelve plants in which Ford built GPWs. Another reason for Ford being given the secondary contract for producing the GPWs was because Henry's salesmen convinced the government procurers that Willys' one little Toledo plant could be subject to sabotage, slowdowns, or union strikes which would cripple the war effort. Ford had already converted all of its car and truck production to the manufacture of vehicles for the war and Henry wanted this contract too.
I make no claims at being a complete expert on the topic. But lots and lots of research has led me to believe these points. I invite anyone to correct me since if you have conflicting information, the people in the hobby want to know.
Discuss.
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