With the outbreak of WWII, the US military needed a vehicle that could handle the mud and jungle of the South Pacific islands as well as the cold weather and forests of Europe. The vehicle they chose became an icon of WWII: the Willys Jeep.
At the start of the war, the US military asked all of the car companies from around the country to produce a prototype vehicles. Our military would then test these vehicles and determine which was the best. The winning company would then be contracted to produce X amount of vehicles for our military to use. The test consisted of only one task: the vehicles had to drive through a mud/water pit and come out with no problem. Out of all of the vehicles tested, only one completed the test: the vehicle designed by American Bantam Motors. Though Bantam won the contract, but due to their small size, production was shared by other companies including Ford and, like the name would suggest, they Willys Motor company. The Willys name stuck because the Willys company tweaked Bantam's designs a bit, and this version became the favorite among soldiers.
The Willys Jeep was loved for one main reason: rugged simplicity. There wasn't much that could go wrong on the vehicle because there wasn't that much on it to begin with. It was just the chassis, motor, a body, and four wheels- it didn't even come standard with a roof! Because the Jeep was light and featured 4-wheel drive, it did not get stuck in mud or muck very easily. The main drawback to the Jeep was its lack of a roof and adequate windshield, which left anyone inside exposed. Some stories have been told about Nazi soldiers stringing piano wire between trees on roads, which would decapitate the driver of the Jeep if he was going too fast. Despite its problems, the Jeep was loved by all American soldiers and the soldiers of countries that we sold Jeeps to. General Eisenhower even put the Jeep on his list of top 5 things that helped us win the war, which included the M1 Garand rifle, the M9A1 Bazooka antitank weapon, and the C-74 transport plane.
I thought your blogpost was very interesting to read! Personally I love jeeps and I find the willy's jeep pretty cool. it seems nice to ride around in it during the summer. I didn't know that the U.S military had specifically asked car companies to make a particular car that would help us in the war. Overall I enjoyed reading about the willy's jeep!
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