The "Jeep" name was trademarked, and grew into a successful, and highly valued brand. Willys turned the MB into the civilian Jeep CJ-2A in 1945, making the world's first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive. Its influence, however, was much greater than that - manufacturers around the world began building jeeps and similar designs, either under license or not - at first primarily for military purposes, but later also for the civilian market. Īfter WWII, the original jeep continued to serve, in the Korean War and other conflicts, until it was updated in the form of the M38 Willys MC and M38A1 Willys MD (in 19 respectively), and received a complete redesign by Ford in the form of the 1960-introduced M151 jeep. General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the US Army during the war, called the vehicle "America's greatest contribution to modern warfare." In 1991, the MB Jeep was designated an "International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark" by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Eisenhower, who was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War II, wrote in his memoirs that most senior officers regarded it as one of the five pieces of equipment most vital to success in Africa and Europe. Moreover: military jeeps were adopted by countries all over the world, to this day – so much that they have become the most widely used and recognizable military vehicle in history. Hyde wrote: "In many respects, the jeep became the iconic vehicle of World War II, with an almost mythological reputation of toughness, durability, and versatility." Not only did it become the workhorse of the American military, as it replaced the use of horses and other draft animals (still heavily used in World War I) in every role, from cavalry units to supply trains, but improvised field modifications also made the jeep capable of just about any other function G.I.s could think of. Aside from large amounts of 1 1⁄ 2- and 2 1⁄ 2‑ton trucks, and 25,000 3⁄ 4‑ton Dodges – some 50,000 1⁄ 4‑ton jeeps were shipped to help Russia during WWII – against Nazi-Germany's total production of just over 50,000 Kübelwagens, the jeep's primary counterpart. allies, including the Soviet Union at the time. Large numbers of jeeps were provided to U.S. produced during the war, and almost two-thirds of the 988,000 light 4WD vehicles produced, when counted together with the Dodge WC series. had during WWII." With some 640,000 units built, the 1⁄ 4‑ton jeeps constituted a quarter of the total military support motor vehicles that the U.S. The 1⁄ 4-ton jeep became the primary light, wheeled, multi-role vehicle of the United States military and its allies, with President Eisenhower once calling it "one of three decisive weapons the U.S. This also made it (by its light weight) the world's first mass-produced four-wheel drive car, made in 6-figure numbers. Over 600,000 were built to a single standardized design, for the United States and the Allied forces in World War II, from 1941 until 1945. Army Truck, 1⁄ 4‑ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its supply catalogue designation G503, were highly successful American off-road capable, light military utility vehicles. The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S.
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