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172-665: In preparation for the United States' entry into World War II , the Department of War announced an invitation to tender in July 1940 for a light military vehicle intended for reconnaissance, liaison, and other purposes. It was to be classified as a quarter-ton, 4x4 truck. Earlier, on 27 May 1940, the Technical Armament Committee had approved the vehicle's specifications, which included all-wheel drive,

344-829: A 3 ⁄ 4 ‑ton class. Bantam officials met with chiefs of Infantry and Cavalry and suggested a contract to further develop military versions of their light car. But in June 1940—as a collaboration with the Quartermaster Corps (QMC), still responsible for U.S. unarmored tactical military vehicles in 1940—the Ordnance Corps initiated a Technical (sub-)Committee, for the QMC to formulate comprehensive, exact specification for this new, very lightweight, cross-country tactical vehicle, capable of carrying personnel and equipment across rough terrain. The committee included

516-596: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on

688-578: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to

860-555: A 'jeep' was said by the FTC ... to have been originated by the American Bantam [Co.] of Butler, PA '[with U.S. Army officers] and to have been [conceived and] developed by that company. " Willys appealed this ruling, and after a five-year investigation, in 1948 the FTC again ruled that "Willys was unfairly taking credit for the creation and was thus using unfair methods of competition. The FTC ordered Willys to stop claiming they were

1032-485: A Camp Holabird civilian engineer, who was instructed to disregard the presentation, but changed his mind after seeing it. Brown also stayed at the Bantam plant where both Howie and he worked out specifications with Crist for the proposed vehicle. By the end of June 1940, with American Bantam's consultation, the Quartermaster Corps issued their initial specifications. They specified a part-time four-wheel-drive vehicle, with

1204-504: A complete redesign by Ford in the form of the 1960-introduced M151 jeep . 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. Willys turned the MB into the civilian Jeep CJ-2A in 1945, making the world's first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive. The "Jeep" name

1376-526: A day, and after the Army handed Ford and Willys the blueprints of Bantam's detailed technical drawings—though Bantam proved highly capable and productive during the war, entrusted with manufacturing torpedo -motors and more. However, on 7 April 1942, U.S. patent 2278450 for the WWII jeep, titled "Military vehicle body" had been awarded to the U.S. Army , which had applied for it, listing Colonel Byron Q. Jones as

1548-466: A few other engineers and mechanics had rigged together in the factory, back into drawings. The hand-built prototype was then completed in Butler, Pennsylvania , and basically untested, driven by Crist and Probst, to the Army vehicle test center at Camp Holabird , Maryland. It was delivered at 4.30 pm on 23 September 1940, just half an hour within the deadline. The American Bantam Pilot, initially called

1720-488: A few third party after-market modified four-wheel drive 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton trucks, mainly Marmon-Herrington derived Fords, had been bought after 1935, for testing, but the prevailing belief amongst military higher-ups and Congress was, that all the extra four-wheel-drive hardware would make any truck lighter than a 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton payload model, so much heavier that the weight-gain would cancel out any benefits gained from adding four-wheel drive. But after

1892-416: A horse) had already won over many civilians," and British and French forces also wanted them. Ford, an isolationist , would not sign a contract with an overseas government, but local dealers sold over 50,000 Fords to European forces, who militarized them locally, most famously into ambulances. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Ford sold directly to his country, delivering another 15,000 cars before peace

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2064-488: A light cross-country weapons carrier. However, after World War I, the United States had a big public debt , and the military had masses of left-over war vehicles, so vehicle budgets were drastically cut. During the first half of the interwar period , the Roaring Twenties , despite a booming economy, United States non-interventionism and neutrality policies were supported by both elite and popular opinion, to

2236-415: A lot. Royal Page Davidson used patents of Charles Duryea to modify chassis, with machine-guns and armor shield, from 1898. At the same time, the arrival and growing use of automobiles led to various individuals pioneering vehicle trips across the U.S., followed by the first transcontinental trips by convoys of vehicles. After the U.S. Army purchased its first truck in 1907, of 5-ton payload capacity, in

2408-585: A makeshift table. And with its simple piano hinge , it allowed opening the hood all the way to the upright windshield, without even needing a prop-rod, and giving excellent access to the engine, also because of its wide opening. By then, the U.S. armed forces were in such haste, and allies like Britain, France, and USSR wanted to acquire these new "Blitz-Buggies", that after initially considering 1,500 pre-production units in total , all three cars were declared 'acceptable', and orders for 1,500 units per company were given for field testing and export. At this time, it

2580-406: A muddy battlefield trail, control the bike and keep it from stalling, damage, or flipping over; and driver training was both costly in terms of time and money. They had poor off-roading ability and lacked payload capacity. Adding a sidecar provided more stability, but payload and cargo space remained very limited, and having only one powered wheel out of three, still meant the combination got stuck

2752-524: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of

2924-781: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as

3096-475: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of

3268-774: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,

3440-555: A simple open body with a nearly rectangular outline, three seats (with a rear double seat), a wheelbase of 80 inches (2,032 mm), 47-inch (1,194 mm) axle track, and a maximum weight of 590 kg. The value of the tender was set at $ 175,000. Due to the stringent requirements and very short deadlines – 49 days to deliver the prototype and 75 days to build a series of 70 vehicles – only two out of 135 American car manufacturers expressed interest in participating: American Bantam and Willys-Overland . American Bantam, based in Butler, Pennsylvania ,

3612-623: A single standardized design, for the United States and the Allied forces in World War II , from 1941 until 1945. This also made it (by its light weight) the world's first mass-produced four-wheel-drive car, built in six-figure numbers. 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

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3784-404: A standardized truck fleet were still ruled out. "This policy was intended to assure speedy production at the outbreak of war, regardless of the maintenance and spare parts problems that might develop later." The new rules more or less allowed the Army to order in late 1939 the U.S. military's first ever light, quantity-produced 4×4 trucks: the half-ton Dodge G-505 VC-series trucks , delivered in

3956-471: A total of 216 different makes and models of motor vehicles to operate, both foreign and domestic, and no good supply system to keep them running. Various light motor vehicles were tested—at first motorcycles with and without sidecars, and some modified Ford Model Ts . But what was needed was a very light, small, battlefield utility vehicle to replace motorcycles (with or without sidecar)—more user-friendly to control, but just as easy to get in and out of. In

4128-531: A two-front war, as it had in World War   I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as

4300-610: A two-speed transfer case, three bucket seats, a fold-down windshield, and blackout and driving lights, of just 1,200 lb (540 kg), with a payload up to 600 lb (270 kg), on a wheelbase no longer than 75 in (1.91 m) (the wheelbase of American Bantam's pickup truck), a maximum (collapsible) height of 36 in (91 cm) (three inches above the Howie-Wiley machine-gun carrier), and an engine and drivetrain, capable of smoothly pulling at speeds ranging from 3–50 miles per hour (4.8–80.5 km/h). Its body design

4472-475: Is rendered particularly desirable for military purposes" and describes the purpose as being "a convertible small car body so arranged that a single vehicle may be interchangeably used as a cargo truck, personnel carrier, emergency ambulance, field beds, radio car, trench mortar unit, mobile anti-aircraft machine gun unit, or for other purposes." For centuries, horses were used for reconnaissance, communications, and pulling loads, whenever wars were fought, but after

4644-484: Is the result of much research and many tests." Hogan credited both military and civilian engineers, especially those working at the Holabird Quartermaster Depot . Nevertheless, Bantam is credited with inventing the original 1 ⁄ 4 ‑ ton jeep in 1940. However, Willys' advertising and branding during and after the war aimed to make the world recognize Willys as the creator of

4816-450: The 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton 4×4 Dodges arrived, two decisions were made: greatly more of these 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton Dodges were ordered (some 80,000 for the 1941 model year revisions), but also, in June 1940, the Army's tactical trucks payload categories were revised. For the first time, the Army introduced a quarter-ton 4×4 truck chassis class, and just above that, the 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton chassis were going to be supplanted by

4988-469: The "BRC 40" Production began on 31 March 1941, with a total of 2,605 built up to 6 December — the number ordered was raised because Britain and the USSR already wanted more of them supplied under Lend-Lease . The Bantam BRC-40 was the lightest and most nimble of the three early production models, and the Army lauded its good suspension, brakes, and high fuel economy. However, as the company could not meet

5160-604: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had

5332-689: The British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East , the aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of

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5504-582: The Ford Pygmy , which also drew from Bantam’s design (it introduced innovations such as a wide, flat hood, later adapted with modifications for the Bantam BRC-40 and the standard Willys MB jeep). The Army ordered 1,500 Ford GP vehicles and later allocated large-scale production of the licensed Willys MB model, the GPW, to Ford. The term "jeep" for an off-road vehicle became associated with Willys during

5676-581: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into

5848-853: The German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for the beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and

6020-666: The Howie-Wiley machine gun carrier , ordered by General Walter Short , then Assistant Commander of the Army's Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, and built by Captain Robert G. Howie and Master Sergeant Melvin C. Wiley. Completed in April 1937, with a driver and a gunner laying prone, operating a .30 caliber machine gun, the vehicle was nicknamed the "belly flopper." In France, the project has already been developed and put into production since 1937. The Laffly V15 can be considered

6192-576: The Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled

6364-553: The Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration ,

6536-695: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to

6708-731: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against

6880-599: The Red Army , with the remainder employed by other services (e.g., adapted as fire engines). In the Soviet Union, the Bantam was colloquially known as the "bantik". A few vehicles also reached the Polish People's Army and Polish state institutions, either through the Soviet Union or later deliveries from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration . The second company participating in

7052-690: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as

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7224-590: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that

7396-598: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact

7568-709: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed

7740-707: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with

7912-579: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded

8084-558: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which

8256-401: The United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and

8428-525: The VW Beetle or the Mini , and it has evolved into the currently produced Jeep Wrangler still largely resembling the original jeep design. By 1940, U.S. policies had caused a stark disadvantage compared to Nazi Germany 's aim, building a standard fleet of Wehrmacht (German armed forces) motor vehicles. From 1933, German industry could only produce Wehrmacht-approved trucks. The U.S. Quartermaster's only significant success for standardization, through late September 1939 Army Regulations on tactical trucks,

8600-426: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and

8772-451: The aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting

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8944-402: The great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II

9116-473: The iconic vehicle of World War II, with an almost mythological reputation of toughness, durability, and versatility." It became the workhorse of the American military, replacing horses, other draft animals , and motorcycles in every role, from messaging and cavalry units to supply trains. In addition, improvised field modifications made the jeep capable of just about any other function soldiers could think of. Military jeeps were adopted by countries all over

9288-404: The reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War   II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered

9460-541: The "Blitz Buggy." As the War Department deemed American Bantam to not have the production capacity or financial resources to deliver on the scale the Army would need, the other two bidders, Ford and Willys, were encouraged to complete their own pilot models for testing. The contract for the new reconnaissance car would be determined by trials. While Bantam's prototype underwent testing at Camp Holabird from 27 September to 16 October, Ford and Willys' technical representatives were invited and given ample opportunity to observe

9632-458: The 360 different models of vehicles now in the Army ... involve nearly a million items of spare parts which neither the War Department nor any other authority can control." This was bad for logistics in times of war, both in terms of supply chains , as well as hindering troops' mobility by, blocking the ability to repair one vehicle by scavenging parts off another. And the Army could still only get multi-axle drive on "tactical" trucks, "requiring

9804-643: The 75th anniversary of the Bantam jeep, invented and originally manufactured in Butler, Pennsylvania, " therein explicitly resolving that Bantam of Butler, PA, invented the jeep, calling it "one of the most famous vehicles in the world," were the only party to deliver a working prototype of a light four-wheel drive reconnaissance car within the required seven weeks, which withstood 30 days of Army testing at Camp Holabird, then further developed that car, and manufactured 2,675 jeeps, before losing further production contracts to Willys and Ford Motor Company, for fear that Bantam would not be able to ramp up production to 75 jeeps

9976-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10   May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent

10148-420: The American Bantam prototype, known as the Bantam Reconnaissance Car, or BRC Pilot, in just two days, and worked up a cost estimate the next day. Bantam's bid was submitted, complete with blueprints, on the 22 July deadline. American Bantam had purchased the assets of American Austin Car Company from the bankruptcy court and had developed their own line of small cars and engine technology, free of licenses from

10320-551: The Army revised the categories. For the first time, a quarter-ton truck tactical (4×4) chassis class was introduced, at the bottom of the range, and the 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton chassis was supplanted by a 3 ⁄ 4 ‑ton payload class. By the eve of entering World War II, the United States Department of War had determined it needed a 1 ⁄ 4 ‑ton, cross-country reconnaissance vehicle. Although 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton 4×4s had outperformed 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton 4×4 trucks during testing in 1938,

10492-478: The Army's trials. Exterior changes, mainly mounting flat and square front fenders, instead of the first car's bulbous round ones, identify the BRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car) Mark IIs, also called the "BRC 60" . Both the Willys "Quad" and the Ford "Pygmy" prototypes were very similar to the Bantam Pilot and were joined in testing by Bantam's Mark II models. The Willys Quad immediately stood out because of its strong engine of 60  gross Hp ( SAE ), which

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10664-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack

10836-425: The Bantam passenger car with fenders made from right-angled sheet metal panels and wider entry cutouts on the sides. Like the prototype, these vehicles had a narrowing hood with a rounded grille but were additionally equipped with bar guards for the headlights, which were partially recessed into the fenders. At the army's request, eight vehicles were experimentally equipped with four-wheel steering. Before delivering

11008-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27   May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,

11180-426: The British Austin Motor Company . As the only small car manufacturer in the United States at the time, their design concept was initially to leverage their commercial off-the-shelf components as much as possible. Bantam adapted front sheetmetal body-stampings from its car line: the cowl, dashboard, and curvy front fenders. However, once Brown returned to Camp Holabird, Crist reviewed their thinking, and realized that

11352-405: The European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in the Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and

11524-537: The French Jeep. 1,200 of these four-wheeled vehicles were produced before the debacle of 1940. By 1939, the U.S. Army began standardizing its general-purpose truck chassis types by payload rating, initially in five classes from 1 ⁄ 2 to 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 short tons (0.45 to 6.80 t). The Quartermaster Corps saw that the Army needed truck chassis to be standardized in crucial basic functional 'types' (body models), and within "payload capacity" classes. Additionally, some crucial features could not be equipped by

11696-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed

11868-466: The German Army. Moreover, lessons were learned, and a second program to develop a cheap, light, nimble multipurpose off-roader, the Volkswagen Kübelwagen , had already started in 1938. America's military faced a severe catch-up situation, both in time and knowledge. In June 1940, the race was on to produce a lightweight, four-wheel-drive cross-country vehicle for the U.S. Army, capable of carrying equipment and personnel across rough terrain. The idea of

12040-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6   October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of

12212-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War   II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured

12384-739: The QC to commercial trucks after procurement. Cross-country capabilities, like increased ground clearance and multi-axle drive, had to be designed and built into the trucks from the factory. The Quartermaster Corps Technical Committee concurred, and in June 1939 requested the Chief of Staff's approval, to start standardizing truck chassis and bodies procured for the Army into five payload classes: 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, 1 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, 2 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, 4‑ton, and 7 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton and all tactical trucks had to have (part-time) all-wheel drive capability. Furthermore, to achieve

12556-511: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged

12728-602: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to

12900-877: The Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and the Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and

13072-641: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed

13244-756: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued

13416-462: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) opened a case, charging Willys-Overland with misrepresentation in their advertising and news claims, on 6 May 1943. According to the New York Times , the FTC ruled that Willys did not perform the "spectacular achievement" of creating, designing and perfecting the "jeep" together with U.S. Army Quartermaster officers, but that: " The idea of creating

13588-404: The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps recommended the acquisition of a new kind of military vehicle, "...   of light weight and compact size, with a low silhouette and high ground clearance, and possess the ability to carry weapons and men over all sorts of rough terrain." The U.S. Army started looking for a small vehicle suited for reconnaissance and messaging, while at the same time searching for

13760-567: The U.S. Army for vehicles, but only for 10,000 trailers for jeeps. Only a limited number of vehicles were produced for foreign buyers – 1,001 BRC-40 vehicles were built for British orders in 1941, and another 150 in 1943 (originally ordered by Yugoslavia). In total, 2,642 vehicles were built, not counting the prototype. One vehicle was assembled by the Checker Cab Company in Kalamazoo , known for its taxi production, though production

13932-530: The U.S. an increase in size of both the regular Army and the National Guard. The War Department was also authorized to spend an additional $ 12 million on motor transport. The Army then ordered the U.S. military's first ever production quantity of light , 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, 4×4 tactical trucks: going on 5,000 Dodge G-505 VC series , which arrived by the Spring of 1940. Until that point, only

14104-520: The U.S. 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. produced during the war, and almost two-thirds of the 988,000 light 4WD vehicles produced, when counted together with the Dodge WC series . Large numbers of jeeps were provided to U.S. allies, including the Soviet Union at

14276-402: The US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago , the possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking

14448-764: 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 . After 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 1949 and 1952 respectively), and received

14620-581: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced

14792-542: The United Kingdom attacked on 3   July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in

14964-461: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14   June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which

15136-660: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in

15308-606: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with

15480-579: The basis for the Willys MA model ordered by the Army (1,500 units) and later the mass-produced standard jeep, the Willys MB. Notably, during World War II, in the mechanized cavalry of the United States, particularly in reconnaissance units, the informal term "bantam" was widely used to refer to Willys jeeps. In October 1940, the U.S. Army also persuaded Ford to participate in developing an off-road vehicle. On 23 November 1940, Ford introduced its prototype,

15652-413: The battlefield to this day. But motorcycles also had serious limitations. One could be fast on a decent road, but many roads were still so bad, that the U.S. already had a Good Roads Movement in the late 19th century, as increased usage of bicycles required improving the surfaces of existing wagon and carriage trails. The motorcycles of the era were not ideal; only the best motorcyclists could endure

15824-483: The bid, Willys-Overland , did not yet have a vehicle design at the time and submitted its bid based on a cost and time analysis. Despite losing the bid, it began designing and building a prototype at its own risk. In pursuit of optimal vehicles, the American Quartermaster Corps (QMC) provided the plans of the Bantam prototype to Willys and Ford for use in their projects, allowing them to observe

15996-461: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding

16168-590: The chassis was found to be too light for the gun, which was later removed. Main source: World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all

16340-516: The competition. And only Bantam provided a proper set of technical drawings. Ford joined later, after being approached directly. Although Willys was the low bidder, Willys was penalized for needing more days to make a prototype, and the dollars penalty per extra day put Willys' price above Bantam's – earning them the contract, as the only company committing to deliver a pilot model in 49 days and 70 more pre-production units in 75 days. American Bantam's chief engineer and plant manager, Harold Crist ,

16512-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it

16684-526: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of

16856-500: The development of Soviet off-road vehicles – in January 1941, authorities instructed designers at the GAZ factory to create their own vehicle modeled after the Bantam, as seen in the press. Contrary to some opinions, the resulting GAZ-64 design from March 1941 was not based on American vehicles (to which the Soviets had no access at the time), borrowing only the general design concept, body shape, and similar dimensions. Its improved successor

17028-595: The directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union. Willys MB The Willys MB and the Ford GPW , both formally called the U.S. Army truck, 1 ⁄ 4 ‑ton, 4×4, command reconnaissance , commonly known as the Willys Jeep , Jeep , or jeep , and sometimes referred to by its Standard Army vehicle supply nr. G-503 , were highly successful American off-road capable , light military utility vehicles . Well over 600,000 were built to

17200-757: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War   I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of

17372-717: The early 1930s, the Infantry Board at Fort Benning had become interested in the British Army 's use of the tiny Austin 7 car in a reconnaissance role, and in 1933 received a car from the American Austin Car Company in Pennsylvania which built them under license. Ever since then, their devout on-the-road salesman and (Washington) lobbyist, ex-military Harry Payne kept approaching many U.S. Army and Defense branches and officers, hoping to sell

17544-548: The early 1930s, the U.S. Army experimented with a bantam weight "midget truck" for scouts and raiders. A 1,050 lb (480 kg), low-slung mini-car with a pick-up body, provided by American Austin Car Company , was shown in a 1933 article in Popular Mechanics magazine. One of the pictures showed that the vehicle was light enough to be man-handled—four soldiers could lift it from the ground entirely. But it

17716-662: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied

17888-577: The end of the war, the whole world saw the horse as hopelessly outclassed." Nevertheless—crucially—using four-wheel drive still remained tied to heavier trucks, of 1 1 ⁄ 2 -ton to 5-ton capacity. All through World War I, there were not any light four-wheel-drive vehicles yet. Immediately after World War I, the further and future use of motor vehicles was considered. In many roles, motorized vehicles had successfully replaced horses and other draft animals , but several roles remained that required better or more specialized vehicles. In 1919 already,

18060-463: The end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming

18232-939: The entire Lincoln Highway , from New York City to the Panama–Pacific World Exhibition in San Francisco, taking four months—for making a film about it. Starting in 1916, the Quartermaster Corps was servicing over 100 "motor trucks," of as many as 27 "varieties"; and in March that year, the U.S. Army decided to form its first two motor companies, to be used immediately in the Pancho Villa Expedition in Mexico, starting 14 March 1916. One company got 27 four-wheel drive, 2‑ton, Jeffery off-road Quad trucks . The other got 27 heavy-duty, 1 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, long wheelbase, rear-wheel drive White trucks . The U.S. War Department procured

18404-588: The first days of September 1939, World War Two had escalated in Europe, with Hitler's invasion of Poland , and the Nazi German forces showed the world a new, highly mobile form of warfare, dubbed ‘ Blitzkrieg ʼ, or lightning war, by a coordinated combination of fast moving tanks and motorized infantry , (self-propelled) artillery , and air support. In response, President Franklin Roosevelt , made an emergency proclamation on September 8, 1939. It authorized

18576-522: The first half of 1940, but these were still not light enough for the jobs that both the Infantry and Ordnance branches required it for. By contrast, Germany had already completed a development program to produce off-road capable "Standardized Military Vehicles" (the Einheits-PKW der Wehrmacht ), from 1933 to 1938, which had already yielded a fleet of tens of thousands of standardized vehicles for

18748-544: The first stage, the winning manufacturer(s) were given just seven weeks (49 days), from the moment of awarding the contract, to submit their first fully functional prototype and 75 days for completing 70 test vehicles in total. The Army's Ordnance Technical Committee specifications were equally stringent: the vehicle would be four-wheel drive , have a crew of three, on a wheelbase no longer than 75 in (1.91 m), later stretched to 80 in (2.03 m), and tracks no wider than 47 in (1.19 m). The height with

18920-575: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until

19092-864: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing

19264-799: The greatest battlefield mobility." Meanwhile, in Asia and the Pacific, Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931 and was at war with China from 1937 . Its Imperial Army used a small, 2,425 lb (1,100 kg), three-man crew, four-wheel-drive car for reconnaissance and troop movements, the Kurogane Type 95 , produced in limited numbers from 1936. In 1937 Marmon-Herrington presented five 4×4 Fords, and American Bantam (previously American Austin) once again contributed—delivering three Austin derived roadsters in 1938. The U.S. Army itself had also built an experimental light, low-profile scout and gun mover,

19436-494: The half-ton 4×4 trucks—both from Marmon-Herrington Ford, and the 1940 Dodge VC series —still proved too large and heavy, and insufficiently agile off-road. Anxious to have a quarter-ton truck in time for America's entry into World War II, the U.S. Army solicited proposals from domestic automobile manufacturers. Recognizing the need to create standard specifications, the Army formalized its requirements on 11 July 1940, and submitted them to 135 U.S. automotive manufacturers. In

19608-558: The idea of a small, lightweight reconnaissance car to someone Army or Defense, getting some much-needed government contract business for his company. And Payne kept pushing while American Austin had gone bankrupt and its assets were reincorporated into American Bantam . In 1938, American Bantam again loaned three much-improved cars to the Pennsylvania National Guard for trials during summer maneuvers, which were received as reliable, economical and practical. During

19780-525: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of

19952-465: The inventor on the patent, though he had performed no work on the design of the vehicle. Filed on 8 October 1941, stating in the application that "The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon," the patent relates to a "small car vehicle body having convertible features whereby it

20124-515: The jeep originated with the infantry, which needed a low-profile, powerful vehicle with four-wheel drive and it was turned over to commercial companies (chiefly Bantam , Willys , and Ford ) to deliver—the development repeatedly being described as a " design by committee ." In fall 1941, Lt. E.P. Hogan of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps wrote: "Credit for the original design of the Army's truck 1 ⁄ 4 ‑ton, 4×4, may not be claimed by any single individual or manufacturer. This vehicle

20296-477: The jeep. When Willys first applied to trademark the "Jeep" name in February 1943, Bantam, Ford and other companies objected, because of their contributions to the jeep and the war effort. Although many other companies advertised their patriotic efforts to producing the 1 ⁄ 4 ‑ton jeeps—including Ford, featuring their own GPW jeeps in their ads—nobody took their claims as far as Willys-Overland, and

20468-520: The late summer of 1913, the Army Medical and Quartermaster Corps (QC) took a 3 ⁄ 4 -ton QC field-truck, on a 922 mi (1,484 km) multi-leg experimental trek through Alaska for the state's Road Commission—both to try the truck's bad-road supply and maintenance abilities as well as test the state of several important overland connections in the rough territory. 1915 followed the first successful transcontinental motor convoy , traveling

20640-458: The lowest bid that met requirements and specifications, often different makers. However, saving a small percentage initially, on the procurement, overall proved "penny wise, pound foolish" because it led to problematic diversity of the fleet, requiring too much training of operators and mechanics for maintenance and repairs, and an unmanageably large supply of non-interchangeable spare parts: "The commanding officer at Holabird reported in 1935 that,

20812-485: The most prolific motor-tools in the Allied arsenal. Cavalry , mounted infantry , scouts , and messengers could now be mobilized in combat with much greater speed, agility, and near tireless machines, exactly what was wanted for relaying critical orders, getting munitions to machine guns, and scouting miles ahead of advancing units. The quick and nimble motorcycle, "ridden hard through shot and shell to secure victory," has made itself irreplaceable in specific roles on

20984-492: The needed level of standardization, the Quartermaster General urged trucks should be bought en masse from there on. Acting Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall , approved the procurement policy in the summer of 1939. The Quartermaster Corps also wanted to require the truck industry to use dimensionally interchangeable components, but further standardization measures were not approved until 1940. However, in 1940,

21156-419: The new vehicle would have to be mostly new, rather than simply a modified version of an existing Bantam model. He and others at Bantam immediately set about sourcing the right components: transmission, transfer case, driveshafts and axles. Bantam's own engines made just 22 hp, so a 112 cu in (1.8 L) Continental four-cylinder, making 45 horsepower and 86 lb⋅ft (117 N⋅m) of torque

21328-676: The now major Robert Howie, invited for his expertise, having actually built an ultra-light prototype infantry-support vehicle, officers representing the Quartermaster Corps, and the Army's using arms: Infantry, Cavalry, and the two Coastguard divisions, as well as civilian engineers, mainly from Camp Holabird and Bantam. To begin with, the committee sent an Army delegation including Howie, and Camp Holabird vehicle testing engineers, to Butler, Pennsylvania , to visit American Bantam's factory, being invited to an extensive demonstration there, to evaluate their compact cars and production facilities. Once there, Howie stayed several days, and also Robert Brown,

21500-412: The parallel Ford GP vehicles. The headlights remained mounted on the fenders, partially recessed. Apart from the headlight placement, the main visual distinction from Ford GPs and Willys vehicles was the rectangular front fenders with rounded corners. The fuel tank was relocated from the rear of the vehicle to under the driver’s seat, and the windshield became sturdier and split in two. The vehicle’s price

21672-502: The permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with

21844-477: The point of isolationism , and no real budgets were allocated. Then, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 , and the following Great Depression resulted in economic austerity policies lasting until the end of the 1930s, thus curtailing any development of new military vehicles, like a light 4WD car. At the same time, there was a drive for standardization. By the end of World War I, U.S. forces overseas had

22016-589: The political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of

22188-599: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at

22360-425: The pre-series vehicles, Bantam received an order from the U.S. Army to produce a series of 1,350 improved vehicles, followed by another 72, of which 22 were equipped with all-wheel steering. The production vehicles were designated as BRC-40 (1940, Bantam Reconnaissance Car). The appearance of these vehicles changed: the main difference was the flat, wider hood preferred by the army, with a flat radiator grille similar to

22532-485: The preliminary design was ready the next day. The vehicle’s engine was a 4-cylinder Continental BY-4112 gasoline engine with a displacement of 1,835 cc and a power output of 48 hp. The axles were sourced from the Studebaker Champion , with Spicer joints. The designers, however, chose to disregard the weight limit, deeming it unattainable, and planned for a weight of 841 kg (the prototype eventually weighed 922 kg). Bantam submitted their offer on July 22, and on August 5, it won

22704-401: The previous three U.S. wars, but in the new century, his cavalry forces had to move quicker, with more range and more personnel. He was the first to deploy motorcycles, in the Mexican Border War , predominantly a cavalry campaign over wide regions of the Southwest, where Harley-Davidson motorcycles provided to the Army gave the U.S. the advantage over the horse-mounted Mexicans. The U.S. Army

22876-460: The prototype during testing (despite Bantam's objections, the Army argued that it had paid for the development and could show it to whomever it chose). Willys’ first prototype of an off-road vehicle, the Willys Quad, similar to and structurally related to the Bantam, was delivered on 11 November 1940. It used the same axles and transfer case from Spicer, but with a stronger in-house engine, the Willys prototype had better performance and ultimately became

23048-407: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,

23220-410: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in

23392-448: The soldiers liked very much, in such a lightweight, open-top car. Chief engineer Delmar 'Barney' Roos had been working on Willys' four-cylinder car-engine for years, and with many detail changes had managed to get it to 60 hp from an initial low forties output. The Ford Pygmy on the other hand was held back by its tractor engine, Ford's only four-cylinder engine still made in 1940 – despite serious efforts to make it stronger. Dale Roeder

23564-421: The sole creator of the Jeep." Some 70 years later, in a late 2012 article, the Defense Acquisition Research Journal still called the jeep design "...a product of a massive team effort, including all three manufacturers as well as Army engineers, both military and civilian." Moreover, in 2015, the Pennsylvania General Assembly unanimously adopted a non-controversial House Resolution (382): " ...commemorating

23736-401: The start of the 20th century, motorcycles were the first motor vehicles eagerly adopted by the military, either to replace mounted/ridden cavalry horses , or to motorize infantry . The armies of World War I relied on marching men, horses, and railways for movement but its new technologies introduced motor vehicles: the first tanks , armoured car, and artillery tractors. Motorcycles were

23908-447: The start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed

24080-415: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,

24252-585: The tender, surpassing Willys by offering to complete the prototype in 49 days, compared to Willys’ 120 days. Bantam completed the prototype on time, delivering it on September 23 on its own wheels to the testing center at Camp Holabird , 275 km away (by that time, the vehicle had traveled only 250 km). The grueling 30-day endurance tests, during which it covered 5,800 km, were successful, and any breakdowns, including frame cracks, were swiftly repaired (any malfunction lasting more than 24 hours would have led to disqualification). Military representatives were impressed by

24424-409: The time. 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. Historian Charles K. Hyde wrote: "In many respects, the jeep became

24596-415: The two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War   II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as

24768-617: The vehicle and study its performance. To expedite Ford and Willys' prototypes, the War Department forwarded the Bantam's blueprints to them, claiming the government owned all designs in the proposals submitted to it in the bidding contest. American Bantam chose not to dispute this. Bantam continued building the further 70 prototypes, as per the initial contract. Bantam's original no.01 first remained at Holabird for incessant shake-down and breaking point testing, and ad-hoc fixes and improvements of weaknesses, while by November 1940, Ford and Willys also submitted their first prototypes to compete in

24940-405: The vehicle's off-road capabilities. On October 27, Bantam was presented to the Armored Weapons Commission at Fort Knox . The first Bantam prototype was referred to as the "pilot model". After the prototype, Bantam produced 70 pre-series vehicles, designated as Bantam Model 60 or Mk II, also known in literature as BRC-60. The main visual difference was the replacement of rounded stamped fenders from

25112-676: The vehicles as rolling chassis , which the manufacturers had to expedite to El Paso, Texas . The wagon bodies for the chassis came from the Quartermaster Depot. The most suitable truck capacity found by the Quartermaster General for Army use to be 1 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, matching both the country roads nature, the strength of bridges, as well as the existing troop supply system, at the time also using standard 1 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton, four-mule wagons. Meanwhile, World War I had been raging in Europe since 1914. More than five years before, Henry Ford had launched his Model T . "... Its speed, durability, stamina, and ease of maintenance (compared to

25284-407: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising

25456-529: The war, and the company used this in its marketing materials. Following a complaint by Bantam, however, the Federal Trade Commission in 1948 barred Willys from claiming it was the creator of the jeep, recognizing that the idea and development of the jeep originated at American Bantam in collaboration with certain U.S. Army officers. Despite this, Bantam soon went bankrupt, and in 1950, Willys, which continued to produce its off-road vehicles, subsequently registered Jeep as its trademark. The Bantam's debut also inspired

25628-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which

25800-404: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to

25972-510: The windshield folded down was also raised, to 40 in (1.02 m). The diminutive dimensions were similar in size and weight to American Bantam's compact truck and roadster models. It was now to carry a 660 lb (300 kg) payload and be powered by an engine capable of 85 lb⋅ft (115 N⋅m) of torque. The most daunting demand, however, was an empty weight of no more than 1,275–1,300 lb (580–590 kg). Initially, only American Bantam Car Company and Willys-Overland entered

26144-483: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed

26316-403: The world, so much so that they became the most widely used and recognizable military vehicle in history. Dwight D. Eisenhower , the 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. General George Marshall , Chief of Staff of

26488-554: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to

26660-404: Was Ford's team leader behind the Pygmy, and his team managed to tune the motor from 30bhp to the specified 40bhp, by using a different camshaft and a bigger carburettor. More importantly, the Ford's front sheetmetal design was the cleverest, fusing all the front lighting behind a straight grille grate, side by side, into one cheap, integrated whole, under a wide, flat, and horizontal hood, useful as

26832-425: Was a small car manufacturer plagued by financial difficulties but saw an opportunity in the tender. Bantam received the specifications on July 17 and immediately engaged independent designer Karl Probst from Detroit as the lead designer for the vehicle. On his way to Butler, Probst ordered drive axles and a transfer case with a two-speed reduction drive from Spicer in Toledo . Probst arrived on 18 July 1940, and

27004-424: Was acknowledged the original weight limit (which even Bantam's Mk.II could not meet) was unrealistic, and it was raised to 2,160 lb (980 kg). On 22 January 1941, the Quartermaster Corps Technical Committee advised standardization of the jeeps across all manufacturers. For the ensuing pre-production runs, each maker's vehicles received further revisions, and new names once more. For 1941, Bantam's got called

27176-464: Was an experienced automobile engineer who had early-on worked on the first Duesenberg and been an engineer at Stutz Motor Company of Indianapolis for 18 years, worked a spell for Marmon , and then for Bantam from 1937 to 1942, drafted freelance Detroit designer Karl Probst to collaborate. Probst initially turned Bantam down, but agreed to work without pay after an Army request and began work on 17 July 1940. Probst laid out full design drawings for

27348-414: Was not ultimately launched there. In addition to the U.S. and British armies, these vehicles were also used by the Soviet army through the Lend-Lease program, beginning with the Battle of Moscow in autumn 1941. Soviet Union received 531 BRC-40 vehicles, with 500 delivered by the end of 1942. According to other sources, a total of 808 vehicles were sent to the Soviet Union, about 530 of which were used by

27520-403: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign

27692-407: Was reduced from $ 1,123 for the first 500 units to $ 938. In the U.S., vehicles of this class were generally not intended for combat, but the BRC could carry a .50 caliber M2 Browning heavy machine gun on a pillar mount installed between the front seats, similar to later standard jeeps. With the selection of the Willys MB as the standard off-road vehicle, Bantam did not receive further orders from

27864-657: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with

28036-441: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed

28208-499: Was selected, mated to a Warner Gear transmission. Custom-built four-wheel drive-train components included the Spicer transfer case to send power to the front and rear axles. They were both Spicer-made, originally Studebaker Champion rear axles, but modified for four-wheel drive use. Using off-the-shelf automotive parts where possible had helped to design the car and draw up its blueprints quickly. By working backwards, Probst and American Bantam's draftsmen converted what Crist and

28380-552: Was signed. Britain, France, and Russia were already buying American-made four-wheel-drive trucks from the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company , and Jeffery/Nash Quads , because on the muddy roads and European battlefields, they would not get stuck all the time. The United States procured thousands of motor vehicles for its military, including some 12,800 Dodges, plus thousands of four-wheel-drive trucks: 1 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton Nash Quads, and 3- and 5-ton FWD trucks. General John J. Pershing viewed horses and mules as acceptable for

28552-442: Was so pleased with further innovations, like a sidecar as a platform to mount machine-guns, that the U.S. procured many more motorcycles than 4WD trucks for World War I. "Entire infantry units were mobilized on motorcycles, and they also provided an ideal way to rapidly deploy machine gun crews into position. Medical units used them to evacuate wounded on stretcher-equipped sidecars, and to return medical supplies and ammunition." "By

28724-401: Was still only rear-wheel drive. After 1935, when the U.S. Congress declared World War I vehicles obsolete, procurement for "remotorization of the Army" gained more traction, but pre-war, peacetime budget restrictions still meant that the U.S. Comptroller General imposed open bidding on every additional, or even incremental procurement. Each time, the Army was forced to award the contract to

28896-412: Was that the War Department limited procurement to just five payload chassis types (categories), from 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton to 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 ‑ton —but only "models produced commercially by two or more competing companies..." The Army was still to use "commercially standard" trucks and parts, with only minor modifications, like brush-guards, tow-hooks, etc. Specially designed vehicles or

29068-480: Was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including the Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in

29240-411: Was the better-known GAZ-67 . In 1941, the U.S. Army tested experimental tank destroyers based on the BRC-40 with a 37 mm gun M3 mounted. In the T2 model, the gun with a low protective shield fired forward within a 30° range on each side, while in the T2E1 model, the gun was mounted rotatably in the rear with a 360° field of fire, typically firing rearward. Seven T2 and eleven T2E1 units were built, but

29412-400: Was to be rectangular in shape, including a sketch drawing, handed to the Ordnance Technical Committee. By now the war was underway in Europe, so the Army's need was urgent, but also very demanding. No sooner than July 1940, some 135 manufacturers of automotive or similar equipment were approached by a government letter to submit bids, to be received by 22 July, a span of just eleven days. In

29584-501: Was trademarked, and grew into a successful, and highly valued brand. The success of the jeep inspired both an entire category of recreational 4WDs and SUVs , making "four-wheel drive" a household term, and numerous incarnations of military light utility vehicles . In 2010, the American Enterprise Institute called the jeep "one of the most influential designs in automotive history." Its "sardine tin on wheels" silhouette and slotted grille are perhaps even more instantly recognizable than

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