"RCE" wrote in message
news

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
. ..


There were several manufacturers of "jeeps" during WW II. The few
"surplus" ones I recall were pretty beat up if they were "returning war
veterans," but the military did dispose of a lot of property after that
war and after the Korean War that never left the states. Some of that
stuff was in decent shape and interesting.

The original "Jeep" was conceived, designed and built in seven weeks by
The Bantam Car Company. The Army handed tthe design over to Ford and
Willys because The Bantam Car Company was too small to meet the Army
requirements. Willys and Ford made improvements to the design and mass
manufactured them. The Bantam Car Company got a small consolation contract
to build trailers to be towed behind the Jeep.

RCE


And the name Jeep, came from the designation General Purpose vehicle. GP.