It almost brings a tear to the eyes when looking at the simplicity of it, doesn't it??
I wish I had one of those lying around. It would be a 'riot' (no pun intended) to play on hills with!

 

This looks as if it is a cousin (same vintage) as my M38 jeep, a '49 model. 60 hp, top speed around 45, no power anything, but in "low-range" could most likely climb a telephone pole!

Mine is down due to a clutch that's making a terrible rattle. Lots of work to pull transfer case (90 lbs), transmission (45 lbs), and bell housing to get at it!

 

Jack could you tell me, I thought willys made a grill with the willys name on it. Did they also make a model with Jeep on it. How did the transition from Willys to Jeep happened?

 

As mine is a military one, I haven't seen one that did have any logo on it. A civilian CJ-2 (I belive) did have the word Willys on the side of the hood. PM me with an email address, I'll send you some photos of an old civ. jeep that shows that.

 

Man, that dash just gave me Deja-Vue, all over again! I can actually smell the oil!

 

So you like levers!!!

Here is a shot of my Willys wagon.

That is Gear shift, Overdrive, T-case hi-lo, and T-case 4x2, 4x4, neutral.
I could get one more lever by adding a PTO!:banana:
The levers are coated in heater hose to keep noise down. They vibrate and sing at speeds over 50 MPH. I can do 80MPH in over drive. I don't do it very often or very long. 55 is a good comfortable speed for the old Willys.

 

jepstr67, You made my day! Lucky you!

 

Actual direct forefather

If you trace Jeep back this would be the first of the Patriot type Jeeps. Not as large or heavy as a Wagoneer. Not as tough, and more car like than a CJ5 or 6.
Obviously between here and the Patriot comes the XJ Cherokee. Also not as large as a Wagoneer or Grand Cherokee, but far more comfortable than a Wrangler.

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Can someone explain to me the transition from Willys to Jeep?

 

Willys-Overland company suffered financial troubles and in April of 1953 was purchased by Henry J. Kaiser who had his own car business, Kaiser.

Under Kaiser the Jeep became profitable and became the sole focus of the company. Kaiser had introduced other lines of the Jeep vehicle, one of which was the Wagoneer. With the popularity of the Jeep, Kaiser Industries decided to change the name of the company to Kaiser-Jeep in 1963. Kaiser Industries was a massive company that produced everything from ships down to medical supplies. For this reason Edgar Kaiser had decided to merge Kaiser-Jeep with American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1970 and kept a controlling interest in the companies stock. Yet again the Jeep name had survived another change in company and ownership.

The Willys name was dropped from Jeeps in about 1965.

 

Yes, that's the story...

 

Thank you for the information and your time jpstr67,
So if I follow well, Willys-Overland was bought by Kaiser who then got, I suppose, the contracts from the US govrt. for a military General Purpose vehicle where the name comes from. The two letters G and B got to sound like Jeep by phonetic intergration. Then I conclude, Kaiser murged with AMC and kept the JEEP line going until bought by Daimler-Chrysler to the nowadays profil?

 

Well, the original Jeep was designed by a company called American Bantam. They invested all the money they had in the design meeting all the government specs. Willys took a look at the design and said, you won't like it if it doesn't have more power. So Willys did not meet the weight requirement but got the contract for the more powerful Jeep. Loss of the contract put Bantam out of business after their war time trailer manufacturing business ended.

There is no clear link to the letters GP being linked to the Jeep. As I recall it was not really called that. Some believe it comes from a Popeye the Sailor character Eugene the Jeep who can do almost anything. It is a name that evolved during the war and as people who served in WW2 are now in short supply, this may forever remain a mystery.

Yes. Willys-Kaiser-AMC-Chrysler
And just to mix it up Ford made identical Jeeps in WW2 called the GPW. AMGeneral Made/makes Humvees and I'm not really sure where the corporate lines are drawn there. Some claim AMC still exists until the AMGeneral corp quits making Humvees. The H2 and H3 are GM products based visually on the H1 Humvee Military vehicle. (which obviously has Jeep DNA as well)

 

You know, one thing I love about this car is that EVERY metal part can be easily hand-made. No 3d curved surfaces. Everything can be repaired and reproduced fast and cheap. Those cars were really Jeeps...

 

The simple nature of the original Jeep has been lost in recent years. I would like them to focus on the simple basics again.

 

Yep, simple nature is lost... but you must agree that Jeep (Chrysler) is the only truck company that focuses to that old simplicity (and been often accused by us for not having hot electro-gatzets, soft-touched materials etc)
I'm also happy that our Patriots reflect the return-to-basics spirit of Jeep.

 

Nice of you jeepstr67 to clear out the matter or forever perpetuating the mystery of the name Jeep, this brings even more flavor and spice to the vehicle itself.

 

jepstr67

I owned a 69 rag top with the Buick 225 V6 and a 3 speed. I sold it to a car salesman at the dealership where I bought my Nissan P/U. He swore to me that he was going to take care of it and even sent me some pictures of it being disassembled and reconditioned. I am selling that P/U 10 years later now that I have a Patriot. Hopefully the Patriot is as reliable as those other two vehicles were.

 

Hi guys! Check out this site...it has a lot of info on early jeeps! Happy surfin'!
http://www.vintagejeepparts.com/jeep_history_home.asp

 

You will also love this site with vintage commercials (including cars & Jeeps) from 1932 to 1969

http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/index

 

The actual term GP was tacked on by Ford to classify the vehicle. the G stood for Government while P stood for passenger vehicle with a wheelbase of at least 80 inches. Abbreviated, GP could become Jeep, but I like the Popeye explanation better.

 

All i know is that soon enough the "GP" will belong to "GM".

 

....and than probably to Toyota, when that merger mess crashes and burns.

I better find some Fords I like...

 

Thanks to you all for the abundant information, references, links and pictures regarding this theme of «From Willys to Jeep Patriot». Now I know the origine and history of my Jeep Patriot a bit more. It's a Jeep thing. Should'nt this «Return to the past» information thread be considered worth of archiving to the knowledge base of this forum as a data bank or sticky thread may I ask the admin?

 

While cruising around yesterday, I saw this at the Chrysler dealership:

I'm pretty sure that it's an employee's project because I've seen this jeep before there. It was in pieces 3 months ago. Also, it wouldn't be parked there if it was a client's. Pretty nice restoration project.

 

Better condition than the one I posted.

 

Here is the scoop on that fine looking Jeep from olive-drab.com.

M-38A1 Army Jeep

The M38A1 Truck, Utility, 1/4 Ton, 4x4 was introduced in 1952 as the military improvement upon the M38 Jeep. The M38A1 was manufactured by Willys where it was known as the Model MD.

The M38A1 featured rounded front fenders, a contoured hood, two-piece windshield, top-mounted windshield wipers, and a new "Hurricane" F-Head 4-cycle, 4-cylinder engine and Warner T90 transmission. It had a crew of one and could carry three passengers or 500 pounds payload.

The M38A1 military jeep is the model that inspired the CJ-5 civilian jeep. It differed from the CJ-5 in that it had a stronger frame and suspension, reversed front spring shackles, standardized military instruments, and 24-volt electrical system. A provision for a machine gun mounting post was installed on the floor of the body tub.

More information and photos are available on this Olive-Drab.com page about M-38 & M-38A1 Military Jeeps.

 

ACD Museum

At the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, IN, there was a beautiful Willys car on display when we visited about a year ago. I believe it was a Willys/Grant (?) vehicle, but Willys was in the car business before the "Jeep" business.

. . . . and the correct pronunciation of Willys is 'Willis'.