This day in Automotive History November 13, 1940 Willys-Overland completes original Jeep prototype. In 1939, the U.S. Army asked America's automobile manufacturers to submit designs for a simple and versatile military vehicle. It would be two full years before the official U.S. declaration of war, but military officials, who knew this declaration to be inevitable, recognized the need for an innovative troop-transport vehicle for the global battlefields of World War II. The American Bantam Car Company, a small car manufacturer, submitted the first design approved by the army, but the production contract was ultimately given to Willys-Overland, a company that had a larger production capability and offered a lower bid. The Willys Jeep, as it would become known during the war, was similar to the Bantam design, and featured four-wheel drive, an open-air cab, and a rifle rack mounted under the windshield. On this day, the first Willys-Overland Jeep prototype was completed, and submitted to the U.S. Army for approval. One year later, with the U.S. declaration of war, mass production of the Willys-Overland Jeep began. By the war's end in 1945, some 600,000 Jeeps had rolled off the assembly lines and onto the battlefields of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The efficient and sturdy four-wheel drive Jeep became a symbol of the American war effort--no obstacle could stop its advance. Somewhere along the line the vehicle acquired the name "Jeep," likely evolving from the initials G.P. for "general purchase" vehicle, and the nickname stuck. In 1945, Willys- Overland introduced the first civilian Jeep vehicle, the CJ-2A- -the forefather of today's sport utility vehicles

1940 Willys-Overland Jeep