By William “Skip” Deegans
In 1948, Lewisburg’s Fort Union Motor Sales promoted Willy’s Jeep as being suitable as a farm machine. Their advertisement shows the Jeep pulling a manure spreader and operating a farm machine with the Jeep’s power take off (PTO). In 1907, Ohioan John North Willys bought Overland Automobiles, and in 1909 he bought Marion Motor Co. The company was renamed the Willys-Overland Motor Co. in 1912, and it became the second largest car manufacturing company in the United States, behind Ford.
During World War II, the U. S. Military saw a need for a small, lightweight and nimble four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle. U.S. car manufacturers were invited to design such a vehicle. Karl Probst, a freelance auto designer from Detroit, is credited with designing the original Jeep for the American Bantam Car Co. of Pennsylvania. Willys-Overland and Ford, however, won the contracts to produce the Jeep, and together they built 637,000 Jeeps during the war. Jeeps were used all over the world. Shown in news reels and featured prominently in Bill Mauldin’s comics about the war, the Jeep quickly became iconic.
Before the war ended, Willys-Overland was exploring civilian opportunities for the Jeep and developed a version of the Jeep CJ-1 called the Agrijeep. The Jeep had been tested by the Department of Agriculture, and author/farmer Louis Bromfield experimented with the Jeep on his Malabar Farm. Willys and other supplies began to design farm implements that could be operated by the Jeep, including a plow, harrow, cultivator, mower, terracing blade, post hole digger, buzz saw, and road grader. Although the Jeep never matched the tractor, it was complimented with a Willy’s station wagon in 1946 and a pickup truck in 1947. Jeep has gone through several owners and design changes, but it continues to be one of the best selling vehicles in the United States.
As to the name Jeep, there is no consensus as to where it came from. Called a GP (general purpose) vehicle by the military, the letters may have been slurred to sound like Jeep. Another thought is it came from the Popeye comic strip character, Eugene the Jeep.
Sources: Autoweek, Car and Driver, Malabar Foundation, Greenbrier Independent.
