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 a single standardized design, for the United States and the Allied forces in World War II, from 1941 until 1945. This also made it the world's first mass-produced four-wheel-drive car, built in six-figure numbers.
Willys MB
A 1941 Bantam achieving total lift-off, loaded with 3-man crew, and towing a 37mm anti-tank gun. "Flying Jeep" photos like this one inspired posters and perhaps the 'Leaping Lena' nickname.
Bantam's first prototype, shown in front of the already new for 1940, "light" half-ton, 4×4 Dodge VC-1 Command Car, graphically shows the radically new 1⁄4‑ton concept.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, here in his jeep in summer 1944, wrote that the jeep was "one of the six most vital" U.S. vehicles to win the war
Military light utility vehicle
Military light utility vehicle, or simply light utility vehicle (LUV), is a term used for the lightest weight class military vehicle category. A
Jeep-like four-wheel drive vehicle for military use by definition lighter than other military trucks and vehicles, inherently compact and usually with light or no armour, with short body overhangs for nimble all-terrain mobility, and frequently around 4-passenger capacity.
The Humvee has been the U.S. military's main light vehicle platform since the 1980s
Since World War II, jeeps like this U.S. Army Willys MB became a staple of 20th century armies around the world, and an archetype of light military vehicles
The Dodge WC series was built in some 50 variants. Shown here is a command / radio car with an ambulance behind it.
The Schwimmwagen, an amphibious vehicle used by the Wehrmacht
