The Willys MB US Army Jeep, along with the nearly identical Ford GPW were manufactured from 1941 to 1945. They are the iconic World War II Jeep. After the Army’s acceptance of The Willys-Overland Motors prototype model, the Willys Quad in 1940, an order was placed for 1500 units for field testing. Willys' changed the designation to "MA" for "Military" model "A". The Fords went into production as "GP", with "G" for a "Government" type contract and "P" commonly used by Ford to designate any passenger car with a wheelbase of 80 inches. By July 1941, the War Department desired to standardize and decided to select a single manufacturer to supply them with the next order for another 16,000 vehicles. Willys won the contract mostly due to its more powerful engine (the "Go Devil") which soldiers raved about, and its lower cost and silhouette. Whatever better design features the Bantam and Ford entries had were then incorporated into the Willys car, moving it from an "A" designation to "B", thus the "MB" nomenclature.
Notice the distinctive nine slot grill on the MB (& GPWs) . Civilian Jeeps (CJ) have seven slots.
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| 1940 Willys Quad | 1941 Willys MA | 1942 Willys MB |
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