Motor

Know the history of the Jeep Willys

Regardless of whether you are a car lover or not, surely you have already gotten into a Willys Jeep, a classic car that allows you to travel on terrain with specific conditions other than the asphalt of ordinary streets and avenues, which has been on the market for 80 years and whose fascinating history is unknown by many.

Among the inventions of human beings to improve their quality of life through the centuries, cars continue to be one of the most impressive, due to their constant transformation, the use of various mechanisms and systems, as well as their level of importance for the daily life.

Essentially, cars have the same objective, but if we try to specify a classification of them, we see that the use given to this means of transport defines the way in which they have been grouped and diversified throughout history.

In this context, the Willys Jeep appears, one of the most outstanding examples of cars of all time that, despite its evolution, today retains many of the main characteristics of its original design, managing to move over unpaved terrain with greater efficiency and be a car capable of carrying a certain level of weight. The invitation is to learn more about its evolution and other curious aspects.

a war machine

The model we see today had a specifically competitive and warlike origin. The classic jeep emerged in a context where the great world powers were seeking to create a car that was capable of efficiently traveling through rural terrain. Therefore, we can say that a competition was generated between Germany and the United States, mainly, to manufacture a car that fulfilled this objective, serving to transport weapons and soldiers.

In this sense, the records mention that the Jeep Willy was a kind of order made by the United States government, due to the lack of a means of land transportation that met the aforementioned qualities, which were necessary for a better performance in war.

For the development of the various willys models that exist today, 135 options or prototype proposals were first generated. After a process of analysis and review, it was decided that the most suitable model was the Overland MA, in 1941. This model was the precursor to the first original car, called the Willys MB, which was established once the Willys brand was registered.

The Jeep name

Speaking of Willys, the Jeep was initially not the name that went with the original model. In fact, the acronym M referred to the category of military use, while the letter A or B represents the serial number.

There are several theories about how this word that complements the name of such an emblematic car came about. It happens that when the Willys brand was registered, Ford also registered a copy called Ford GP, an acronym that groups the phrase “General Purpose”. Thus, the pronunciation of these two letters had the sound of /yipi/ and it is believed that over time, they came to be pronounced as /yiip/.

However, another quite coherent idea suggests that the acronym JEEP would be a grouping of the phrase “Just Enough Essential Parts”, which translates as “It only has the essential parts”, which became common among soldiers who referred to the JEEP. fun car.

An unbeatable series

From a technical point of view, it is worth explaining a little what made the military Jeep Willys such a special car during the Second World War and after it. 

It was an extremely versatile, light, reliable car that boasted a considerable mechanical deployment. As an example of this, we can mention its maximum speed capacity of 105 km/h, thanks to its four-cylinder circuit, made up of 600 hp, 142 Nm and 2,199 cc, which gave it the necessary power to move over the terrain with mastery..

On the other hand, its 4 x 4 traction stands out, which could work permanently and helped it travel where other cars could never go. All this, in a relatively light structure, having 1113 kilograms, composed only of the essentials.

Presence of the Jeep in Spain

An aspect ignored by many is that the development of this car itself was carried out after the war, since, once its efficiency had been demonstrated, in accordance with the development plans of the automobile industry for commercial recovery, the manufacture of Jeep prototypes spread throughout the world.

If you are curious about the history of the Jeep in Spain , you should know that between 1959 and 1983, this car existed in the country with its respective license, which allowed the Viasa company to develop the CJ-3 and CJ-6 models. 

Likewise, starting in the 1970s, other Jeep factories emerged as a result of different commercial agreements that allowed the development of different copies and gave a boost to the 4 x 4 car market, which would continue to grow over the years.

Sports car with sophistication

Currently, that military Jeep that we talked about at the beginning, completes eighty years of existence and, far from having aged, has undergone great transformations according to technology, generating sophisticated models that are less rustic in their internal structure, have armored glass and group all the intelligent functions of conventional cars.

In this way, to enjoy this veteran car today, all you have to do is fill the tank with its respective fuel, put the 5w30 oil (the most common lubricant used by these vehicles), check that the rest of the basic mechanisms are up to date and venture into rural or urban terrain in search of new adventures. Of course, the military jeep options still exist, which is an example of the effectiveness of the model to fulfill the use for which it was conceived.

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