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DIGITAL MAGAZINE 1 INCLUDES FIRST TWO SETS OF INSTRUCTIONS Jeep, the Jeep grille and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dress are trademarks of FCA US LLC and used under license by Premium & Collectibles Trading Co ltd. ©2020 FCA US LLC. JEEP_DM_01_v7.indd 1 23/09/20 12:06 CONTENTS THE JEEP STORY ® 1 THE MB JEEP® THE JEEP BRAND ® 6 THE CJ JEEP® STEP-BY-STEP ASSEMBLY GUIDE 11 © 2020 US CUSTOMER SERVICE Technical Editor: Joe Hawkes Eaglemoss Inc. For questions about the collection, Editorial Manager: Phil Hunt 315 West 36th Street replacements and substitutions, Design Manager: Caroline Grimshaw New York, NY 10018 or to cancel, pause or modify your subscription, please call Packaged by: Milanoedit srl, Die-Cast Club® 2020 our US Customer Service team www.milanoedit.com at 800-261-6898, or email us at All rights reserved [email protected] Researcher/writer: Roberto Bruciamonti YOUR COLLECTION Photography credits: © FCA Build the WIllys MB Jeep® (pp.1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), is available by monthly © Bruciamonti subscription. (pp 2, 3, 10) www.build-willysjeep.com Jeep, the Jeep grille and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dress are trademarks of FCA US LLC and used under license by Premium & Collectibles Trading Co ltd. ©2020 FCA US LLC. JEEP_DM_01_v7.indd 2 23/09/20 12:06 THE JEEP® STORY THE MB JEEP® THE MB JEEP® ▲ One of the fi rst Willys MB “slat Revolutionary concepts and traditional grille” models during a training exercise on US territory. technology gave birth to the first Jeep® . hen the Jeep® was conceived, it armies during the fi rst part of the Second wasn’t the fi rst light off-road vehicle World War. W on the market, it wasn’t even In reality, the sidecar wasn’t actually the most innovative military 4x4, and it did completely dismissed by US military not offer the most advanced technological technicians – they initially considered it, but solutions. It was born from US pragmatism later deemed it inadequate for the US Army’s and was designed with volume production in needs for a variety of reasons. One was its mind. It was created to serve as the lightest of poor reliability under extreme use: reports the US Army’s utility trucks, and its aim was to from British intelligence revealed that the act as a reconnaissance and liaison vehicle in sophisticated German sidecar employed in the same way that motorcycles with sidecars Africa could suffer from any number of faults had been widely used by many European after the fi rst 450–500 miles (724–805 km). 1 JEEP_DM_01_v7.indd 1 23/09/20 12:06 THE JEEP® STORY THE MB JEEP® ◀ A Zündapp KS 750 equipped with an MG 42 machine gun and a trailer loaded with fuel cans. Clearly, the unit cost was also a contributory light weight, speed, and versatility offered factor, given that the BMW R75 with sidecar by the sidecar, together with the capacity produced from February 1941 onward (but to carry a machine gun. All of these features which actually didn’t enter service until the were highlighted by German propaganda, following July) cost approximately US$1,052 and were held in high regard by military (2,630 Reichsmarks). In contrast, the MB “slat experts at the time as a consequence of grille” resulting from the initial contract for the waves of success achieved by the German 16,000 vehicles – won by army during the Blitzkrieg, Willys in November 1941 – or “lightning war”. cost just US$748.74 each. The US Army was a people’s For this reason it’s Another factor that army – it was made up of worth remembering was considered important what the requirements was the average American common citizens of the German Army’s soldier’s unfamiliarity with Supreme Command the motorcycle. At the beginning of the 1940s, were for the Wehrmachtsgespann, the and for the entire duration of the Second above-mentioned BMW R75 and Zündapp World War, the US Army was a people’s army KS 750 heavy motorcycles with sidecar. They – it was made up of common citizens, not needed to carry three soldiers or a load of professionals, called up to defend the liberty 550 lb (250 kg), a wheelbase of 57 in (144.4 of the United States and the world. In those cm), maximum height lower than 39 in (1 m), days, the car was much more common in normal operating speed between 1.8 and America than in Europe or Asia. It meant that 59 mph (3 and 95 km/h), maximum unladen the average American citizen-soldier wouldn’t weight of 926 lb (420 kg), gradeability of 40%, have needed a lengthy training period on a and wading depth no lower than 14 in (35 cm). vehicle such as the MB Jeep®. Keeping these specifi cations in mind, The specifi cations required by the US the initial designs drawn up for the new US military for the new vehicle called for the same military vehicle included dimensions, usage 2 JEEP_DM_01_v7.indd 2 23/09/20 12:06 THE JEEP® STORY THE MB JEEP® The left side of a Willys MB with standard features. features, and performance characteristics considering that the US Army needed the which, in relation to the technologies of that new vehicle to cope with the most extreme time (July 1940), were particularly exacting. operational conditions. Drivers of the new The initial specifi cations included the ability vehicle had to achieve military objectives to carry three soldiers or a load of 600 lb without worrying about the preservation (272 kg), a wheelbase no longer than 75 in of the vehicle, which was considered just (190.5 cm), a maximum as expendable as height lower than The US Army needed the new an artillery shell or 36 in (91.4 cm), and the aerial bomb. ability to run smoothly vehicle to cope with the most In July 1940, the at both walking speed extreme operational conditions Quartermaster Corps (minimum 3 mph/5 sent a request for km/h) and at high speed proposals to produce on roads (maximum speed greater than 55 the new vehicle to 135 American car mph/90 km/h, which had to be continuously producers. Perhaps due to the above- maintained). Finally, the maximum unladen mentioned list of exacting requirements, weight couldn’t exceed 1,300 lb (590 kg), the just three replied: American Bantam, fully laden gradeability had to be 60%, and Willys-Overland, and Ford Motor Co. the vehicle had to be able to cross waterways During the trials, and particularly during up to 18 in (46 cm) deep without diffi culty. the very fi rst test drives undertaken at Objectively speaking, these specifi cations the Camp Holabird testing ground near wouldn’t be easy to achieve even by Baltimore, Maryland – then the location of today’s technological standards, particularly the Holabird Quartermaster Depot – the 3 JEEP_DM_01_v7.indd 3 23/09/20 12:06 THE JEEP® STORY THE MB JEEP® prototypes supplied to the army by the three now at least 8 in (20 cm), and the maximum manufacturers sustained numerous structural height of the vehicle (with the windshield breakages and other faults. The military lowered) was now 52 in (1.32 m). The authorities revised the specifi cations more approach and departure angles were than once to enable technicians to strengthen 45° and 35° respectively, while the tires the chassis, the suspension, the steering measured 6.00-16/6 ply, and were mounted linkages, the bodies, and the mechanical on combat modular wheel rims with parts, all of which had a knock-on effect in heavy-duty inner tubes. terms of the vehicle’s unladen weight. Despite offering performance, versatility, Just before the responsibility for military and reliability far superior to that found in vehicles was transferred to the US Ordnance similar vehicles used by other contemporary Department, the Quartermaster Corps forces at the time, the model was really quite Motor Transport Service announced the fi nal conventional. Its engine incorporated a timing confi guration. For the MB Jeep® slat grille, system with side valves, it sat on a classic the “minimum [weight] consistent with service chassis with longerons and crossbeams with requirements” had increased from 1,300 solid double-axle and leaf spring suspension, to 2,450 lb (590 to 1,111 kg) and the total transmission was a standard three gears allowable payload had risen from 600 to (with two-speed reduction), and it sported a 800 lb (272 to 363 kg) “for operating simple “torpedo” body. As was usual business personnel (including the driver) and military practice in the US in those days, the Jeep® supplies.” For the engine, the requirement had to be covered by a 90-day warranty, no was for “at least four cylinders with a cubic matter what it was to be used for; remarkably, capacity no lower than 130 cu in (2,130 cc),” it was also valid if it was assigned to combat the wheelbase increased to 80 in (203 cm), units. The warranty was always honored, even the minimum height from the ground was when the vehicle broke down in the harshest Considering the period, the dynamic qualities of the Willys MB were remarkable. Enzo Ferrari defi ned the Jeep® as “the only true American sports car.” 4 JEEP_DM_01_v7.indd 4 23/09/20 12:06 THE JEEP® STORY THE MB JEEP® of conditions. The result was that Jeep® immediately earned admiration and WILLYS MB JEEP® KEY SPECS affection from all who used it. Ernie Pyle was a Pulitzer BUILT: 1941–1945 Prize-winning American journalist who made his MANUFACTURERS: Willys-Overland Motors; name from reporting on GIs Ford Motor Co.