DIGITAL MAGAZINE 5 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. ©2021 FCA US LLC. CONTENTS THE JEEP STORY ® 1 THE ANCESTORS THE JEEP Brand ® 6 M38 AND M170 © 2021 US CUSTOMER SERVICE Editorial Manager: Phil Hunt Eaglemoss Inc. For questions about the collection, Design Manager: Caroline Grimshaw 315 West 36th Street replacements and substitutions, New York, NY 10018 or to cancel, pause or modify Packaged by: Milanoedit srl, your subscription, please call www.milanoedit.com Die-Cast Club® 2021 our US Customer Service team at 800-261-6898, or email us at Researcher/writer: Roberto Bruciamonti All rights reserved [email protected] Photography credits: © NARA (pp.1, 2, 3, YOUR COLLECTION 4, 5, 8, 10), Build the WIllys MB Jeep® © Bruciamonti (pp.6, 7) is available by monthly subscription. 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. ©2021 FCA US LLC. THE JEEP® STORY THE ANCESTORS THE ANCESTORS ▲ A Ford Pygmy being tested The tests that would eventually lead to the by two members of the US Army at Camp Holabird. birth of the Jeep® started in the fall of 1940. ith the arrival of the Bantam Major Herbert J. Lawes, the officer prototype at the US Army test center in charge of testing, took delivery of the in Camp Holabird, Maryland, the Jeep . He put it through its paces over some W ® development of the Jeep® was now well and challenging terrain and obstacles, including a truly under way. After a rather adventurous 60 percent slope that the prototype climbed journey, which also helped to break the vehicle with ease in second gear. After parking the in, at 4.30 pm on September 23rd, 1940, prototype, the Major walked back towards half an hour ahead of schedule, the compact Probst with a big smile and said: “I’ve 4x4 drove through the gates of the military tested all the vehicles which have entered establishment. It sparked significant interest service in the last twenty years. I need just from the onlooking personnel and provided a fifteen minutes to evaluate a car and I can little taster of the vehicle’s capabilities. guarantee you that this vehicle is absolutely 1 THE JEEP® STORY THE ANCESTORS A Bantam BRC-60 and a US Army truck side by side at Camp Holabird. extraordinary. I’m convinced it will make Ford; these two companies also received histor y.” a copy of the Bantam off-road vehicle’s The new vehicle, initially called the BSC design drawings. Crosley, a company from (Bantam Scout Car) and later becoming the the General Motors group that was initially BRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car), performed interested in taking part in the tender, excellently at Holabird: of the 3,410 arduous withdrew their interest. miles (5,488 km) of testing, just 247 The first of Bantam’s competitors to (397 km) of them were on come to the test center tarmacked roads. The car was the proposal from developed a number of “This vehicle is absolutely Willys-Overland, called faults – the radiator grille extraordinary. I’m convinced the Quad. It arrived at broke, the dynamo pulley Holabird on November exploded, the passenger it will make history.” 11th, 1940, also making door handle came off, the journey on its and both longerons on the chassis snapped. own four wheels from the Willys-Overland These issues were to be expected during such factory in Toledo (Ohio) to the Quartermaster demanding tests. Corps depot. Irving “Red” Hausmann, the In addition to the military personnel, there company’s head of testing, was at the wheel. were also civilian technicians present during Delmar G. “Barney” Roos, vice-president of the trials. They took measurements and notes, engineering at Willys-Overland, was the brains and drew sketches of the prototype. These behind the Quad. Since it was impossible were engineers from Willys-Overland and to adhere exactly to the military’s restrictive 2 THE JEEP® STORY THE ANCESTORS specifications for the vehicle’s unladen technical standpoint it was quite dated (it was weight, Roos redefined the project’s general a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder engine made entirely directives. His aim was to maximize the use of of cast iron and had a timing system with side parts that were already in production for other valves), but it was very reliable and was able Willys-Overland vehicles being produced at to generate 60 bhp; Bantam’s Continental that time, whilst still more or less respecting only generated 45 bhp. As a result of this the directives and extra engine power, specifications laid down the Quad’s superiority by the US Army. The greater weight was largely over the BSC/BRC was The Quad weighed due to its powerful engine, immediately clear. 2,430 lb (1102 kg) and Ford’s prototype was exceeded, by about the “Go Devil”. the last to arrive at Camp 300 lb (136 kg), the new Holabird, on November 2,160 lb (980 kg) weight limit that the US Army 23rd, 1940. This vehicle, called the Pygmy, stipulated following the initial tests. However, was developed under the supervision of it had the advantage of being much cheaper Charles Emil Sorensen. He was Henry Ford’s in comparison with its competitors. The right-hand man, no less, and was the person greater weight was largely due to its powerful in charge of the Dearborn car manufacturer’s engine, the “Go Devil”, which at the time was military contracts. It employed an adapted the engine used in the Willys Americar. From a tractor engine (originally used in the Ford/ The Willys Quad’s traction being tested on a snow- covered field. 3 THE JEEP® STORY THE ANCESTORS Ferguson “9N” tractor), known as the NNA, many other technical solutions adopted – offering 1,959 cc and 42 bhp. The transmission for example, the structure of the windshield – was the same as that used on the Ford were considered to be more functional “Model A” at the end of the 1920s, whilst the than on the other prototypes, so much so axles and the reduction transmission were that they ended up being employed on the produced by Spicer, just like those on the final Jeep® . Bantam and Willys-Overland prototypes. It Whilst the Willys-Overland and Ford met the weight specification established by prototypes were being tested and assessed, the Army and boasted an engine torque that Bantam got busy with delivering the 69 slightly exceeded that of the Bantam (11.75 vehicles that it had been contracted to kgf-m against Bantam’s 11.47). However, the provide by the end of December. The power output from the mechanics on the Ford prototype’s engine Bantam MkII were wasn’t particularly fluid. It The power output from very similar to those produced vibrations and the Ford prototype’s engine on the MkI, with the wasn’t really suitable for exception of a number use in a car, where the wasn’t particularly fluid. of improvements power output demands requested by the placed on the engine are constantly changing. military technicians. However, the body was In terms of agility, the Pygmy was the modified, especially the front section, which worst of the three prototypes, but it was the was rendered more functional via the addition best and most advanced from an industrial of square fenders. The unit price, including design standpoint. The materials and finish the design costs, was just under US$2,500 were considered to be far superior to those of for the 61 requested vehicles with two-wheel its competitors. The body shape and steering and a little under US$2,700 for the eight requested vehicles with four- wheel steering. In those days, an average family in the US earned approximately US$150 per month, and a small bottle of Coca Cola at a vending machine cost 5 cents. ◀ The prototypes were subjected to strenuous testing. In this picture, a Ford Pygmy is tackling a muddy ditch. 4 THE JEEP® STORY THE ANCESTORS An airplane flies over a column of Bantam BRC-60s during an exercise. The first vehicles from the new batch of Bantam produced trailers for the Jeep® , Bantams (the MkII or BRC-60) were delivered torpedo engines, and landing gear to the US Army on Tuesday December 17th, for airplanes. 1940. However, three days earlier, on Saturday The additional 1,105 Bantam BRC-40s 14th, the US Army and Bantam had already produced were used to satisfy the terms signed a contract for stipulated as part of the the production of 1,500 Lend-Lease Act. Light quarter-ton 4x4 trucks, The new Bantam was to become and easy to handle, an improved model that the Butler car manufacturer’s the BRC-40 was very was due to be delivered much appreciated by from the following swan song. the British and Russian January. The new armed forces. Willys- Bantam, called the BRC-40, was to become Overland and Ford were also given, with no the Butler car manufacturer’s swan song. further checks required, contracts to produce The contract was for the supply of 1,500 1,500 of their improved prototype models, BRC-40s at a price of US$959.59 each. vehicles upgraded after the military tests on Ultimately, 2,605 vehicles were produced, the original prototypes. The only condition with the final one leaving the production line was for them to be modified in accordance in December 1941.