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DIGITAL MAGAZINE 3 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. CONTENTS THE JEEP STORY ® 1 IF YOU WANT PEACE... THE JEEP BRAND ® 6 TRUCK AND JEEPSTER © 2020 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® 2020 our US Customer Service team at 800-261-6898, or email us at Researcher/writer: Roberto Bruciamonti All rights reserved [email protected] Photography credits: © SA-Kuva (pp.1, 2), YOUR COLLECTION © Bruciamonti (p.3), Build the WIllys MB Jeep® © NARA (pp.4, 5), is available by monthly © Bruciamonti (p.3), subscription. © RM Sotheby’s Media Center (pp.6, 8, 10), www.build-willysjeep.com © FCA (p.7) 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. THE JEEP® STORY IF YOU WANT PEACE... IF YOU WANT PEACE... ▲ A German armored column The war in Europe played a fundamental role pictured during a break. The tanks are Panzer IIIGs complete with 2 in in the birth of the Jeep®. (50 mm) guns. n September 1st, 1939, after striking suburbs, and by the 17th they had the Polish up an alliance with fascist Italy and the capital completely surrounded. On the same O Soviet Union, Nazi Germany invaded day the Soviets, in line with their agreements Poland, thus starting the Second World War. with the Nazis, invaded Poland from the The Poles, with an army that was reasonably east and met the German troops near Brest- well-equipped and boasting healthy numbers Litovsk on September 19th. The two armies (950,000 men, against the 886,000 deployed celebrated with a unifi ed parade along the by the German Wehrmacht), fought with streets of this Polish town. courage and determination, but their tactics On September 28th, Molotov and and strategies were terribly dated. By Ribbentrop, the Soviet and German foreign September 8th, 1939, the German advance ministers, established the details for guards had already reached Warsaw’s partitioning Poland between the two powers. 1 THE JEEP® STORY IF YOU WANT PEACE... ◀ A Panzer IIIG on the move. This medium tank was the main combat vehicle used by German armored divisions during the fi rst half of the confl ict. little more than theoretical and remained so until April 1940 when, after repeated requests from Adolf Hitler to open peace negotiations, Germany stopped the so-called “bore war” and started Blitzkrieg, the lightning war. First they invaded Denmark and Norway and then, on May 10th, 1940, they launched a sudden attack against the Anglo-French forces. On May 20th, the German advance guards were already on the Channel coast near Military operations ended on October 5th. Abbeville and six days later the British prime The territories occupied by the Germans minister, Winston Churchill, ordered the became part of the so-called General British Expeditionary Force to retreat towards Government, whilst those occupied by the Dunkerque in order to return to England. Russians became part of the Ukrainian Soviet On June 5th, the Germans commenced Socialist Republic. operations to take Paris and, on June 10th, In the meantime, France and Great Britain, the fi rst Nazi troops crossed the Seine. On who had promised that same day, fascist their support to Poland, Germany stopped Italy declared war on declared war on Germany France and Great Britain on September 3rd, 1939. the so-called and commenced military Their actions, however, “bore war” operations in the Alps, were limited to a number along the Mediterranean of border skirmishes and started Blitzkrieg. coast, and in Africa. and to ordering the France signed an armistice mobilization of their respective armies, as agreement with Germany on June 22nd and well as strengthening defenses on the French subsequently with Italy two days later. territory: nothing compared to the 44-mile German propaganda celebrated its (70 km) advances the German troops were military successes in Poland and France, managing each day in Poland. The state of speaking of formidable armored divisions, war between the Allies (France, Great Britain superfast airplanes, and ultra-modern and the Commonwealth) and Germany was weapons, with a heavy emphasis on the 2 THE JEEP® STORY IF YOU WANT PEACE... rapid advances of the Wehrmacht motorcycle in his 1937 book Achtung – Panzer!, the rifl emen units (described as the army’s reason for employing the motorcycle rifl emen quickest troops). Curiously, Anglo-French (Kraftradschützen) was different from that senior offi cials corroborated these assertions which was declared, “since we don’t have in their attempts to justify their failures. armored vehicles with good off-road mobility, However, the real story was actually the rifl emen units deployed to operate completely different: along with the armored it wasn’t the armored vehicles are organized, vehicles, new weapons, The German forces were at least partially, as or motorcycle rifl emen at a numerical and motorcycle rifl emen.” units that made the Military experts difference, but the technological disadvantage. from across the world, innovative tactics, the on both sides, assessed experienced commanders, and the well- the technical aspects that contributed to trained soldiers who’d been prepared for the the German successes. They came to the modern day combat of those times. In reality, conclusion that military operations of such the German forces were at a numerical and speed required extremely fl exible, mobile technological disadvantage in comparison to combat units, which therefore needed to be their enemies. As Heinz Guderian explained completely motorized. The United States was A group of sidecars used by the Wehrmacht motorcycle rifl emen line up during a historical re-enactment. 3 THE JEEP® STORY IF YOU WANT PEACE... keen not to get involved in the confl ict, but it used for experimentation purposes, and the knew it wasn’t going to be easy and decided company returned to the fray once again, in to apply the Latin maxim “si vis pacem, para February 1940, proposing its vehicles to the bellum” (“if you want peace, prepare for war”). Quartermaster Corps. The latter proposal Funds to strengthen the armed forces were wasn’t followed up on, but in 1940, with increased and studies were initiated on ways the war in Europe bringing the issue of a to modernize the army. light reconnaissance and liaison vehicle into The focus was placed on motorization and the spotlight again, someone remembered mechanization, in the knowledge that they American Bantam. could count on the competence of the world’s On June 19th, 1940, just as the Blitzkrieg major car manufacturers. Development in France was in its fi nal throes, a special plans were reviewed, subcommittee of the the number of army They decided to apply the Latin US Army met at the personnel required American Bantam factory in time of war was maxim “si vis pacem, in Butler, Pennsylvania. redefi ned, and logistics para bellum”. The purpose of structures – which had the meeting was to already been planned – evaluate, along with the were modifi ed. Within the motor vehicle manufacturer’s technical experts and senior sector there was a requirement for a truck with managers, the capabilities and limitations of a payload that came in at less than ½ tonne the vehicle chassis they were proposing. (at the time believed to be the minimum It would provide the basis for the payload for a military vehicle): a ¼-tonne development of a lightweight command truck which could substitute the motorcycle and reconnaissance vehicle that could also with sidecar for use as a reconnaissance operate as a weapons carrier. and liaison vehicle. The performance of a number of Bantam Indeed, the sidecar was considered two-wheel drive vehicles were evaluated inadequate for American military needs, to the extent that even from the early 1930s trials were carried out with British Austin vehicles produced in the States by the American Austin Car Company (American Bantam from 1935). Later, in 1938, American Bantam sold the US Army three chassis of the smaller vehicle, which were ▶ A brochure from the 1930s advertising an American Bantam convertible. 4 THE JEEP® STORY IF YOU WANT PEACE... A famous picture of a Bantam BRC showing the obvious power of the car, capable of leaving the ground with three people on board and towing a 1.45 in (37 mm) anti-tank gun. during this meeting. The Bantams did pretty square body, and the capability to transport well with one or two people on board and a machine gun. In addition, the engine had a load of 1,500 lbs (680 kg), both on the an oil bath air fi lter and suffi cient power to road and on light off-road terrain with a tow a lightweight trailer or a small artillery gradeability of up to 10%. Following the piece. The wheelbase was 75 in (190.5 cm), it meeting, a report was drafted listing the had a maximum height of 36 in (91 cm), the broad specifi cations that were deemed approach and departure angles were of 45° required for what was and 40° respectively, to become the most and speeds ranging famous and popular The most famous and popular between 3 and 50 mph reconnaissance and reconnaissance and liaison (5 and 80 km/h) could be liaison vehicle in the continuously maintained vehicle in the world: the Jeep®.

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