[MV] "jeep" describes only '40-'45 1/4-tons?

SBJohnston@aol.com
Fri, 9 Jan 1998 20:12:59 -0500 (EST)

Hi Mil-Veh listers:

In the last couple months I have run into two separate persons interested in
military vehicles who have tried to tell me that the term "jeep" only
applies to the MB's and GPW's of WWII. Seemed silly to me, particularly
since "Jeep" is stamped into the front of the toolbox on my '51 M38.

This evening I started reading "The All-American Wonder" ('93 edition) and
was surprised to see a very similar opinion expressed in print. Author
Cowdery writes: "the word jeep is used in the generic sense to describe all
Bantam, WIllys, and Ford 1/4-ton 4x4 trucks produced for military use between
1940 and 1945. To use the word jeep to describe anything else is inaccurate"

He goes on to point out the capital-J name "Jeep" applies only to the
commercial/civilian vehicles produced by Willys, Kaiser, AMC, and Chrysler.

On the next page, though, Cowdery describes the 1952 Museum of Modern Art
Automotive Design exhibit and he refers to their 4x4 1/4-ton example as a
"1951 military jeep." Hmmmm....

I'm interested in this distinction... Does anyone know of any reasonable
basis for the position that the only true "jeeps" are WW-II era models? Or
is it, as I suspect, merely a somewhat snobbish opinion exhibited by a few
WWII-vintage jeep enthusiasts?

Steve Johnston

sbjohnston@aol.com

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