<< really think that the term jeep originally comes from the two letters GP
which stands for general purpose which is what the army was looking for at
the time. The spelling for jeep i think comes from the popeye cartoon for
the creature that is in called the Jeep. That is where I feel the term
jeep comes from. >>
You are close in some regards but have fallen victim to some very old wives
tales and mis-conceptions as well. Nobody really, truly, knows for sure the
truth of where the jeep name came from but I can tell you this ; The word
"jeep" existed long before the invention of the 1/4 ton truck. It presumably
dates back to near the time of the First World War and meant various things
from "contrived" or "jury rigged"to"innovative"and "unique" probably most
acurate to descibe it as a term for "improved through modification" and I have
seen it used to describe something in this way as "all jeeped up." Later it
was also the name of the mythical character in the Popeye cartoon (Eugene the
jeep) but there was also Alice the Goon so I guess we are lucky Ford didn't
use the prefix GO or GN to desribe their vehicle or we would all be driving
and restoring "Goons." Anyway it is most likely that the word jeep became
associated with the 1/4 ton truck as a result of the Ford prefix GP being to
describe their earliest production series of 1/4 ton military trucks. This was
read as "Geep" and but spelled with a J because of the J sound and it stuck.
The popularity and familiarity of the jeep character probably helped it stick.
Keep in mind that many in the military also called them "Peeps" especially in
the pre-standard series' (Ford GP, Willys MA, and BRC 40) "Peep" was
especially popular in the motorized Cavalry and stuck with them until nearly
the end of the war. I once had a 2nd Armored Division Cavalry officer tell me
that in his unit the 1/4 tons were called "peeps" all through the war and that
a "jeep" was a 3/4 ton Dodge WC series truck. (I have also heard these called
"beeps")
The other thing I want to touch on is the common mis-perception that GP stood
for "General Purpose" which it most certainly did not. The Ford system fo
identifying there vehicles used a letter code to describe the characteristics
of a vehicle.
"G" stands for Government Contract. "P" is the code that tells you that the
vehicle being referred to is the 80 inch wheel-base reconnisance car. So the
code GP tells you that you are dealing with the "Government Contract, 80 inch
wheel base reconnisance car" Later the vehicle was standardized for government
service which put an end to the Ford GP and the Willys MA. The prefix W was
probably chose because it referred to the vehicle that used the Willys engine
design but it does not stand for "Willys". The best way to describe what GPW
stands for is Government Contract, 80 inch wheelbase reconnisance car,
Standard model. (or Design) The only thing that I would offer as evidence is
that the jeep was not a "general purpose vehicle" in the eyes of the military.
It was a command/reconnisance vehicle. The only place "General Purpose" is
used to describe vehicles is when you divide them into their three broadest
catagories. Which are
1- Combat Vehicles. which refers only to those vehicles (usually armored)
whose sole purpose is to engage the enemy in combat.
2-General Purpose. which includes every vehicle not covered by the other two
classes.
3-Administrative Vehicles-which includes Staff Cars, Passenger Busses,
civilian type vehicles in military service, etc. These vehicles are usually
two wheel drive and are never allowed to enter a combat zone.
In this classification the jeep is a "general purpose" vehicle but so is the
CCKW 353, the 3/4 ton Dodge WC series, and hundreds of others as well.
As for me I consider it appropriate to use the word "jeep", with a lower case
"j" in connection with the WWII jeeps only. Jeep on the other hand can
describe all the other jeep type vehicles that came later.
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