Jeep MB

1942 Willys MB Jeep.

The Bantam Car Company won the opening round of the contest to satisfy the US army's 1940 specification for a light four wheel drive but Willys Overland won the battle and, some would say, the war. To ensure supply in war-time the Army decided on a second supplier - Ford. Between 1941 and 1945 Willys and Ford built about 700,000 of the vehicle.

1944 Ford GPW in Navy colours.

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Easiest ways to tell a Ford GPW from a Willys MB:

The Willys chassis front Cross-member is tubular, whereas the Ford cross-member is an inverted U section. Other ways include looking at the tops of all the nuts and bolts, Fords should all be script F marked, though this is not reliable as some restorers replace all the nuts and bolts with new ones. Most of the panels on a Ford Jeep will be stamped with a script F somewhere or another. For example in the middle of the seat frames (back panel), top of the mud guards, on the bonnet hinge, on the rear foot rests, even on the reflectors for some models. I think that the Ford Motor Co. made sure that their stamp was on every sub-assembly of their vehicles.
- Rodney Walker

Willys Overland Jeep MB : Specifications.

• soft-top, 2+2 seats, what doors?
• loa: 132", width: 62", height: 52" (steering wheel) - 72" (soft top), weight: 2400 (unladen)
• GVM: 3200lbs nominally
• 2199cc petrol 4-cyls, 2 valves/cyl, side-valve
• bore: 79.4mm, stroke: 111mm, c.r.: 6.48:1
• transmission: 3-speed, 2-speed transfer case, part-time 4WD
• suspension: beam-leaf/beam-leaf, brakes: drum/drum
• tyres: 6.00x16

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