The OG Jeep that Faced Down the Nazis and Won (The Willys MB) 

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Listened to this in the background while doing some other stuff and then about ten minutes I heard stuff about "modifying willies" and I choked

In 1972 a 1944 Willys MB was the oldest vehicle in the US Navy's inventory. I bought that jeep and discovered that it had been first issued to the army then the marines and finally to the navy. I have kept it as I bought it in the navy gray paint.

My favorite TV show as a kid growing up in the 1960s was "Rat Patrol". Loved seeing the Jeeps jumping the sand dunes of North Africa in that show, though I'm guessing the location shoots were in the Mojave, or some other US desert. My dad a WWII Pacific Theater veteran learned to drive in a Jeep, and later on while stationed in occupied Japan purchased his very first vehicle a surplus Jeep which he had a Japanese sheet metal craftsman fabricate a steel hard top and doors. He took a cute Japanese nurse out on several dates in that Jeep. That nurse became my mom. Would love to get my hands on a nice CJ-2A in original condition in honor of my parents.

"Well you're GODDAMN right it could!" Well said Simon, well said!

My dad was shot in Vietnam while he was a passenger in a Jeep. While he was on the radio he had his right leg hanging out and that leg took the round, while other rounds hit the gravel and kicked up a bunch of shrapnel which landed else where. I did not understand him having his leg out of the Jeep until last year when I ordered my own Rubicon and took the doors off, it is a very natural thing you want to do.

As a proud owner of a 1943 Willys MB, thank you for the video Simon!

Whoever edits your videos deserves a massive fucking raise for that absolute brilliant bit of clip at 5:22 "WEEEE!!! WEEEE!!!

I live 15 minutes away from Butler, PA, home of the Jeep. They have a festival every year.

My father's ship the USS Block Island actually stole a Jeep from the Army. Before they Army driver realized it was missing, the Jeep had been hauled from where it had been parked in the dock. Then repainted in navy gray. It was used to haul planes around until the Captain became concerned that someone was going to drive it off the Flight Deck and into the ocean and got rid of it.

I actually drove one recently, the Greek army has a few and yes they are still in fine condition!!!

If someone ever offered me a choice between a modern day Super/Hyper car or a Willy's MB, without a question, I'd 1000% take the Willy's.

As for the name Jeep, legend has it that someone named it after a character in a 1930s Popeye cartoon, Eugene the Jeep. When I was growing up in the 70s the U.S. postal service used them for their mail carriers to move around. They were painted red, white and blue had a hard shell roof and were right hand drive.

The large majority of Jeeps were manufactured in Toledo, Ohio at the Willys Overland factory. The people of Toledo are very proud of that fact. While the original factory which manufactured the Willys jeep for decades is now gone there is still a large modern factory in Toledo, Ohio which manufactures the current version of the Jeep.

The Willy's MB and the Dodge WC series are what won the allies the war. You can't change my mind😤

Also surprised you didn't mention the urban legends of troops literally mailing Willys back home in pieces, 'allegedly.' My grandfather in the Korean War claimed his sergeant 'mailed' one home. I can't confirm or deny it but just reflects how beloved it was that an infantryman tried to arrange to send it home so he could keep it after the war

We were still using the Jeeps as late as the end of the 80s in the US. My national guard units had them. They were fairly comfortable especially on paved roads and were almost indestructible. The most dangerous thing about them was the trailer handbrake. If you drove off and forgot to release it, the trailer brakes would heat up and seize causing the trailer to flip over. Because the trailer hitch was a rigid eye, it would also flip the Jeep. It caused some fatalities unfortunately. Soon after we rec’d our first Humvees

They were used when I was in the service. Truly a remarkable little vehicle. Their utilitarian function was and still is matched by no other vehicles. In fact, the GP (Jeep) could still be used, as a cost effective substitute for many duties that the expensive, heavy, and less nimble HMMWV (Humvee) is used for. $220K vs $20K.

The Jeep moved troops reliably like a champ for cheap, the M1 gave troops fire superiority, and the Sherman was reliable, safe and versatile. Everything just worked back then.

I trained on a 1951 Willys at the 1st Ranger Battalion back in 1990, mine didn't have a functioning 2nd gear, so I had to learn to speed shift to 3rd but that little beast was indestructible. My father had a CJ7 when I was a kid, so I already loved Jeeps, and being able to train with one that had seen time in Korea was a joy. Utterly brilliant machine and truly a workhorse only rivaled by the venerable Deuce and a Half truck. Hardest task I had to learn was backing one up the ramp on a C130, drove me nuts but I was proud as hell when I finally got the hang of it. I'll always love the Willys, and I dare anyone to name a small utility vehicle that has a more amazing history. Sua Sponte brothers, and thank you Simon for bringing attention to this little monster!

Interesting video Simon, nice to see the history of the Jeep. When you mentioned about us Brits strapping twin Vickers onto them you were showing a MK2 LandRover but we'll let you off with it 😉

I've never understood my fellow Americans' obsession with Jeeps... until now. Now I kinda get it. Thank you for this video. Even as a WWII dork, the Jeeps were always just kind of in the background, subservient to the weapons and soldiers. Very cool to have my perspective updated so thoroughly!

My grandfather joined the US Army in February '41. His first unit was 75 mm artillery... Horse drawn artillery. I still have his soldiers manual.

I’ve owned a Jeep TJ for 17 years. My grandma was 15 when she got chased from her home town in France by the Nazis…. When she asked what car I wanted, and I showed her a Jeep on the lot, she about cried remembering what it was like to see an American in a Jeep for the first time…. I will forever keep my Jeep alive in memory of that look on her face and knowing what these amazing rigs are capable of, it’s 80 some years since the war, and it’s still the pinnacle of off road and adventure technology. Hands down a true American classic, and as Enzo Ferrari stated, a Jeep is the only true American sports car

1:30 - Chapter 1 - Need ; design ; development 2:05 - Mid roll ads 3:25 - Back to the video 8:25 - Chapter 2 - Specs; capabilities ; variants 12:10 - Chapter 3 - Deployed into world war 15:35 - Chapter 4 - Post war service & retirement

Never underestimate the power of great logistics.

The story I heard regarding the names is that they were first referred to as general purpose vehicles. This was shortened to GP and finally changed to to jeep.

I wanted one of these for years, as a kid. Once I was an adult, I realised how expensive a restored WW2 version costs. And my old man doesn't help by reminding me when HE was a kid, they could be bought for a few quid when they were surplused off.

My dad owns two old Willys. A 1942 that is fully restored and milspec, and a 1946 that he daily drove for decades when he was a professor

The picture you showed for the British but was actually an early Land Rover. The LRDG and SAS jeeps were similarly armed though. That shot of Westmoreland was an M151 Mutt.

And that's exactly why I bought a 2019 two-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon several years ago, built it to be even more off-road capable, and have thus far put over 30,000 miles on this beast in the mountains of Oregon, where I have found very few trails I cannot easily get through. I love my Jeep! ❤

In my hometown here in Italy there’s 2 of them owned by 2 different private citizens. You can see them being used quite often during the summer, amazing cars

I had a 1975 CJ 5, 3 Speed Inline 6, and she was a Beast. I loved that Jeep. Here in the U. S. when someone says Off-road or Rock Climbing, the Jeep automatically comes to mind. Jeep is still beloved.

My late father-in-law had one. Harshest ride I've ever felt but it definitely could go anywhere you wanted to. Great memories 👍🏼

Only thing left standing of the old Willys Jeep plant is it's smokestack sadly.

1:28 need, design, development 3:23 end of sponsorship 8:18 specs, capabilities, variants 12:03 deployed onto world war 15:28 post-war service and retirement

We were still using these for Military Police patrol vehicles in South Korea in the late 80s and early 90s. You couldn't kill them. We even had diesel put in them on accident on more than one occasion. Eventually they would sputter out and quit running, but once the issue was figured out, as much of the diesel was removed from the fuel system as possible, the tank filled back up with mogas, and the engine cracked for a while, it would fire back up and run fine again. Usually before the battery would die from cranking the engine without the alternator being able to recharge the battery. I spent a lot of hours in one. They were fun to drive, but cold in the winter since they had soft canvas sides and top around the passenger area. Good old 260-34 (unit assigned vehicle number) had a pretty good heater at least. 🤣

Fun fact: the army had one more requirement of the vehicle. They needed it to survive doing its job for at least 25 days. My grandfather bought one out of a crate on his LST he was the second officer on at the end of the war for use on his farm. It was still running when my family finally got rid of it after I had graduated high-school almost 70 years later. It was still unmatched in its usefulness off road due to its extremely short wheel base and 4x4 low mode.

Had to listen a couple times. But yes, Simon did say "Yeet" Oh, I'm so proud LOL :)

I worked with a guy in Australia who had one of these. It was the most amazing vehicle for picking up girls outside of clubs you could possibly imagine. He'd drive it into town (dangerous with the brakes apparently being made of some kind of cardboard) and even in the middle of their winter he'd have curious club girls dying to go for a ride around town in this thing. Never failed, it was one of those cars you saw on TV but almost never saw around the streets. He absolutely loved it. I'm so glad to see this tribute vehicle, this with the DC2/DC3 changed everything for the Allied war effort. God when America does things like this it really does change the world doesn't it.

We were still using them in the US Army National Guard until 1989. Loved driving it.

The Jeep allowed the Allies to have a Cavalry horse of unprecedented strength, range and speed without the need of Oats, or horse shoes. ^~^

What a fascinating vehicle. I'd heard about the Jeeps used in the Korean war but had no idea HOW extensive and amazing their history really was. That "jeep seat" issue is still a thing, by the by - it can be caused by many things, but first became prevalent because of the hard seats and so forth in those vehicles. It's a weird condition, like an ingrown hair, but compared to normal ones it's a freaking kaiju. Thankfully easy to treat but damn uncomfortable.

Seeing Richard the Hamster Hammond standing at the steering wheel of that gihugic Jeep is a priceless image I will cherish forever!!!

I remember the jeep during my army service in the 80s. Ours were really old. I always thought they were small and the tires narrow. But they were rugged and versatile.

While in College a guest speaker talked about how his unit had several of these, when his was damaged they just swapped out parts from another damage Jeep. He said that within a few months he wasn't sure if it was the same jeep, as they had swapped almost everything as parts were damaged.

The importance of logistics in warfare can’t be understated. Alongside combined arms warfare, it’s essential for successful modern warfare.

The MB’s legacy lives on in many designs including the Land Rover and Land Cruiser. I wish they still made an MB lookalike. Modern tech but that original styling will never be outclassed.

My dad bought a 1948 CJ2A in 1969. He put a 1966 Buick V6 in it. He restored it in around 2001 and it is quite nice now. He passed away in September of 2011. The Jeep is still in the garage.

A company in Philippines still stamping out new Jeep component panels - so you can restore a Jeep in any condition. Amazing.

This is why we have the bantam jeep festival in butler Pennsylvania every year

Im 42, and when I was a kid I remember WWII era willy's jeeps everywhere on farms near my town in California. I even drove one of them at my friend's ranch...always got a kick that you had to push a button to start it😂

My mom grew up driving a 76 CJ. She had to get rid of it(which she still talks about regretting) but eventually got a 91 YJ. The 91 is what I learned to drive on and my first car purchase I made was a 2016 Rubicon. My brother-in-law still has the 91 and it's still going strong with 200,000 mi on its little four cylinder engine. It's the greatest thing in the world to take off the doors and the top or to put it in 4wd and go places you probably shouldn't be. Jeeps don't let you down.

Now the 6x6 GMC half ton truck needs it's own video along other US Army military vehicles.

Even in WW2 Germany was surprisingly reliant on horses for moving stuff around. In WW1 Germany had hardly any trucks

I heard the name Ernie Pyle. Such a wonderful and humble man who was from the state of Indiana. My parents knew a teacher who was acquainted with him. Such a wonderful man and his life was so tragically cut short in the Pacific. In journalism we need his like today.

Do the Honda Super Cub, the most prolific motor vehicle of all time. More than 100 million have been built, and it’s still made today.

IIRC, when General (and later president) Eisenhower was asked what was the most important vehicle of WWII he said the Jeep without hesitation.

My mother bought one in 46 and drove it in chicago till 50 ? But, then, she or her driver had been using one for 3 or 4 years. She was a company commander in the wacs.

It's often overlooked that the first "jeep" was actually a design produced by American farm equipment manufacturer Minneapolis-Moline and called the UTX. The company was even using the term "jeep" before anyone else (after it was first coined by one of the Army's test drivers and then adorned with the name) as specifically mentioned in much of the morale posters commissioned by the company at that time, as well as the court case that the US government dropped after the war because it simply didn't care

You ought to take a look at the Studebaker Weasel, another WWII era vehicle. They are cool little tracked things that were used all over the place and can sometimes be seen in the newsreels on MASH.

In WW1 Mack Trucks were very effective and much sought.

My great grandad used to fry eggs on the bonnet of his Jeep when he fought in North Africa as a Royal Engineer. Mad times.

When I got to the 3ACR in Fort Bliss Texas in 1989 we still had old school jeeps with M1A1 tanks. I was suprised. We got Hummves the next year. But I still remember going with the 1SGT in his jeep with food for the troops during training, it overheated and we put water from a near by stream into and kept going. Old school for sure. One year later we were in the Gulf War, no jeeps....

The history of American Bantam who developed a prototype is interesting. The UK's Austin Company opened a factory in the USA, near Butler, PA, to make a version of the Austin 7 in the late 1920's. The Great Depression hurt and Austin sold it to a group who was a leading retail seller of the cars. They made key improvements to the engine and drive train, offered some with cute bodies including closed sedans, open top convertibles, small commercial vans, some with 2 tone paint. By 1940's the Bantam cars were not selling well enough, not cheap enough vs. a slightly used major car makers much bigger cars. They made their prototype in record time, driving to the proving grounds in Maryland overnight. While their basic engineering was used, they couldn't make enough for demand but ended up with large contracts for trailers for them. The company continued to make utility trailers into the mid-1950's, the company bought by a steel company. Surplus Jeeps and civilian ones were popular on farms, ranches, and could have added power take offs to do various duties.

Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio! There’s one preserved smoke stack from the original factory with “OVERLAND” painted on it still standing. The successive Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators are still built in Toledo.

I was sitting in our Jeep when I first saw a Humvee and asked, "What the hell are those things?" The guy sitting next said they were the new Jeeps for the Army. I couldn't really see how they could be better than a Jeep since our were repaired in the field all the time and four stout dudes could lift one and carry it over gnarly terrain pretty easily and we'd just keep going! The only problem I ever had with them was that they could roll pretty easily and kill everyone in it! That and when our Motopool sgt swiped our distributor cap and we had to push the damned thing back to the barracks after a drunken night at the EM club at Ft. Irwin!! They could carry a lot more than a 1/4 ton of shit which was what they were rated for!

Simon needs to do one on the Studebaker US6. The logistical truck that could work almost anywhere and was almost as versital as the Willys

In 1976 & 77 I drove the jeep in the Army, great little utility vehicle! About time it got some luv :) Thanks Simon and co.

There’s a fella near my house who has one of these fully restored with all the bits and bobs on (gerry can, spade etc)Fylde, Lancs UK

I joined the US army in 1987 as a mechanic and was trained how to do maintenance on Jeeps. Some were still in use even then. Although, by 1990, they were pretty much regulated to the national guard. I remember driving one around Fort Stewart in 1991 as a member of the national guard...

I did a lot of repair and restoration work on WW2 MBs in the past... The design is so simple an robust and the build materials are available everywhere.. The fabric roof, the felt or corc gaskets.... You would be able to fix the thing out in the field with virtually nothing on supply.. No special tools needed.. I whish modern cars would be like this... Greets from Germany. ;)

When I joined my Guard unit in 1989, we still had a Jeep ambulance.

As a jeeper i fell in love with the vehicles when i was a kid my great uncle had a 43 MB on the farm and we use to drive around in it all the time and now i have 2 jeeps and im looking for my own mb to buy and my kids now share the joy of riding around in jeeps

"Yoink" I think is the proper term for pulling to accelerate to great speeds

That keep that the “British chose to modify” (10.48) is actually a Land Rover 😬 .

In Colombia the Jeep Willy’s is iconic and used to this day!

2 notable uses for surplus WWII Willys. US Postal Service converted thousands of them over to mail delivery vehicles. And Zamboni turned them into ice rink machines. Though most of the mail carrier Willys are now long gone, there are still many Willys chassis Zamboni machines still being used today smoothing out ice skating and hocky rinks world wide.

I grew up in south Devon - the bit the Americans used to practice D-Day. A bloke I knew back then had an OG Willys that the Yanks had left behind in his granddads barn when they went home. If he still has it, it's probably worth a few bob nowadays...😂

It's the Little Engine That Could and Brave Little Toaster all in one. This was more important to the Allies winning the war than the atomic bombs. When Shakespeare wrote the "St Crispin's Day" speech in Henry V, he was thinking about the MB

My grandfather worked on these in WW2 in a motorpool. So cool to hear more details!

"But then, Theres all the myriad ways the Soliders chose to modify their Willys to suit their purposes." I'm sorry but your script writers have really done an epic job on stitching you up Mr Whistler! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I love my Jeep JK. It’s taken me to so many scenic places.

As the former owner of a ‘42 MB, they’re incredible little rigs, loved mine to death

I was the driver for my Colonel back in the early 80s. Loved the jeep especially in the spring and summer.

My pops and I restored our 46 cj2a and its been in the family since new. I love that thing. Jeep life! Would love to find a 49 jeepster. It was so different looking.

Once had a '53 m38a1. Great vehicles.

The undisputed chadliest vehicle of all warfare

I appreciate your enthusiastic opening on this video. I own 2 jeeps and they were the best used car I've ever had. I only paid $500 for the first one and $1500 for the second jeep. I'm currently driving a Jeep Cherokee now. They're not quite as cool as the originals but they're more practical especially in a cold climate. When I was a boy my father had a mud puppy which was similar to the water jeeps the seeps. Only it had 6 tires and it was capable of going through the water and floating. Good episode Simon

They were not phased out of the U.S Military until the late 80's

Fabulous thank you! Mine is a two door JL Sport S, stock standard in Mojito green. I Love My Jeep!

I have a Willys MB , lovely old girl , just woken her up from her winter slumber and she started almost instantly .

Drove one for many years as a daily. Fun, reliable and the longstroke 4 cyl felt just good.

Now I want to buy one. My father owned a 1960 Jeep Willy’s. I hated that thing. No air conditioning, no radio. Only ONE electric wiper, the other one was manually. Hard top with sliding doors that were removed because they were damage.

favorite gi mod is where the upper cockpit of a b-17 was fitted to an airfield hack jeep to have a fully enclosed vehicle. pretty stylish as well!

The M151 Mutt had serious handling problems, could roll over too easily, and they were rapidly with drawn and destroyed, apparently by cutting the vehicle in half,the govt did not want liability claims going in. When in service chains were used on the suspension in an attempt to control the role. I saw one once at a show in the UK, the M151 looked a nice follow on to the MB, but with more issues.

My dad served on the Makinaw cutter. Only one built. All his crew and previous crew mates say the Makinaw won the war. Jeeps can't be built without steel. The Makinaw made sure steel was delivered.

Simon, how you were able to say "willie" so many times without laughing makes you the most professional "fact boy" that RU-vid has or will ever see

🐐🐐🐐🐐 the video clip of an Allied soldier pulling out in a jeep with the back end on fire says a lot about the matter.

10:41 that looks like a Land Rover more than a Willys