Today, the American SUV of the Second World War is easily recognizable in any photographs of the war and post-war years; it is a frequent guest on the movie screen, not only in documentary chronicles, but also in almost all films about this war. The car became a real classic during its lifetime and gave its name to a whole class of cars. Currently, the word "jeep" itself denotes any car with good off-road ability, but initially this nickname was assigned to a very specific piece of technology, whose fate was closely intertwined not only with the United States, but also with the history of our country.
This story began in the spring of 1940, when the US military formulated technical requirements for the design of a lightweight command and reconnaissance vehicle with a carrying capacity of a quarter of a ton with a 4x4 wheel arrangement. The tight deadlines of the announced competition quickly knocked out almost all possible applicants from it, except for two companies, American Bantam and Willys-Overland Motors, which were only later joined by the recognized American auto giant - the Ford concern. You can learn more about the history of the appearance of American jeeps, unfair for some and triumphant for others, in the article "Bow": the first jeep under Lend-Lease."
After ordering each of the three participants in the competition for a batch of cars of 1,500 copies, the Willys company was eventually recognized as the winner, which in 1941 began mass production of an army off-road vehicle under the designation Willys MB. Since 1942, the Ford concern joined the production of a licensed copy of the "Willis", the car was produced under the designation Ford GPW. In total, until the end of World War II, American factories have assembled a total of more than 650 thousand cars, which forever went down in history as the first "jeeps". At the same time, the production of "Willis" continued after the war.
Under the Lend-Lease program, during the war years, the USSR received about 52 thousand "Wilis" who fought on all fronts of the Great Patriotic War. The first deliveries of American SUVs to the Soviet Union began in the summer of 1942. In the Red Army, the car very quickly became popular and was widely used in a variety of roles, including the role of a light artillery tractor, which was used to tow 45-mm anti-tank and 76-mm divisional guns.
Where exactly the nickname Jeep came from is still not known for certain. According to one of the most popular versions, this is the usual abbreviation for the military designation of General Purpose vehicles, GP, which sounds like G-Pee, or Jeep. According to another version, it all boils down to American military slang, in which the word "jeep" denoted untested vehicles. In any case, all the "Willys" began to be called jeeps, and the Willys-Overland Motors company itself registered the Jeep trademark in February 1943 at the height of the war. At the same time, in the Russian language, this word is firmly entrenched for all imported off-road vehicles, regardless of the manufacturer's company.
In the USA, during the Second World War, jeeps were produced at two factories - Willys-Overland and Ford. It is worth noting that the cars of these two enterprises were almost completely identical, although they had a number of small differences. So, at the very beginning of production, there was a stamp on the rear walls of the body of Willys MB and Ford GPW cars indicating the name of the manufacturing company, but over time they decided to abandon it. At the same time, an experienced eye could always distinguish a Ford car from a Willis car. In the Ford SUV, the transverse frame under the radiator was made in profile, while in the Willys it was tubular. The brake and clutch pedals on the Ford GPW were cast, not stamped like on the Willys MB. Some of the bolt heads were marked with the letter "F", in addition to this, the rear glove compartment covers had different configurations. During the war years, Willys-Overland produced about 363,000 off-road vehicles, and Ford produced about 280,000 vehicles of this type.
The very simple-looking body of a military SUV had its own characteristics. The main ones are the complete absence of doors, the presence of a folding tarpaulin top and a windshield that folds back onto the hood of the car. Outside, on the rear side of the jeep, a spare wheel and a canister were fixed, and on the sides it was possible to place a shovel, an ax and other entrenching tools. For the sake of the military purpose of the car, the designers placed the fuel tank under the driver's seat, each time when refueling the seat had to be folded back. The headlights of the "Jeep" were recessed somewhat in relation to the radiator grille line. This detail was directly related to the peculiarity of their fastening: it was possible to unscrew one nut at a time, after which the optics immediately turned over with diffusers downward, becoming a light source during a night car repair or allowing the jeep to move in the dark without using a special device for blackout.
The supporting element of the Willys MB body was a spar frame, to which continuous axles equipped with locking differentials were connected by means of springs supplemented with single-acting shock absorbers. An in-line 4-cylinder engine with a working volume of 2199 cm3 and a power of 60 hp was used as a power plant on the car. The engine was designed to use gasoline with an octane rating of at least 66. It was combined with a mechanical three-speed gearbox. With the help of the transfer case, the front axle of the SUV could be turned off and also downshifted. An important feature of the light, mobile, but narrow army off-road vehicle was the drum brakes of all wheels with hydraulic drive. At the same time, a compact and lightweight jeep could easily overcome a ford up to 50 cm deep, and after installing special equipment - up to 1.5 meters. The designers even provided for the possibility of getting rid of water that could accumulate in the box-shaped body; for this purpose, a special drain hole with a plug was made in the bottom of the car.
In the transmission of the car, a two-stage transfer case Dana 18 by the "Spacer" company was used, which, when the driver switched on a downshift, reduced the number of revolutions going from the box to the axles by 1.97 times. In addition, it also served to deactivate the front axle while driving on highways and paved roads. The fuel tank of the jeep contained almost 57 liters of fuel, the carrying capacity of a small car reached 250 kg. The steering used a Ross mechanism with a worm gear. At the same time, there was no power steering in the steering system, so the steering wheel of the jeep was quite tight.
The open doorless body, designed for four people and the installation of a lightweight removable canvas top, was all-metal. His equipment was truly Spartan, according to the principle - nothing superfluous. Even the wipers on this car were manual. The front glass of the car had a lifting frame; to lower the height of the jeep, it could be folded forward onto the hood. Both arches of the tubular awning in the folded position coincided along the contour and were located in a horizontal plane, repeating the outlines of the rear of the Willys MV SUV. At the back of the protective-colored awning, instead of glass, there was a large rectangular hole.
Speaking about the Willys MB car, it is difficult not to note the extremely successful, thoughtful and rational design of the body shape, as well as its unique charm that has survived to this day. The SUV's aesthetics were impeccable. This is the very case when, as they say, neither subtract nor add. Overall, the jeep was perfectly configured. The designers managed to provide a convenient approach to the units and assemblies of the car during their dismantling and maintenance. Also "Willis" had excellent dynamics, high speed on the highway, good maneuverability and sufficient cross-country ability. The small dimensions of the vehicle, especially its width, made it possible to drive without any problems through the front-line forests, which were accessible only to infantrymen. The car also had pronounced shortcomings, which included low lateral stability (the reverse side of a small width), which required competent control from the driver, especially when cornering. Also, the narrow track often did not allow the car to fit into the track that was punched by other cars.
The entire Willys car was painted, without exception, in American khaki (which was closer to olive color), while it was always matte. The tires of the car were black and had a straight tread pattern. The steering wheel of the jeep with a diameter of 438 mm was also painted olive. There were 4 indicators on the instrument panel, including the speedometer, all of their dials were also painted in a khaki color. When the car was moving, doorways could be blocked by special unfastened wide seat belts.
Beginning in the summer of 1942, "Wilis" began to enter the USSR en masse under the Lend-Lease program. The American SUV has proven itself well in military operations. Depending on the military situation and the type of troops, the car served both as a reconnaissance and command vehicle and as a tractor for guns. Machine guns and other small arms were installed on many Wilis. Some of the ball's machines were specially converted for medical care - a stretcher was placed in them. Interestingly, in the Soviet Union, all jeeps became known under the name "Willys", although many Lend-Lease SUVs were not products of Willys-Overland, but of Ford.
In total, about 52 thousand cars of this type got to the USSR. Some of these cars were delivered to the Soviet Union unassembled, in boxes. These American vehicle kits were assembled at special assembly sites, which were deployed in Kolomna and Omsk during the war. The main advantages of this car included good throttle response and high speed, as well as good maneuverability and small dimensions, which made it easier to camouflage the jeep on the ground. The vehicle's maneuverability was ensured by a good level of its cross-country ability and a small turning radius.
After the victory, thousands of cars left on the move were transferred to the national economy of the country, where they no longer drove the military, but collective farm chairmen, state farm directors and various middle and lower-level managers. Sometimes even district committee workers drove in these jeeps in the outback (perhaps following the example of Presidents Roosevelt and de Gaulle). Over time, vehicles from the army and from various civilian organizations fell into private hands. Thanks to this fact, many copies of "Willis" have survived in our country to this day, becoming real collector's items.
The performance characteristics of Willys MB:
Overall dimensions: length - 3335 mm, width - 1570 mm, height - 1770 mm (with awning).
Clearance - 220 mm.
The wheelbase is 2032 mm.
Empty weight - 1113 kg.
Carrying capacity - 250 kg.
The power plant is a 4-cylinder engine with a volume of 2, 2 liters and a power of 60 hp.
The maximum speed (on the highway) is 105 km / h.
The maximum speed with a trailer of a 45 mm cannon is 86 km / h.
The capacity of the fuel tank is 56.8 liters.
In store down the highway - 480 km.
Number of seats - 4.
