The
Original Jeeps in Pictures
The Light-on-Words, Heavy-on-Images Whole Story
of The Original Jeeps
by Award-Winning Author
Paul R. Bruno
“America’s greatest contribution
to modern warfare.” —General George C. Marshall
"...no
better account of the creation of the Jeep has been written!" —Reader
Review
At the Holabird conference, the attendees concluded that the Army did not have a light vehicle that could match up to the Germans', nor did they have any plans to develop one. On May 20, 1940, Oseth returned to his office and found Charles Payne, "...who was sitting in the window behind my chair!"
Source: Library of Congress. Public Domain
Here the test driver leans over to see how deep the left rear tire had sunk. The BRC's four-wheel drive would make it seem not deep at all! During one outing, a Cavalry general lifted the rear end of the prototype BRC by himself. From the results of that "test", he concluded that the "officially" overweight vehicle met the weight "requirement". Thus he settled the BRC weight issue once and for all.
Source: John W. Underwood, Heritage Press, 1965
After receiving Barzynski's memo, both the Chief of Staff's Office and the Adjutant General reversed course. Willys had both offices' approvals by February 8, 1941. Pictured is the two-wheel-steer Quad. Note the lack of a center top bow that would be standard issue in the production of Willys MBs and Ford GPWs.
Source: United States National Archives, College Park, Maryland
"...no better account of the creation of the Jeep has been written!" —Reader Review
© 2006-2025 Paul R. Bruno, Henderson, NV USA
All Rights Reserved
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MFM Publishing, L.A., CA USA
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