The Willys Jeep served in the military from 1941 and proved to be one of the vehicles that had been indispensable during World War II. The Willys Jeep that most people (including myself) are familiar with and have grown to love is actually the Willys MB.
A short history lesson of the Willys MB. The United States Military had a requirement for a fast, light, and off-road capable military utility vehicle. Three companies, namely Bantam, Willys, and Ford, were commissioned for this task (there were others, but the majority fell to these three companies). The vehicle design was called the Army “Truck, 1/4-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance” and was later called Jeep. How they got to the name “Jeep” is beyond me. Pilot models for the Jeep included the Bantam Reconnaissance Car (or BRC), the Ford Pygmy, and the Willys Quad. Pre-production runs (after further improvements) gave birth to the BRC 40, the Willys MA, and the Ford GP. Naming for the Bantam remained as the Bantam Reconnaissance Car. Willys had M stand for Military and A as the model name. Ford, on the other hand, used G for Government and P as a designation for their cars with a wheelbase of 203 cm. Yes, these are not the most creative names for cars. But when you are in the middle of the war, I guess it’s better than just calling it Private. When full production went into gear in July 1941, the government awarded the contract to Willys mostly because of their lower cost and more powerful engine at 60 HP. And the rest is history.
This Matchbox Willys Jeep is based on the production model MB. According to the Matchbox Wiki, the casting originally came out in 2010 under Jungle Explorers. From what I understand, it also came out with 3 different wheel colors and two paint jobs from the Jungle Explorers series. I only have this Army dark olive paint job with convincing military-inspired livery and grey colored wheels. Which is actually great. I like the Willys Jeep. But the availability of Matchbox cars at the time was very little to none where I am from. So getting this already had me feeling good.
I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.
Toy Box Garage 