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Answers.com Jeep vehicles have been the transportation of choice for liberators and adventurers for over 50 years. Here you'll find a history of the Jeep vehicle from the beginning to the Wrangler (TJ), and the evolution of the 1946 Willys Utility Vehicle into today's Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.
The original Jeep vehicle was born of necessity, and hand-built in just seven weeks with lots of hard work and genius.
Since at least as early as World War I, the U.S. Army had been looking for a fast, lightweight all-terrain reconnaissance vehicle. In early 1940, however, things became urgent as the Axis powers began to score victories in Europe and Northern Africa and the need to rapidly develop this vehicle became more urgent. The Army put out a call to automobile manufacturers asking for a running prototype for such a vehicle in just 49 days.
The original government specifications were as follows:
* Vehicle weight: approximately 1,300 pounds (This proved to be totally unrealistic and later was raised to 2,160 pounds.)
* Four-wheel drive
* Engine (power): 85 pound-feet of torque
* Wheelbase: Not more than 80 inches
* Tread: Not more than 47 inches
* Ground Clearance: Minimum ground clearance of 6.25 inches
* Payload: 600 pounds
* Cooling System: Good enough to allow a sustained low speed without overheating the engine
The Bantam Car Company, which had supplied some earlier reconnaissance vehicles to the Army, and Willys-Overland were the only two companies that responded to the Army's call, although over 130 companies had been invited to respond. The 49-day deadline was problematic, however, and Willys-Overland asked for more time to finish their vehicle. Bantam's only hope to meet this deadline was to bring in outside help.
Bantam's savior turned out to be Karl Probst, a Detroit engineer who had worked for several automotive firms. Enlisted by National Defense Advisory Committee head William S. Knudsen (former president of General Motors), Probst accepted the patriotic challenge without salary and went to work July 17, 1940. In just two days he had completely laid out plans for the Bantam prototype, the precursor of the Jeep.
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