Re: [MV] "jeep" describes only '40-'45 1/4-tons?
Todd Paisley (paisley@erols.com)
Fri, 9 Jan 1998 21:47:34 -0500
>
>Hi Mil-Veh listers:
>
>In the last couple months I have run into two separate persons interested
in
>military vehicles who have tried to tell me that the term "jeep" only
>applies to the MB's and GPW's of WWII. Seemed silly to me, particularly
>since "Jeep" is stamped into the front of the toolbox on my '51 M38.
>
>This evening I started reading "The All-American Wonder" ('93 edition) and
>was surprised to see a very similar opinion expressed in print. Author
>Cowdery writes: "the word jeep is used in the generic sense to describe all
>Bantam, WIllys, and Ford 1/4-ton 4x4 trucks produced for military use
between
>1940 and 1945. To use the word jeep to describe anything else is
inaccurate"
>
>He goes on to point out the capital-J name "Jeep" applies only to the
>commercial/civilian vehicles produced by Willys, Kaiser, AMC, and Chrysler.
>
>On the next page, though, Cowdery describes the 1952 Museum of Modern Art
>Automotive Design exhibit and he refers to their 4x4 1/4-ton example as a
> "1951 military jeep." Hmmmm....
>
>I'm interested in this distinction... Does anyone know of any reasonable
>basis for the position that the only true "jeeps" are WW-II era models? Or
>is it, as I suspect, merely a somewhat snobbish opinion exhibited by a few
>WWII-vintage jeep enthusiasts?
You are reading more into this than is necessary. What Cowdery is trying to
say is that the models that came after the WWII models became a brand name
"Jeep". The original 1/4-tons did not start out with this brand name and it
acquired the name "jeep". Because of the popularity, success and ubiquitous
shape of the "jeep", Willys-Overand decided to cash in and made it a brand
name "Jeep". It is not a snobbish slighting of the later models.
I would bet that part of the reason he included it was because of Chrysler.
They love going after people who try and use the term "jeep" instead of
"Jeep" and he was protecting himself for the times he slipped up and forgot
the capitalization.
Todd Paisley
===
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