Edsel Ford and General Charles H. Bonesteel Testing the Ford GP Military Vehicle, February 1941

Summary

American Bantam designed the initial jeep, but Willys-Overland and Ford won the Army's production contracts and subsequently designed their own versions. Ford's first 4,458 GP vehicles used a modified Ford tractor engine producing 42 horsepower. But the Army insisted that Ford build identical copies of the 60-horsepower Willys design, so that all jeeps had fully interchangeable parts regardless of manufacturer.

American Bantam designed the initial jeep, but Willys-Overland and Ford won the Army's production contracts and subsequently designed their own versions. Ford's first 4,458 GP vehicles used a modified Ford tractor engine producing 42 horsepower. But the Army insisted that Ford build identical copies of the 60-horsepower Willys design, so that all jeeps had fully interchangeable parts regardless of manufacturer.

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

28 February 1941

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1660.P.833.75088.V

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Linen (Material)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.25 in

Width: 11 in

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