On This Day

Saturday 23rd November 1940

79 years ago

The Ford Motor Company delivered two jeep prototypes for testing at the US Army proving grounds at Camp Holabird, Maryland. They were the only vehicles among competing vendors to survive the army’s arduous truck test. Both units were built on the same chassis, one with a Ford built body and one with a body by the Budd Company, a Ford subcontractor and specialist in steel auto bodies. The Budd design, derived from the Bantam specifications, looked more like the Bantam BRC-60 than Ford's body design which had some unique Ford inspirations. The Ford body was immediately preferred by the Army and the Budd unit was withdrawn. Of particular interest is the Ford Pygmy front end, with its flat grill and headlights in a protected position behind the grill, which was the model for all future jeeps. The Pygmy also originated the use of a double bow for the top canvas and the two piece opening, folding windshield. By the end of World War Two, Ford had built almost 280,000 of what Army-speak referred to as a ‘light reconnaissance and command quarter-ton 4X4’. That forerunner of today’s Sport Utility Vehicle was also known as a GP or GPW – shortened to ‘jeep’.