Jeeps

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by Dave55, Apr 20, 2017.

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  1. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I did a search on "Jeeps" and didn't get any hits. I figured there would already be a jeep thread.

    Were there a lot of jeeps in the UK owned by civilians after the war? I haven't seen a lot of post war pictures of jeeps in civil service in Europe.

    Found this while surfing today

    Willys jeep, Ford jeep, tracked jeep
     
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  2. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Possibly not - lend-lease restrictions may have meant we had to dump them rather than get any value out of them.
     
  3. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Dave 55

    There are loads of references to Jeeps on this site if you try a little bit harder in your search :)

    This one, for instance ?
    Jeeps -video clip

    Best regards

    Ron
     
  4. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Have just found this snap of me with a Jeep at the IWM

    Ron Ron with Jeep.jpg
     
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  5. Aeronut

    Aeronut Junior Member

    I'm currently transcribing a wartime document to restore its legibility and in it the 'Army vehicle commonly known as a Jeep' is more correctly referred to as the "Willys Truck 5 cwt. 4x4 Model MB."
     
  6. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

  7. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    Apparently 104430 Jeeps were supplied to British and Commonwealth forces during the Lend Lease programme.....there are still many examples to be seen having been restored...probably went on to the market via the huge postwar vehicle disposal sales.Military hardware was offered back under Lend Lease but certain categories were thought to be uneconomical to return to the US.

    Saw one last year which had an original louse cylindrical pump fitted on the left hand mudguard.Seems to be that there was a wide range of attachments/tools fitted to the vehicles.

    It is recorded that the US government approached Ford for a manufacturing contract for this utility vehicle but Ford did not have a suitable engine available along with manufacturing capacity.They then turned to Willys who had the capacity available and were able to utilise one of their tractor engines.
     
  8. Strawberry5

    Strawberry5 Member


    A friend’s father bought one just after the war to tow the family caravan on holidays to Cornwall - I've always felt he must have been a really cool dad! Curiously enough, I spent last Saturday overhauling a Carter carburettor from a 1943 Ford GPW - surprisingly complex when compared with something like an S.U. I was very impressed to find that a full overhaul kit was available although not quite so impressed with the quality. Now start you b……

    Cheers

    Andrew
     
  9. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

  10. Strawberry5

    Strawberry5 Member

    Amazing photograph - curious just how quickly they look complete junk – that’s only 1946, they’re hardly ancient!

    Regards

    Andrew
     
  11. ceolredmonger

    ceolredmonger Member

    The rules about disposing of wartime materiel were complicated -
    Lend lease - stuff was supposed to be returned to the US. However, initially the US didn't want it as they withdrew their own forces from Europe at the cheapest cost. A little later they strictly enforced the rules as they wanted stuff in Europe which could be refurbished and supplied under the Marshall Plan - US gets Cold War points for supplying arms to allies and for boosting local business, whilst avoiding the shipping costs (also US companies were desperate to concentrate on their domestic market). They also started to control arms sales of ex Lend-Lease arms directly between governments and preferred it to be de-militarised (e.g UK-Turkey halftracks)

    Post-war Manufacturing - Factories/companies (especially British) were fearful that they would help the war effort at a knock-down price however be put out of business by the peacetime surplus market. British WD sales were strictly controlled as to what it could and could not sell. Some contracts were still running as the war ended, lorries were driven into storage in fields from where they were subsequently scrapped.

    Black market - I have been told of some of the surplus was (often just the engines) subject to the old 'switcheroo' scam - e.g. Truck leaves RASC depot with chitty for scrapping knackered engine in back, calls by storage facility to do an inventory or some such, scrappy takes delivery of miraculously new engine, NAFFI sells much beer and fags that eve.

    Foreign governments were not so bothered about our economy. The photo looks like Canadian surplus.
     
  12. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    We took my friends jeep out in the woods near Camp Toccoa in the north Georgia mountains last weekend. This isn't Currahee Mountain but it's pretty close. I think this one is a 2007. It is the last year for the 4 liter OHV inline six cylinder. They switched to an overhead cam V-6 the following year. We only got stuck once and had to winch it out with a come-along and chain. Good day :)
     

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  13. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I was watching a very funny movie called "Wake Me When It's Over" and saw a jeep with the windshield folded open. I realized that I'd never seen a jeep with the windshield open or even a picture of one even though they all were made with that type of windshield. My dad had a CJ-2, the civilian version of the Willys and I remember the opening brackets very well. Curious that Willys and Ford didn't drop the feature to simplify manufacturing.

    The bracket to open the windshield is right in front of the steering wheel and Ron's right hand in the picture above.

    upload_2019-1-25_11-43-31.png
     
  14. Lindele

    Lindele formerly HA96


    How about this 1941 Jeep on the road daily in Surrey. England Jeep on 24 October jpg..png y and recently in France and Germany.
    Stefan.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2020
  15. Trackfrower

    Trackfrower Member

    Strawberry 5
    I had a Carb re-furb kit from an impolite Jeep part dealer out west.
    On the next journey I broke down. Only able to drive in low on tickover.
    Recovered to the D Day show, pre Normandy trip and looked for help.
    Eventually an expert appeared, and he removed all the pattern parts and threw them away, replacing all the old parts.
    The lack of fuel was down to the adjusting screw holding down the float.
    Sensitive things, carbs!
     
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  16. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    upload_2019-3-14_16-44-30.png
     
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  17. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

  18. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    When the monsoon arrived in 1944, Chindits were evacuated in great numbers by adapted Jeeps for use on the railway lines.


    Jeep railway copy.JPG
     
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  19. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

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  20. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

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