It's not a boat

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Nope. Urban legend at best. There were something like 300,000 Jeeps in the Pacific at the end of the war and transports were going back and forth to Japan by the hundreds. They didn't need to build any more Jeeps.
The real story is quite different:

https://thechive.files.wordpress.com...rip=info&w=600

Pacific yes, but not in japan. I like my story better.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Pacific yes, but not in japan. I like my story better.

Most of the non combat equipment left in the Pacific at the end of the war ended up in Japan. They had more Jeeps, trucks, bulldozers, graders, cranes, and so on then Japan had at the height of the war to help rebuild. A good portion of the surviving combat vehicles were just dumped in the ocean. I have a couple of good books on the subject around here someplace.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Most of the non combat equipment left in the Pacific at the end of the war ended up in Japan. They had more Jeeps, trucks, bulldozers, graders, cranes, and so on then Japan had at the height of the war to help rebuild. A good portion of the surviving combat vehicles were just dumped in the ocean. I have a couple of good books on the subject around here someplace.

Well if course a guy who likes to walk rusty ships on vacations knows more about it than a guy going on complete hearsay.

I still like my story better.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

MASH was based on the Korean war.

Yea, typing on a phone sucks

I know. Just the first thing that came to mind regarding troops and troupes.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I know. Just the first thing that came to mind regarding troops and troupes.

Potato potato.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

My understanding is when the US started occupying Japan they didn't want to have to ship jeeps there, so they told Toyota to start making jeeps for our troups. That is why you have old Toyotas that look a lot like jeeps.

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Nope. Urban legend at best. There were something like 300,000 Jeeps in the Pacific at the end of the war and transports were going back and forth to Japan by the hundreds. They didn't need to build any more Jeeps.

The US government placed an order with Toyota in 1950 to build 100 Jeeps on the Willys design for the Korean War. Toyota used that as a jump start for development of the Toyota BJ Jeep that they prototyped in 1951 and started production of in 1953. The BJ ultimately developed into the Land Cruiser.

ETA: The US government, Willys and Kaiser were all whores when it came to Jeep production. The early Willys Jeep was licensed to manufacturers in many different countries. Willys designs are still built in India by Mahindra. There were also designs that originated with Willys built in Brazil, Argentina and Spain. Kia is now building a Jeep truck for the South Korean military that is licensed from the Kaiser M715. Even Chrysler got into the act, licensing Jeeps to Chinese manufacturers.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

The US government placed an order with Toyota in 1950 to build 100 Jeeps on the Willys design for the Korean War. Toyota used that as a jump start for development of the Toyota BJ Jeep that they prototyped in 1951 and started production of in 1953. The BJ ultimately developed into the Land Cruiser.

ETA: The US government, Willys and Kaiser were all whores when it came to Jeep production. The early Willys Jeep was licensed to manufacturers in many different countries. Willys designs are still built in India by Mahindra. There were also designs that originated with Willys built in Brazil, Argentina and Spain. Kia is now building a Jeep truck for the South Korean military that is licensed from the Kaiser M715. Even Chrysler got into the act, licensing Jeeps to Chinese manufacturers.

Hey, so I was kinda right!

A friend of mine has one of the 194x willys jeeps made by ford.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

A friend of mine has one of the 194x willys jeeps made by ford.

If it hadn't been for Ford, there would be no Jeep name and no Jeep brand. We would probably be calling them "Mubs" instead, or maybe "Borcs" or "Bricks."

The Jeep we know started out as the Bantam Reconnaissance Car (BRC). Willys-Overland and American Bantam had both bid on the contract, and Willys lost because they couldn't meet the government deadline. Legend has it that the BRC design was laid down in blueprint in two days.

However, American Bantam was too small to be able to meet the production demands of the US government, so the government gave the BRC blueprints to Willys and Ford as a jump start to design their own prototypes. The Willys version was called the MB, for "Military model B."

The Ford version was the "GP," for "Government P platform," where the P platform differentiated it from other Fords. The guys who tested the prototypes (before it even had a Willys motor in it) initially pronounced GP as "geepee," then shortened it to "jeep."

Willys won the contract because the Ford engine was a turd. But Willys also couldn't meet the production demands of the US government, so Ford was given the Willys design and also began producing the GPW, for "Government P Willys."

If Ford hadn't been involved, we might have been stuck with the MB and would be calling it the Mub. But luckily the Ford Jeep nickname stuck.

If Willys hadn't been involved, we might have been stuck with the BRC and would be calling it the Borc. Or maybe the Brick. Or Brack. It would be funny for my other vehicle to be a Brick Cherokee. That would still be better than the Mub Cherokee.