eace:In the beginning the Army wanted an all terrain vehicle. Bantam motors was the first to submit a vehicle. The Army liked it, but Bantam motors was a small company and not able to mass produce them. Willy's Motors and Ford got the contracts It was known as the GP. ( General Purpose vehicle). When the GI's got hold of it they called it a JEEP. The name was taken from a character in Popeye called (Eugene the JEEP) The name stuck
Popeye must have been a popular comic strip for names. Wimpey lent his name to the Wellington bomber's nickname as we all know.
General Purpose Vehicle. Hi Andy, I feel sure that the name "Jeep" is simply, originally, a combination of the letters "G" "P" and doubt if it had any real link with the cartoon character, maybe later it was affiliated to it by the major user, the American G.I. There were many examples of this in service life, one that springs to mind is the R.E.8 christened the "Harry Tate" and I know there were many more. Cheers Keith
The Jeep There were many examples of this in service life, one that springs to mind is the R.E.8 christened the "Harry Tate" and I know there were many more. We Americans are a strange breed. We rename things to suite ourselves WW2 Replacement Center.. ( Repple Depple) (Repo Depot) M3 Submachine gun ( Grease Gun) German Schmieser (Burp gun)
