Jeep Willys MA
The Willys Quad underwent significant modifications and improvements to become the Willys MA and later the MB. This is the vehicle that the world and Army eventually came to know as the Jeep®. Various sources claim the origin of the name; some say it was from pronounced military abbreviation of 'General Purpose', while the idea of Eugene the Jeep from the Popeye cartoon strip was also suggested. It quickly entered into American English and popularly referred to any off-road vehicle, and was seen as a symbol of the war.
The Willys MA had features such as gearshift on the steering column, hand brake on the left side, two circular instrument clusters on the dashboard and low side body cutouts. In order to meet the Army's weight specification of 2,160lbs, Willys took pains to reduce the weight and left items to be reinstalled on the next-generation MB, resulting in a final weight just 400lbs over the specification.
Willys-Overland produced more than 368,000 vehicles for the U.S. Army, while Ford manufactured 277,000 under a license. After the war, Willys trademarked the Jeep name and soon turned the vehicle into an off-road utility vehicle for commercial use. To promote Willys' ownership of the Jeep, they coined the slogan “The Sun Never Sets on the Mighty Jeep”.
Go back in time! Relive the classic style of the 1941 Jeep Willys MA with our vintage posters and calendars. There's also t-shirts and mouse pads for those who want to show their love of this iconic piece of Americana. Get them now and experience the nostalgia!
