Customer Reviews

The Visual History of Cars - Jeep [VHS]

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Being a Jeep fan, I was disapointed in this video. I was expecting vintage footage, and a nice history. Instead, I got advertising footage from the '80's on the XJ model. What this video contains, is little more than a list of models made by Jeep. I would guess that the target audience would be someone who is interested in learning the basics of the jeep history, not someone who already knows any of it. The driving instructions might be interesting to someone who has yet to venture onto their first dirt road, but not much there for a veteran.

First, I will say that this video is only updated through 1990, and much of the footage is from the 80's Jeep models. I agree that the footage from the Jeep commercials is a bit cheesy.

But this is one of a very few documentaries which focus exclusively on Jeep history, and the development of the company and the cars.

This video covers the the history of the first jeep prototype (Bantam BRC), which of course were designed for (but not initially used by) US Army. The Willy was used instead, and many people believe that the designs were borrowed for stolen from the Bantam BRC.

Like American Bantam, Willys-Overland was a small company and, likewise, the military was concerned about their ability to produce large quantities of jeeps. The military was also concerned that Willys-Overland had only one manufacturing facility: something that would make the supply of jeeps more susceptible to sabotage or production stoppages.

Based on these two concerns, the U.S. government required that jeeps also be built by the Ford Motor Company, who designated the vehicle as model GPW (G = governmental vehicle, P showed the wheelbase, and W = the Willys design). Willys and Ford, under the direction of Charles E. Sorensen (Vice-President of Ford during World War II), produced more than 600,000 jeeps. Besides just being a "truck" the jeep was used for as many purposes as you can think of.

The jeep was widely copied around the world, including in France by Hotchkiss et Cie (after 1954, Hotchkiss manufactured Jeeps under licence from Willys), and by Nekaf in the Netherlands. There were several versions created, including a railway jeep and an amphibious jeep. As part of the war effort, Jeeps were also supplied to the Soviet Red Army during World War II.

In the United States military, the jeep has been supplanted by a number of vehicles (e.g. Ford's M151 MUTT) of which the latest is the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or "Humvee").

This video contains some great archival footage of the early jeep rivalry, as well as US army footage.