Who Really Designed the Jeep? A Bankrupt Company Had 49 Days

In July 1940 the U.S. Army asked 135 companies for a small, tough 4×4 — 49 days to deliver a car that didn't exist. Only two answered, and one was bankrupt. How tiny American Bantam drew the jeep, why the Army gave its plans to Willys and Ford, what made the Willys MB different, and how about 640,000 of them went everywhere in the Second World War. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:28 Forty-nine days 1:34 Someone else's car 2:33 Built to the Army's list 3:32 Everywhere 4:34 Whose jeep? 5:11 The jeep before the jeep SOURCES OF FACTS War Department technical manuals TM 9-803 (1944), TM 9-1803A/B (1944) and TM 10-1513 (1942) · Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, "Jeep" historical marker (Butler) · R. H. Bailey, "The Incredible Jeep", World War II magazine (2009) · J. M. Fenster, "The Jeep", American Heritage (1991) · The Henry Ford · ASME Landmark #152 · Heinz History Center · National Museum of the USAF (Waco CG-4A) · D. D. Eisenhower, "Crusade in Europe" (1948) · Ernie Pyle, column of 4 June 1943 (as quoted by the Ernie Pyle WWII Museum). Production totals differ by source and are rounded. PHOTO CREDITS U.S. Army, 1942 · NARA, public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... U.S. Army, 1940 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ba... U.S. Army Signal Corps / OWI, c. 1942 · LOC, public domain: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01238 U.S. Army, 1940 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ba... U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1941 · LOC, public domain: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01223 U.S. Army, 1940 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wi... U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1942 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fo... Lothar Spurzem · CC BY-SA 2.0 DE: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wi... U.S. Army Signal Corps / OWI, c. 1942 · LOC, public domain: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01241 Joshbaumgartner · CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:In... U.S. Army Signal Corps / OWI, c. 1942 · LOC, public domain: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01242 U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1945 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SC... U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1944 · NARA, public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WW... U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1944 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SC... Nick Parrino / OWI, 1943 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lo... U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1944 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SC... U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1944 · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ei... Christopher Ziemnowicz · CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19... U.S. Army, 1944 · NARA, public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Je... Daderot · Public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Se... Photos were cropped and toned for this video. Modified versions of CC BY-SA photos are shared under the same licence. Licences: CC BY-SA 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa... · CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa... Maps: Natural Earth (public domain). Drawings, maps and charts are schematic, made for this video. MUSIC "Americana" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Narration: AI voice (Chatterbox). Research, script and final video reviewed by a person. New episode every Saturday. #Jeep #WW2 #militaryhistory