Willys MB

1942 Willys MB military jeep - Detailed Walkaround, Review and Test Drive!

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• published: 31 Mar 2016
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www.americancars.nl - Today is not so much a luxury car report, as it is the classic car report. Because here we have an original 1942 Willys MB; the father of all Jeeps. And today we’re gonna show you everything about it. In the dawn of WWII, the US Army organized a bid to design a light, 4x4 personnel and weapons carrier. After the Model A prototype of Willys-Overland won the bid, both Willys and Ford would be contracted by the Army to produce the Willys MB (which stands for Model B). interestingly, the characteristic stamped slotted grille comes from Ford, as an improvement to the original welded slat grille. This was the beginning of what would later become the Jeep brand, and in particular the Jeep Wrangler. See any similarities here? I brought two of Jeep’s younger siblings, to compare them to the original Willys MB. As you can see, Jeep is still really true to the original Jeep design. All of these Jeeps have the typical slotted grill and the round headlamps. Of course, of all the current Jeep models, the Wrangler still resembles the original Willys MB the most. With its stick-out fenders, and even the hood latches that are still the same as they were on the Willys MB. So, what is it like to drive a Willys MB? What can we say… it’s incomparable to any car you can imagine, if you’ve never driven a car that is as basic and as old and pure as this army Jeep. Everything feels like you’re handling bare metal. But in a very exciting and fun way! Imagining no power steering combined with the turning radius of a town square will give you an idea of the concept. But boy, does it give you a lot of fun! And what the Willys MB lacks in comfort, it more than compensates this with its mechanical capabilities. The specifications proposed by the Army were challenging: The army jeep should have a minimum ground clearance of 6.25 inches, 4x4 drive with a two speed transfer case, ability to climb an angle of 45 degrees and to provide seating for three soldiers. The weight was not to exceed 1308 lbs, with a wheelbase of 80 inches and a height of 40 inches. Also, there had to be a mount for a .30 caliber machine gin and a folding windshield. The weight requirement turned to be too much and the Willys MB turned out 2453 lb pulled by a 60hp 4 cylinder engine that delivers 105 lb ft of torque. Apart from being very rugged and capable, these jeeps have some nifty features built in! Watch our list of favorites! An interesting feature of the Willys MB, can be found under the hood. You can remove a bolt, so that when you have engine problems, you can illuminate the engine with the headlamp to work on it. And under the hood, the Willys features the maintenance schedule. So imagine you’re driving behing the enemy, and you want to shoot your enemy. Of course you don’t want to shatter your own windshield, so the windshield can be opened so you can shoot underneath. And if that’s not enough for you, you can unleash two hooks and fold down the complete windshield frame. Now let’s talk about doors. This will be a very short talk because it has none. This is the only side protection that you get with the Willys: put a belt through an o-ring, and that’s your door. It’s obvious that the Willy MB doesn’t feature all the comfort that we’re used to today. But it has one real big problem, and it’s literally big; it’s me. I don’t fit. This car wasn’t designed for people who are 6’8” tall. The Willys MB had an ignition system that was very much ahead of its time, because it’s a push start button. The Willys MB had only three manual gears, and reverse. So where you’d normally expect the first gear to be, is the reverse gear. It also had switches to set two-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive and to select low gear and high gear. Of course, no soldier should get on the road without a fire extinguisher. The antenna can be extended, and extended, and extended... until it’s too tall to store it in your garage. Early examples of the Willys MB had manually operated windshield wipers, later models had vacuum powered windshield wipers and this one has electrical motors, which can be operated on the motor itself. Despite having our fair share of technical breakdowns and therefore having to run three shooting days, we’re sure we would we’d be a pretty successful squad if this car wouldn’t be 74 years old. It is also a good advice to find out how to attach the roof *before* it starts to rain... One of the coolest things is of course the jerrycan, which has survived all the way up to today’s Renegade. The legend of the Willys MB lives… more than ever!