Jeep "Willys": specifications and photos

Jeep "Willys" - a machine-legend, passed the path from the Volga and to Berlin, crossed the deserts of Africa, making its way through the Asian jungle. Its concept is still the basis for the creation of modern SUVs. "Willys" became the founder of a class of cars, which today bear the name "jeep".

Jeep "Willys": history of creation

Since the 1930s, the US military has begun to show an increased interest in passenger cars of high cross-country ability that could replace the existing aging fleet of light army vehicles. The outbreak of the war in Europe forced the Americans to accelerate this process. In connection with this, a number of necessary technical requirements for the future car were developed, which should be realized.

Automakers perfectly understood that the receipt of such an order in the conditions of the current political situation promised a good profit. Therefore, 135 companies entered the struggle for a tender for the production of SUVs, announced by the US military department. But until the final stage, only three could reach: American Bantam, Ford Motor Company and Willys Overland, who were able to create real prototypes that satisfy the demands of the military. As a result, each of these companies received an order for the production of 1500 pieces of their off-road vehicles.

Determining choice

When it became clear that the Americans would not be able to stay out of the war, in July 1941 it was decided to launch another, already large, lot of off-road vehicles, consisting of 16,000 cars. But again the question arose between the three producers.

At first, the scales leaned towards Ford as the world's largest automaker. But then the question arose of the cost of the machine. It turned out that the SUV, proposed by Ford, is more expensive than all - its production cost $ 788. A bit cheaper was the "Bantam" - 782 dollars. The lowest price was offered by Willys Overland, who estimated the cost of one of his cars at 738.74 dollars, and this despite the fact that the military jeep Willys had better characteristics than the SUVs of competitors.

It seems that the conclusion was obvious, but the military doubted that the company would be able to meet the set timeframe, as it was not doing very well. Point in this issue put Bill Nutson - an American expert in the field of mass production of cars, supported the candidacy of "Willis Overland."

July 23, 1941 with "Willis Overland" was signed a contract for the production of 16,000 cars. And in August the jeep "Willis" (photo below) after a number of improvements was completely ready for serial production, and to its name - Willys added the index MB.

Government Security

The concern "Willis Overland", standing on the verge of bankruptcy, could not and did not master the serial order of the military, so the government decided to hedge and issue an additional check for the production of SUVs-copies of a more reliable company - Ford Motor.

The owner of the firm agreed to a large state order, despite the fact that Ford had to use the original engines purchased from Willys Overland in the manufacture of their cars. A copy of the Willys MB documentation was handed over to the Ford engineers, and in early 1942 the company released the first twin off-road vehicles, named Ford GPW.

During the war years, "Willis Overland" produced about 363,000 off-road vehicles. Ford Motor fulfilled a military order for 280,000 vehicles. Almost immediately after the start of the mass production of jeeps, the cars were sent to the Allies - first to the British, and then to the Soviet side.

The work of the transmission of military off-road vehicle

On the road, despite the full drive, the jeep "Willis" behaved very well. Accelerated quickly, drove well, smoothly crossed the roads. This behavior was ensured successfully by the "tailored" transmission of the SUV.

The carrier of the "Willis" was a spar frame, connected through springs and additional shock absorbers of one-way action with bridges equipped with locking differentials. The engine of the machine is interlocked with a mechanical 3-speed gearbox.

The front axle and underdrive were controlled by a transfer case.

Jeep "Willys" had a big plus in the form of hydraulic brakes of all 4 wheels, which, with its parameters and dynamic characteristics was an important aspect.

Body of the car

Because of the compactness, the comfortability of the American SUV, of course, leaves much to be desired, but in those days it was not necessary to think about convenience, in the first place there were parameters of functionality.

In a simple looking "Willys" body, there are design features in the form of a lack of doors and a windshield folding onto the hood. The lack of doors made it possible to leave the car unhindered in case of danger. To protect from rain, a tarpaulin was provided.

On the outer side of the body at the rear were the "reserve" and canister, and along the sides - a marching tool (shovel, ax, etc.). For the sake of the military purpose of the car, the fuel tank was installed under the driver's seat, which had to be thrown back to refuel the car. In the niche behind the rear wheel arches there were cavities intended for storage of tools.

Since the body had a box-like structure, to remove possible accumulation of moisture in the bottom of the machine was provided a hole that closes the cork.

Features of optics

The "Willys" lights are slightly depressed relative to the plane of the radiator grille. This is due to their design features. If necessary, the light optics could be turned downwards by the diffusers, so that they could be used as a light source when servicing the engine at night. In addition, this feature of the design of the headlights allowed to move in the dark without blackout.

Jeep "Willys": characteristics of the car

4-wheel drive.

The weight of the off-road car is 1055 kg.

The height of the awning is 1830 mm.

The width of the car is 1585 mm.

The length of the jeep is 3335 mm.

Ground clearance (ground clearance) - 220 mm.

The engine is in-line, with 4 cylinders, lower-valve (Willys L-134) power - 60 l / s.

The volume of the power unit is 2.2 liters.

The carburetor power supply system (carburetor - WO-539-S from Carter).

Jeep "Willis" is able to develop a speed of 105 km / h, in the case of towing a 45-mm gun - 86 km / h.

The capacity of the gasoline tank is 56.8 liters.

The consumption of gasoline (averaged value) is 12 l / 100 km.

Capacity - 4 people.

SUV "Willys" was able to overcome a half-meter ford without preliminary preparation. With special equipment at 1.5 meters.

From the above technical data it is clear that the Jeep Willys had a very compact and lightweight design, and also had very good dynamic characteristics for its time.

In the service in the Soviet Army

In the Soviet Army, the "Willis" appeared in the summer of 1942. Many of the cars delivered to the Soviet Union came in the form of machine kits, which were already working on domestic automotive plants.

Unfortunately, the specifics of the service in the Soviet Army imposed a negative imprint on the performance of the "Wills". The cars were refueled with low-grade gasoline, which was deadly for "Americans." Often did not comply with the timing of oil change. Many failures arose due to the lack of timely maintenance and lubrication of the SUV parts. All this coupled with the fact that the "Willys" was out of order after 15,000 km. Nevertheless, it is believed that in the Soviet Army, American SUVs were rated higher than the domestic counterparts GAZ-67 and GAZ-67B, which the Red Army soldiers nicknamed "Ivan-Willisami."

His mini-jeep "Willis" continued his military career in his homeland (where various modifications were made at his base), which finally ended only in the 80s, when he was replaced by the more time-honored "Hammer".