How The Jeep Got It's Name
Where did the name come from? Not from the original designer and
builder, the Bantam Car Company. It wasn't Willys, the famous
manufacturer of the Willys MB, either. Ford didn't pick the name
when it was making the GPW, and the U.S. Military never
designated the term either. Truth be told, no one knows for sure
just how the name "Jeep" came about, but the one common thread
is that all of the theories relate to a sort of general
population adoption of the term.
There are a number of theories on the origination of the name.
There are reports that the term "Jeep" was used in Oklahoma in
the 1930's to describe specialized trucks used in drilling for
oil, and that was how the term was later used by those from the
area in describing the Willys MB.
Others believe that the name came from a slang abbreviation of
the term G.P., which was an acronym that stood for General
Purpose vehicle. The trouble with this theory is that the term
General Purpose was reportedly used to describe the US Army's
quarter-ton reconnaissance vehicles, and not the Willys.
Further, the Willys MB was designated for specific duties and
was not referred to in Army circles as a General Purpose
vehicle.
Along similar lines goes the theory that the name was a
one-vowel slang word replacement for Ford's description of the
vehicle (the Ford GPW now commonly referred to as the Willys
GPW), which referred to it as GP. The G stood for government use
and the P referred to its wheel base size of 80 inches. When
Ford began making these vehicles some people may have found it
difficult to call it a Willys since it was actually manufactured
by Ford.
Another explanation of the name has it that it was based on a
character from the Popeye comic strip in the 1930's that was
known as Eugene the Jeep. This little guy was from another
dimension and was blessed with the ability to go anywhere and do
anything. He went through walls, scaled huge trees, flew,
disappeared, etc. There wasn't anywhere Eugene the Jeep couldn't
go. The theory goes that US soldiers were so impressed by the
Willys go-anywhere performance that they began calling it Jeep
after the character.
We'll probably never know the answer to how the name Jeep began,
but maybe that's a good thing as it adds to the mystical allure
of this American icon.
Replacement parts for the historic Willys MB and the Ford GPW
are still available from retailers such as
http://www.xtremeterrain.com