Willy's

Since the Willy is known
for its military service, This bug would like to go to the caches with the
best views. That way the cachers and Willy can look over the land that the
military protects, and the land that the Willy had a hand in defending.
Although this is the mission, any cache is fine, but the ones with the views
are definitely the ones on this bugs agenda.

Willy is placed to celebrate Geometeacher's 1,000 geocache finds. And just so you know...

In 1939 the U.S. Army invited 135 companies to submit proposals for a new military vehicle to replace its aging fleet of motorcycles and Ford Model T trucks. Only three companies complied: Ford Motor Company, Willys-Overland, and American Bantam Car Company. The initial contract went to Bantam, but their vehicle proved to be a failure under rigorous testing. New prototypes were then ordered from the other two companies. Willys ultimately won the contract in July 1941. Ford agreed to build from Willys' plans and Bantam built trailers for the Willys vehicle.

The Ford entrant in the design competition was called the "GP," which in Ford parlance stood for "Government 80 inch wheelbase Reconnaissance Car." (Willys called their design the "MB.") When slurred, "GP" led to the name "jeep," which stuck to the small four-wheel-drive vehicle even though the Willys design actually won the competition and Ford ended up building the Willys design.

The Willys Jeep was powered by a four-cylinder engine that could run at 4,000 RPM for 100 hours straight. The transmission was a three-speed manual, with a four-wheel-drive transfer case with high and low gears. The vehicle featured a fold-up cloth roof. The Jeep could run 60 miles per hour, climb a forty degree slope, turn around in a 30 foot circle, and tilt up to 50 degrees to either side without tipping over. It could even run under water, with special attachments for air intake and exhaust.

Over 350,000 Jeeps were built to fight in World War II. The Willys assembly line turned out one every 90 seconds. Following the war, public demand was so high that Willys continued producing the Jeep in tremendous numbers, re-designated as the "CJ-2A" ("CJ" for "civilian Jeep"). The vehicle was produced for the Army in continually improved versions until 1981, when it was replaced by the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (the "Hummer").