US ARMY 1/4 TON ARMORED TRUCK - 1945

Description

The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, ?1?4-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as Jeep or jeep, and sometimes referred to as G503, were highly successful off-road capable, light, military utility vehicles, built in large numbers to a standardized design, from 1941 to 1945, for the Allied forces in World War II. The jeep became the primary light wheeled transport vehicle of the United States Military and its Allies in World War II, as well as the postwar period, with President Eisenhower once calling it, "one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII." It was also the world’s first mass-produced four-wheel drive car, manufactured in six-figure numbers. About 650,000 units were built, constituting a quarter of the total U.S. non-combat motor vehicles produced during the war, and almost two-thirds of the 988,000 light vehicle class produced, together with the Dodge WC series. Large numbers of jeeps were provided to the U.S.’ allies, including Russia at the time — aside from large amounts of 1?1?2- and 2?1?2-ton trucks, some 50,000 jeeps and 25,000 ?3?4-tons were provided to Russia during WW II — more than Nazi Germany’s combined total production of their Volkswagen vehicles, the Kübelwagen and the Schwimmwagen. Here, a field modified version for reconnaissance units. (Scale : 1/35e)