G
iven the amount of Jeeps owned by
military enthusiasts in the UK, you could
be forgiven for thinking that there’s
nothing new to emerge on the scene. Whether
it’s an original World War Two Willys or Ford, to
the casual observer, there’s very little difference
between the two marques.
But for those who know their light
reconnaissance vehicles, there’s a holy grail
variant – the Ford General Purpose (GP).
The GP was Ford’s second prototype vehicle
developed for the war. Small in size and light in
weight, the GP was designed to fulfil the role of
a light command reconnaissance vehicle. The
design incorporated a host of features that later
became standard on the definitive wartime
Jeep design built by Bantam, Willys and by
Hotchkiss post-war.
The GP used a modified Ford/Ferguson
‘Dearborn’ tractor engine - the only engine
Ford had readily available at the time - with a
Ford Model A gearbox. Although the rear body
of the GP was similar to that of the Bantam
and Willys, the front end was a Ford exclusive
and, in a modified form, it found its way to the
standardised final model.
As the wartime US Government was unable
to make a firm decision on the numbers of
Ford GPs required and was being lobbied
hard by competitors Bantam and Willys at the
same time. It meant that GPs rolled off Ford’s
production line in relatively small numbers
and were sent overseas under the Lend Lease
programme. They went to Russia, the UK and a
host of other allied nations.
The small production run totalled around
4,650, and because most GPs went overseas
and few served within the US forces, meant
production only lasted until the end of 1941.
This adds to the rarity of the GPs today.
Military vehicle collector, Derek Evans, already
owns a small army of World War Two military
vehicles including three Ford Jeeps, (two 1942
models and one 1943), and a 1942 Willys ‘slat-
grille’. A GP would complete his collection.
Derek explained how he got started: “I have
always had an interest in military vehicles
having grown up with them. My dad owns one
of the Jeeps in the collection. By the time I was
15, I had a six-wheeled M20 armoured field
commander’s car.
“I regularly keep an eye on milweb.net to see
what appears on the website and saw the GP
come up for sale via the Airborne Garage in the
Netherlands. To be honest, I was so keen to have
it, I bought it blind. The pictures showed it to be
in good condition. So, it was simply a case of
hooking up my trailer and going to collect it via
the cross-channel ferry. I met the seller at the
docks and we sorted everything out, I loaded it
up and brought it home.”Developed from the
Ford ‘Pygmy’
reconnaissance car,
the Ford Model GP is
much sought after by
military collectors. Glenn
Sands meets two of themwords and pictures Glenn Sands
It’s a Jeep
but not as we know it...