The Jeep is a multipurpose light motor vehicle developed by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for Allied military forces in World War II. Designed by Colonel Arthur William Sidney Herrington (1891-1970) at the Marmon Motor Corporation in Indianapolis, one million jeeps were manufactured by the Willys-Overland Motors Company in Toledo and under license by American Bantam Car Company and the Ford Motor Company from 1941 to 1945.

The small, sturdy, versatile Jeep had the ruggedness of a truck and the maneuverability of an automobile. It carried four passengers or one-quarter ton of cargo over difficult terrain at speeds up to 65 mph. The origin of its name is unclear. It may derive from its military nomenclature, general purpose vehicle (g.p.), or come from Eugene the Jeep, a 1936 Popeye comic strip character drawn by E. C. Edgar. In any case, American newspapers were using the name Jeep by 1941. The fast...