GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Mark Jesic » Mon May 22, 2017 8:38 am

Do we really need maintenance mannuals when weve got the G503 at our fingertips ?


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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Michael O. » Mon May 22, 2017 8:45 am

Joel, I ask questions to gain knowledge. Unfortunately, WWII jeep studies were not offered by the University I attended and we used HMMWV's during my 24-year career in the military.

Editied to be nice
Last edited by Michael O. on Mon May 22, 2017 11:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by W. Winget » Mon May 22, 2017 9:12 am

Back to your topic:
I always tell it this way, back in the 30's Ford was at the top of the hill in vehicles that people wanted. Kids grew up FORD, most every adult (or kid) had a ride in a Model T by WWII, people KNEW Fords and their history. So when these two vehicles Ford and Willys were sitting in the motorpool, the tendency was for those that knew car production to take the one they grew up trusting. I mean who really bought Willys before the Jeep became well known? It was never a real contender in the "Big three" car world

Point is, Fords were driven to death and Willys, which were left in the Motor Pool are now more readily available, so owning a good Ford will still be more spectacular than owning a Willys any day of the week.

Think if you had a choice today to walk into a store and pick a free NEW car from the likes of Chevy or Yugo, the Yugo would still be pristine until all the Chevys were broken down and scrapped.

Just sayin... :D
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Michael O. » Mon May 22, 2017 9:33 am

My first jeep was my '43 GPW...so perhaps I'm a little bias in my partiality for them. GPW's were made in fewer numbers also.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by GI. » Mon May 22, 2017 2:49 pm

Michael O. wrote:My first jeep was my '43 GPW...so perhaps I'm a little bias in my partiality for them. GPW's were made in fewer numbers also.
That's prob. why GPW's are so rare and everybody want's one over the more common MB's :lol: .
Myself, I own one of the more collectible GPW's, a 1943 Ford gpw , Yes, one of the few. :wink:
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by 17thAirborne » Mon May 22, 2017 3:21 pm

My first jeep was also a GPW and for some esoteric reason I like them better. Just preference that I will once again exercise soon.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Jim M » Mon May 22, 2017 6:21 pm

Running, the answer from a combat veteran when I asked him.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Mark Tombleson » Mon May 22, 2017 10:03 pm

W. Winget wrote:Back to your topic:
I always tell it this way, back in the 30's Ford was at the top of the hill in vehicles that people wanted. Kids grew up FORD, most every adult (or kid) had a ride in a Model T by WWII, people KNEW Fords and their history. So when these two vehicles Ford and Willys were sitting in the motorpool, the tendency was for those that knew car production to take the one they grew up trusting. I mean who really bought Willys before the Jeep became well known? It was never a real contender in the "Big three" car world.
Just sayin... :D
V/R W Winget
Not so! Willys was #2 in the teens and everyone knew them!

In 1908, John Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company and in 1912 renamed it Willys-Overland Motor Company. From 1912 to 1918, Willys was the second-largest producer of automobiles in the United States after Ford Motor Company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys

1918
Image

Image

1927
Image


Ford has managed to stay alive as has Chevy and Dodge/Chrysler... but there were a lot of great car manufacturers gone because of financial issues. Chevy and Dodge have been pulled out of the fire... Willys-Overland bounced back from the depression and the "Jeep" is still here.

I must admit I'm partial to my MB as my model had radio, electric windshield wiper, matching color canvas top, hooks, rings... ah the list is long. :D :wink: :wink:
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Joe Gopan » Tue May 23, 2017 3:10 am

Does anyone really believe that the TO&E of Army units considered who was issued the MB or GPW?
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by W. Winget » Tue May 23, 2017 4:47 am

All depends Joel, if I walked into a MP that had no keys for ignition to pull a jeep I could select mine by looking at the front cross member as I walked up. If Assigned a jeep, your toast, unless by any chance it stated 1/4T GPW or 1/4T MB on the log book perhaps, but I doubt it. Cleanest would be the 1st criteria. :D
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Joe Gopan » Tue May 23, 2017 5:56 am

I thought Dispatchers just issued a Trip Ticket as the authority to take the vehicle from the motor pool. I was referring to the thousands of brand new Jeeps in storage awaiting issue to their overseas combat units.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Michael O. » Tue May 23, 2017 7:35 am

Ben Dover wrote:Does anyone really believe that the TO&E of Army units considered who was issued the MB or GPW?
Joel.....the discussion is about OUR preference (i.e. which one do we prefer to own, have, drive....whatever)....not whether some army motor pool kept track of the vehicles by manufacturer.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Joe Gopan » Tue May 23, 2017 8:16 am

But it didn't happen that way, and for whatever reason, the manuals are really difficult to read for some-look at all the questions. The GI Instructors, Ordnance types,WWII mechanics, and the hundreds of WWII Vets who were our Jeep and parts customers seemed to believe that the GPW had the smoothest running engine.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Chuck Lutz » Tue May 23, 2017 9:18 am

Mark...I know you have a soft spot for WO but let's check sales figures just for the USA in the "modern times" and by that I mean from 1930 onward as what Willys did in the 'teens didn't hold much water with what happened to car sales in the US in the Depression and post depression era before the war, let alone the familiarity of GIs with the WO product vs Fords.

1931 Ford was #1 and Willys made the "Top Eight" at #7 with 66,000
1932 Ford was #1 and Willys made #8 with 28,000
1934 Ford was #1 with 564,000
1935 Ford was #1 with 820,000
1936 Ford was #1 with 931,000
1937 Ford was #1 with 942,000
1938 Ford was #2 (behind Chevy) with 410,000
1939 Ford was #2 with 487,000
1940 Ford was #2 with 542,000
1941 Ford was #2 with 691,000
1942 Ford was #2 with 160,000

I might point out that Willys/WO did not even make the "Top Eight" domestic sellers list from 1934 ONWARD. While they may have had a good market share in the 'teens, most GIs in WWII were about 19 to 26 years old meaning they were not even BORN until somewhere between 1915 and 1926 so they missed the Golden Years of Willys production.
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Re: GPW OR MB, whats your preference.

Post by Fabrizio » Tue May 23, 2017 11:21 am

GPW's are always cracked on every single part, and the said parts are ridiculously overpriced nowadays, even cracked.

That being said…..I have two Fords and would not trade them for anything else!
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