It has an 'S' clearly displayed on the bonnet. Maybe you should have bought one with an 'M', 'L' or 'XL '.

Somehow, these ugly tin boxes are the most beautiful cars to me.

We tend to think of the old Willys jeeps along the lines of a regular car or pickup truck. But they’re really more similar to a modern UTV than an automobile. Even of the day.

The need to operate the dimmer switch is probably why many drivers moved the fire extinguisher to somewhere else, and broke off the straps.

Remember that the Jeep had to survive the American GI. Far harder on equipment then mother nature and combat combines! And the jeep was pretty damn close to soldier proof. and of course if you broke the jeep, there was always another jeep.

The dimmer isn't much of an issue. In field ops you don't use the lights anyway. For most of the war even in rear areas you used blackout headlight too.

For the "small size gripe", I'd also add that its a massive advantage for logistics. The US flat packed jeeps in crates and shipped then everywhere. Smaller size = less shipping capacity taken up = more of what you need where you need ot.

When servicing in the field they were designed to be tipped on their side for speed and ease of access.

Still had these around in the 80's, and drove them a fair amount. My opinion is that driving this thing around in rain, sleet and snow was absolutely awful. I got soaked and froze driving it at Fort McCoy Wisconsin when it was below 40F.

i always thought the design was they were essentially disposable...you put your best jeeps out for forward recon, send the busted ones back to be repaired, send the refurbed back out and use the junked jeeps for a bone yard...

If you have difficulty getting in a jeep, have someone stand behind you and let them pop a few rounds out of just about any WWII rifle and you'll find it amazingly easy to get in and get it going! It just takes a bit of motivation is all! Cheers, jc

Plot twist - this was actually filmed on a typical English Summer day lol

Just imagine trying to drive one of these in the middle of one of the coldest winters on record through the thin and windy ice slicked mountain roads of Korea at high speed while trying to deliver important supplies, equipment, intelligence, or running from communist bullets.

Being difficult to keep the weather out of a Jeep is concerned, you have to consider the era the vehicle was designed. Vehicles with enclosed passenger accommodations and heaters were just becoming standard on automobiles. Tops and heaters were considered a wild, luxurious, extravagant addition.

If the average height was 5’8” then the jeep is scaled correctly.

I owned an MB Jeep for 35 years. Only weakness is handbrake and 6V starting. If handbrake is setup perfectly its okay, but they go out of line or wear. That's why the very last MB Jeeps had an internal expanding drum rather than an external clamping type. Overall they're tough as nails. Nice restoration! Thanks.

The jeep being small was its secret weapon, it could fit anywhere other vehicles couldn't, it was airlifted, floated, buryed, cabled across rivers, it was light so it could float over soft ground, biggest weakness in my opinion is its speed

When I was in the US military I was responsible for many jeeps. The worst feature of them is that they flip too easily. Combine that with the low profile guarantees serious injuries when they do. I saw numerous flips under all kinds of speed/terrain situations. I think that "minor detail" should have been included in this list.

The Jeep was made so that when the steering column was pulled out and the wheels removed it could all be neatly packed into a wooden crate for ship transport. Most soldiers weighed less than 140 pounds and were about 5'8" so getting in wasn't too bad. The Jeep replaced horses and motorcycles with side cars. It was used mostly on road or at least a cow path and could pull a small trailer. With the top up and a windshield it certainly beat slogging on foot through the rain and mud. It was safer than the M-151 that replaced it. They were so easily rolled over the Army cut them up into four pieces to prevent them from being sold on the civilian market. If you see an M-151 look to see if it has been welded back together and if offered a ride politely say no (my battalion in Vietnam had 4 guys killed in rollovers in three months) .

As someone who has driven cars built in the early 1960's, I recognise most of these problems. It is amazing how cars have developed in comfort, reliability and endurance.

I remember reading part of the reason for that flat-topped design was so they could put two of these in a box by stacking them on top of each other with the wheels removed.

Back in the 1970s I was running a running a building company when my elder brother phoned for a chat, he was also looking for some jeeps for the film The Eagle Has Landed. The neighbour behind my property had one, so I asked him if he wanted to hire it. Long story short brother bought it and I transported it to the film location at Maple Durham, my brothers job was to locate, maintain, drive on set all the vehicles required for the film. Well I ended working there and other locations for 3 months in a blazing hot summer. Maple Durham is on the banks of the Thames and we were set up in a near by field housed in static caravans, with workshop tents, 10 or so jeeps, Bedford trucks one burnt out, a small utility van make?? that was flipped using a timber post cannon and a White half track with a wooden body imitating a machine gun carrier. There were extra bonnets for the jeeps all numbered differently to make out a larger fleet of jeeps, so we would be swopping bonnets like mad for the different shoots. I drove the White and had to wear make up, helmet and scarf, just in case I was seen by camera through the front and side letter box slots. Between shots the armourer and I would get out for fresh air, both wearing brightly coloured shorts and T shirts, the crowds of onlookers fell about laughing. It was hard work but a great experience. An uncle drove Monty around UK in his Humber staff car, he was a small chap so getting into a jeep would have been no trouble.

Dimmer switch: Just push down the clutch and slide your foot over to hit the switch. It's weird, but punching the clutch for a second isn't that big a deal.

Just remember what the Allies specifications were when the US began the bidding process. It needed it to fit in small places; gliders and other aircraft, had to be able to survive an airborne drop and a multitude of of other needs. The last 75-ish years and the jeep still retains enough iconic design features to be easily distinguishable from any other vehicle.

As someone else who is over 6’ tall I have found taking the backrest pad off and making it thinner gave me much more room, just found your videos

Excellent restoration. That engine compartment looks factory fresh.

You live in such a beautiful place! As someone from Texas, I’ve always wanted to wander around in a place like that without burning to a crisp in our 100 degree weather. Also, Our woods consist of everything with thorns on it lol.

One more issue in case no one has mentioned it to you is that, after having rebuilt a number of Willies engines I’ve found that because of the Trickle style oil filter, if you go faster than 40-45 mph the # 1 cylinder suffers from oil starvation and you end up with broken piston rings. This Jeep could do 60 going down hill if you were being shot at but only for a very short time before engine damage occurs.

FWIW, the WWII Stars and Stripes cartoonist,Bill Mauldin,was issued a brand new Jeep to get around in. In his autobiography, he mentioned that at 30,000 miles,it was completely worn out when he turned it in. Quite a bit of a difference to modern engineering,but it literally took decades to get that modern reliability. Nice restoration. Anyone willing to stick with a 6 volt ignition system is worth respect and sympathy. Good luck with it.

I bought a 1952 Willys jeep back in the mid 70's. The body and mechanics were is good condition but the gas tank was rusted out, the tires in poor condition, and the motor was frozen up. There were a few odds and ends that needed repair or replacing, but they were simple. We rebuilt the engine, fabricated another gas tank, and replaced the tires. My biggest complaint was the 6 volt system. I ended up putting in a 12 volt generator (used a 50s model chevy generator) and installed a voltage drop so I didn't have to change out everything to 12 volt. Using a 12 volt battery on a 6 volt starter made that thing start up in a heartbeat. I bought it for $450 and sold it 3 yrs. later for $3,500. Now, as I look back, I shouldn't have sold it. But then again, I should not have sold my 66 Mustang (my first car) or my Jeep Scrambler either.

Haven't seen your channel yet so color me impressed that you recreated the hood with the right yellow paint shade of d-day nerve\gas responsive warning paint in your Army roundel star!

We use to fix the dimmer switch problem by running a steel rod with 2 half loop hooks mounted under the dash like the steering column. Then with the rod you would slide it up or down to use the dimmer switch. Then if something happens you could use this removable rod as a billy club for combat lol or we use to remount the fire extinguisher to the outside of the jeep that worked too. Lastly some guys just tossed it or kept it under the seat or in the back of the jeep. Just be creative if you have larger feet. We seen some female drivers who had smaller feet never had this problem since their boots would fit in between.

The US may have been the only WW2 military where it was easier to get in and out of a tank (the Sherman was famously easy to evacuate) than a complete open topped jeep.

well bad as they might be my Grandfather loved his ,always got a twinkle in his eye when speaking of it . I guess it beat hell out of walking in the mud and snow carrying a machine gun and gear

Interesting video - I really enjoyed it! One thing that rang true are the maintenance requirements of an 80-year old vehicle. Automotive technology has come a long way since the 1970s, and people today are used to nearly maintenance-free cars (expect for the schedule service intervals, which are often 15,000 miles nowadays). When I was a child in the 1960s, my father had to maintain the family car all the time - pretty much every weekend. Oil changes were 5,000 km/3,000 miles, the carburettor needed to be manually adjusted ... and that was just a simple family car (Opel Rekord in Germany, or similar). Given that the Jeep is a military vehicle with additional complexity like the 4-wheel drive, the engineers in the 1940s will have expected a lot of elbow grease to be spend on it.

My Dad was in World War 2 . I used to see those Jeeps moving around in Canada from time to time and I asked my Dad why he didn't buy one. He said the ride was so rough he hated it. Years later I drove one and it is a very rough ride

funny to see the issue of getting in. I have a 1963 Studebaker Avanti, and it's maybe not quite as difficult to climb in and out of, but close. The issue in both cases is that big steering wheel. Back then, when power steering either wasn't available or was at best an option, steering wheels were large to give you more leverage. That meant they were an obstacle getting in and out of the vehicle. I think it's just the price people were willing to pay. Nature of the beast. Remember, this thing is _much_ closer in time to the Model T than to today's cars. We are spoiled by the comfort and convenience of modern vehicles. Back then people simply accepted lower levels of comfort and convenience that we just don't find tolerable today. As for the dimmer switch... I wouldn't blame the Jeep. I don't know about European vehicles, but the dimmer switch in that location, meant to be operated by the left foot, was a universal feature of American automobiles right up through the mid-to-late 1970s, when that switch moved up to a stalk on the steering column. As observed here, not really a problem, until you do something like mount a fire extinguisher on the kick panel so that it's now in the way and you can't squeeze your booted foot through the space that leaves available.

Someone may have already pointed this out but I have seen Jeep drivers in the early 1970s use an Army poncho with one side pinched in the hinge of the windshield and the gear shift poking through the poncho hood. The rest of the poncho sat across your lap with the heater blasting away underneath. The rest of you may be frozen stiff but your legs and feet stay dry and warm.

Took mine to work one day. Didn’t know that snow was in the forecast. I was dressed for the cold okay but the freezing up the windshield was another matter. Scraping the inside glass and not being able to get to the outside. Even my glasses were frozen over.. 30 miles to home. Man what a blast!

Wartime maintenance, as in "why bother, its gonna get blown to bits tomorrow anyway". I heard a story from a Hungarian mechanic during the retreat from the east in WW2, if a truck had a conrod knock or a broken piston, they just removed that piston altogether, and the engine kept running on one less cylinders. It would probably get strafed a week later, but did its job until then.

Later models had modifications to improve the water performance. They ran a vent line from the differential up into the fender just under the hood in the front and into the fender storage compartment. They were further winterized during the Korean conflict. As for the vehicle not reaching temperatures, I would look at a bd thermostat or housing. Most of the problems were fixed with the M-38. It was slighlly larger, beefier, heavier and had skid plates, with the differential vents mounted in a manner to prevent water incursion.

That dimmer switch problem persisted into the modern era! My big feet have a hell of a time finding that dimmer switch between the clutch pedal & the parking brake pedal in my late model CJ! 😆🤣

The dimming switch had always lived down there on US made cars and trucks prior to WW2. It is my understanding that early testing was conducted where the dimmer switch was relocated to the steering column to simplify things but some of the allies kept getting their pant leg caught on the turn signal switch and causing accidents.

"she's a weak thing in some ways" Glad you continued on and said "not really." seeing as you can still find some of those 80yr old Jeeps on the trails. I have owned multiple Jeeps, from the CJ2A all the way to the YJ and when someone would say "that looks fun, should I get one?" I would tell them to really check them out before committing to buying one because their are only 2 types of Jeep owners, those who love their Jeeps and those who hate them. There is no in between!

One does not sit in a Jeep, one sits on it.

It’s amazing how quickly you get things done and how many things don’t matter when someone starts shooting at you…this was the opinion of a late friend who used them in the Malaya emergency. RIP Richard

That is the cleanest engine compartment of a military pattern vehicle I have ever seen;). Good on you for that level of restoration and maintenance.

I guess we now know why the fire extinguisher and mounts are broken/removed. So dimmer switch can be accessed. :) I enjoy your vids

For feature #6, a previous owner of my CJ-2A changed the from the original 6V battery to an 8V battery because it wouldn't crank fast enough to start easily enough for him. And he had to tweak the 6V voltage regulator to put out enough to keep the battery charged (but they don't last a long time being overworked like that). It cranked fairly quickly though. I remember that we had to "go downtown" to a battery shop to have a custom 8V battery built for it when the "original" 8V battery had to be replaced. I eventually changed to a 12V system with an alternator because I wasn't driving it enough to keep the battery charged so that I could drive it whenever I wished. Now it's disassembled and awaiting "restoration" -- I'll go back to the 6V generator when I get to that point.

If you had it restored it is an awesome job! Looks like it came right off the showroom floor, I commend you for that

My guess about the non-functional dimmer switch was that the fire extinguisher was probably an afterthought, and the overall design was not reviewed to allow for it.

That’s a BEAUTIFUL Willys...wow. No doubt, like a LOT of things manufactured, it was designed to accommodate the AVERAGE size soldier ..ergonomics-wise. Great video

I owned a 1960 Willyes jeep years ago... every time I took it on the highway up to the mountains a mile up, the engine had problems running right at that altitude... several time the engine needed work on it when I got it back... It quit altogether on the way back the final time... note the manual wheel locks on the front wheels to put it into and take back out of 4 wheel drive were a bear to operate...NEVER ever operate the 4WD on pavement or you will not be able to get it out of 4WD the whole thing will jam up... going back off road a while MAY loosen it up after a while... after the third engine breakdown after going up to the mountains I gave up on it sold it... It was fun to drive, but in 4WD you got maybe 8MPG...

Don't forget, they really were built for lowest price possible in era, when vehicles was supposed to have much more maitenance:)

I'm pretty sure the Fire extinguisher on my '44 MB was on the passenger side. I can't even remember how many cracks were in the frame of that MB-I learned how to use a wire welder with that one. My '46 CJ2A had a frame almost twice as thick, and I had no cracks to repair. My MB cranked slow,too. No matter what I did, with the correct 6v cables and good grounds, it cranked slow. I usually started it with the crank to save the battery, which was always a crowd pleaser. I noticed the Dodge WC in front of you-now there is the ideal MV! plenty of room, and a weather-resistant tent to stay in when the canvas was all done up in a rainstorm. I still regret selling mine.

Only having the opportunity once to sit behind the wheel of an mb/gpw , I was in my early teens . I was probably not at my full height of 5’7” but never considered the seating arrangement . I did immediately realize that this Jeep is not much larger than an MG orMGB or even a triumph spitfire . Didn’t really care because I was just in my glory “ wow ! A real WW ll Jeep ! “ it was painted over , rusting , modified for plowing and boat trailer haulage but it still had the blackout lights , minus the b/o driving light . No matter how much money I saved on my paper route and odd jobs , no sale “ get lost kid ( off with ya mate ) “ . Today , I contemplate modifying the front edges of the rear tub wheel wells to relocate the drivers and passenger seats on both my CJ5 ‘s . Even my dad , who stands 5’5” complains it’s tight behind the wheel of the CJ5 . And I installed a tilt CJ7 column in one . Weather resistant : nope , Jeep’s are weather proof . Not for very long anyway . But I try to remind myself that guys had it a lot tougher than I did . Appreciate everyone that shows their pride in restoring painstakingly an mb/gpw to honor all who served . 🇬🇧🇺🇸

OMG, I remember taking one of these with nothing but a rain bonnet down the Pacific Coast Highway in winter. Freezing and wet. But as a teen we had great fun.

My since sold '43 GPW used to start exactly like that! Great video!

That leap over the trench was epic ! The viewers / subscribers have got to appreciate your trials and tribulations . We’ve got to get you on jay Leno’s garage . He’s got to have you and your Jeep on ! Oh heavens , how long could jay inhale to take your Jeep around the block ? 😬

Great presentation, I have a couple. 1942, and 1952, Love them

i just got a 1941 mb with a willys 6cyl (148 or 162 not sure-- it is far from being on the road but has new frame shocks, new radiator, tires rims and i am going broke with the list i must still buy!!!! - you have the best channel covering this amazing 81 year old vehicle!

My grandpa who was originally a Boeing engineer actually has a Willys jeep he used for hunting… From what I know it’s from the Korean War he has the winter top on it except he actually modified it to be include doors with the covers so rain didn’t seep in he’s still alive today and the Willys still runs I hope I can get it after he passes because I love WW2 and history and hope I can keep it going

You have put out another great vid thanks

The early transfer case was weak; the emergency brake on the front of the drive shaft was a joke; and the carburetor had a tendency to drip gasoline on the exhaust manifold when it got a little worn; Warn front hubs that could be locked out hadn't been invented yet; and they were so underpowered that even with an aftermarket overdrive, reaching 55 mph was a rare thing. Even so, when they came out, they were light years ahead of what had gone before. I owned a 43 Willys that had seen some hard use after the war. I was once told it was the biggest pile of ugly on the road, but it was a thing of beauty to me, warts and all.

:) The patent on the WW2 Jeep is owned by the military. It was filed in 1942 and it takes 20 years for a patent to go public. I see potential with this design to create a series of utility vehicles.

This video kinda makes me wish that there was a company that made reproductions of The Willys Jeep but more modernised like giving it more all weather abilities, a change in the ergonomics of the display or improving the suspension capabilities while keeping its looks . So that more people who are less keen on restoring a vintage jeep to be able to own an iconic vehicle

Many hours on the DMZ in the winter wishing I had one

The Jeep is influenced by the Austin 7. The Bantam car company primarily made licensed copies of the Austin 7, prior to designing the Jeep.

The dimmer switch is why the fire extinguisher arms get broken.People take the fire extinguisher out and then their leg breaks the arms.

I think the fire extinguishers were unbolted and perhaps tossed by the GIs so that dimmer switch could be accessed more easily.

I totaled a 1945 Willies in 1972 by running into the left side of 1967 Suburban when the brakes failed. Previous owner had welded on a metal top with metal doors. Loved it, but it was very basic. Left frame crumpled back over itself so my dad accepted the total from insurance. Three you men inside it and only minor injuries in spite a lack of seatbelts and we were are own airbags. I bent the steering wheel over the left side, a lucky thing as it isn’t a crumple type mechanism. The fire extinguisher was probably a after delivery add on by the military (private, go find a place to mount this fire safety device). Anyway, everyone who has had a four wheel drive vehicle owe their legacy to this little war winner.

Underpowered, lack of a full cage roll bar, open differentials, unforgiving suspension, lack of seat belts....I've got a '49 Cj2a, and in my Jeep I've remedied all of those issues...Ford 289 K-Code that's .030 over, posi front and rear, full cage roll bar, Simpson racing belts, Sky Jacker soft ride 3" suspension lift, Warn manual overdrive....what I'm actively searching for is a somewhat decent Cj3b, that body style was my Dad's favorite of all the Jeeps he's owned over the years, and up until this past Monday, he and I were gonna try to acquire and restore one...but instead of us doing that, he died from a massive heart attack right in front of my Mom, his wife of 51+ years....so, those plans cancelled, but I'm still lookin for a Cj3b though....

The canvas top may be the only feature the Kübelwagen has that is objectively better than the Jeep's. The Kübelwagen's canvas stays folded with it's supports on when it's down, so the only thing you have to do is pull the cage over the windshield where it locks itself on. I've used both and it is a whole lot easier flipping up the top of the Kübel with one person, even from the inside in less than a minute instead of two men taking 15 minutes to put the bars in place, slot the canvas into the windshield and stretch it over the top on an MB. That said, it doesn't matter much to the effectiveness of the vehicle, but being able to put the top on before it starts to reign is a still a feature soldiers appreciate.

The water runs down and gets your legs wet. Current Jeep owners with no doors, "Yup. Sounds about right". Good video. Little jealous as I would love to have on old willys. Maybe on of these days.

From what I have read, in WW2 jeeps were easy to steal. And while I understand why they didn't have them (to lower the profile or maybe they just weren't invented), the lack of roll bars would have contributed to more than a few deaths. Would still like to drive one though. Thanks for the interesting video.

On the topic of small, as a service member before the last of these were completely replaced by the comparatively massive HMMWV (which began rollout in 1985), we used to STACK these one upon another for shipment in aircraft and ships. In a C130, for example, you could fit two side-by-side inside the fuselage forward or aft of the wheel well.

I never noticed the size of an army jeep due to being about 13 when I was driving one. I worked on an apple orchard and that's how I got around. It was the perfect size for me then.

i served in 101st just before they got the new night mare replacement. dimmer switch was the starter when i drove this thing it was to insure that the clutch was depressed when you started it , (safety first) their was a start power switch on the panel you turned it to on and hit the clutch and that switch at the same time and the thing would start right up. it probably got changed at some point with a keyed start switch and they wired the switch as the dimmer switch like in most old cars

As for the fire extinguisher, the original design for the MB had the extinguisher on the passenger side but later designs moved it to the drivers side to allow room for the enlarged glove box. Some the issues which were problematic with the WWII Jeeps were corrected with the M38 such as moving the drivers seat back 3 inches, with the gas filler out the side panel allowing the seat tobe permanently fixed to the vehicle. The extinguisher was also moved along with the pioneer kit to the passenger side...

The fuel tank right under the driver's seat I would not consider favorable in a combat situation. Certainly if I were the driver.. BOOM.

I am 6' 2" also and I had no real problem driving my '42 Ford GPW. After driving/riding in it a few miles you can kind of shift your body around in the seat to where it really isn't to bad. I found the engine to be under-powered, the clutch plate to be to small (I installed a larger one), and the brakes to be very poor. Otherwise not to bad for an antique vehicle as long as you don't try to keep up with modern vehicles - you got to drive them slow.

Number 6: The top of the windshield, when up, is at eye level. You have to stretch up to look over it, shrink down to look through it, or lean out to look around it. This is why the later civilian models, CJ3, had a raised windshield or raised bonnet.

All this is why Patton preferred the White Scout Car on campaigns.

In regards to the dimmer switch, my grandfather said they would push the clutch down with thier heel and click it with thier toe when they needed to or just take the extinguisher out all together!

I totally Love your blog. You know I hate dimmer switches on the steering column. But it would've been a life saver on the early Jeeps. You know on the new vehicles I always have a free foot but my hands have plenty to do. But back in the day I would've jerry rigged a dimmer on the dash. But back in the day you may not have the same Jeep for a day probably. But anyway love what you are doing. God Bless and keep y'all safe.

proper brilliant vid mate

Love the sound of the old 4 bangers

As always good video and great jeeps

It was designed for a purpose, in a hurry, and anticipated that it was likely not going to survive for long. I think, for the time, they did a great job...but we've moved on since then, most of the survivors now will be coddled but is a product of the time.

I had an M43 made in early 1945 and it was water proof quite a lot,It ha distributor cap covered with metal can and ignition cables were going thru hydraulic pipes with spark plugs aloso hermetically enclosed, It also had foldable snorkel from air filter.

Best WWII jeep videos and entertainment anywhere (awesome English countryside scenery). Love your videos and always look forward to seeing the new ones. Great job!

Move the fire extinguisher to the back seat dimmer problem solved. Hell of a machine love it 😁👍

My father was WW2 vet canadian mechanic heavy tank recovery . Before d-day they where all wet proof kit included snorkel. And water proof ignition system . I had all the stuff he kept for my jeep. Until the x frame rotted out.

JEEP: Just Enough Essential Parts.

Other “fun” design features that were period correct, a lack of synchromesh and the passenger side tire studs were lefty - tight, right - loose (vs righty tighty, lefty loosey). I’ve had 2 46 Willys Jeep’s. Love them.

My great grandpa (or some men in his unit) was sleeping under the camo canvas one night when it collapsed from being waterlogged. He was in a head-on collision and was tossed clear (a small injury in his knee). Also the drainage inside the JEEP is still a problem. My grandpa gave me his old 2002 and if the front is facing downhill it will flood as the drain holes are in the backseat.

My father was an officer during WWII and had a Jeep at his disposal. He told me that he had built a canopy out of plywood to make it warmer and drier. All fine and good until he took it into a town that Patton controlled directly and the MP's made him take it off. "Not GI". He also told me that he kept an M3 submachine gun "grease gun" kicking around on the floor. He had that in preference to a Thompson because the M3 would handle dirt and abuse better.

Gripe #2 ~ That applies to modern vehicles as well. Heck, they're even worse due to now being packed with electronic extras folks don't need. Seen countless examples of witless drivers going into flooded areas in their low slung cars. Plowing into deep pools of water that flood the engine bays through the front grill. A few seconds later, the cars get completely flooded and stall out. And, they don't start up again. So, that's an issue that still exists.

I suspect that from the perspective of a WWII soldier bottom line is it was a step above a horse, and beat the hell out of walking.

I was 6'2" ((1.9 M) in the US Army in Vietnam 1969-1970. I drove a Ford brand "GP" and I don't recall it being that tight to enter or exit. I don't recall a fire extinguisher, either. Maybe they increased the passenger compartment dimensions a bit for Vietnam. We did have a radio (but no radio operator, but that is a story for another day ...). Well done presentation and explanations.