The Willys Jeep, or Willys MB, was a US Army Jeep produced from 1941 until 1945. The jeep itself is considered the stepping stone to the modern day road worthy jeep, with the small four wheel drive vehicle being perfect for off road combat. The Jeep was used throughout World War II, with over 640,000 vehicles produced.

The idea behind the Willys Jeep was put forward by the US Army on account of their ageing military vehicles and requiring something new and agile. Once the requirements of the vehicle had been defined, over 135 manufacturers were approached to tender for vehicle production. As the war was already in progress the production of the jeep was somewhat critical, with manufacturers only given 75 days to test a total of 70 vehicles.

Whilst the American Bantam Car Company won the contract to produce their "Blitz Buggy" military vehicle they lacked the production capacity to meet the demands of the army. As a result of this the two failed bids from Willys and Ford were passed and a total of 1,500 units were purchased from each to take to field testing.

In 1941 the Willys Jeep was deemed the better vehicle and was modified to incorporate the best parts of the competition before beginning mass production. As Willys were unable to cope with the demand, Ford was also employed to produce the vehicle, with 363,000 jeeps produced by Willys and 280,000 by Ford.

As a result of the success of the jeep an amphibious version was produced by Ford, though these were not deemed as successful due to the weight of the car and their handling in water. Out of the 13,000 produced the majority were sent to the USSR to be used as part of their efforts in the war.

The jeep used a 3.1 litre engine with a three speed and reverse transmission, operating four wheel drive. The overall length of the car was 131 inches, with a width of 62 inches and height of 72 inches including top up. Without the top up the height of the vehicle was reduced to just 52 inches. In total the vehicle weighed 1040 kg.