The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army Truck, 1⁄4-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to as G503, were highly successful American off-road capable light military utility vehicles built in large numbers to a standardized design for the United States and other Allied forces in World War II from 1941 to 1945. The jeep became the primary light wheeled transport vehicle of the United States military and its allies, with President Eisenhower once calling it "one of three decisive weapons the U.S. had during WWII." It was the world's first mass-produced four-wheel drive car, manufactured in six-figure numbers; about 650,000 units were built, constituting a quarter of the total U.S. non-combat motor vehicles produced during the war, and almost two-thirds of the 988,000 light 4WD vehicles produced, counted together with the Dodge WC series. Large numbers of jeeps were provided to U.S. allies, including Russia at the time - some 50,000 jeeps and 25,000 3⁄4-tons were provided to Russia during WWII.
