The Original Jeep

The Original Jeep

The jeep is a small, 1 ¼- ton open-topped military car of World War II developed by US Army Quarter Corps in 1941 which is used in lend – lease shipments to the Soviet Union and other allies. Its name is derived from the Army’s title, General purpose vehicle or GP, which was phonetically slurred into the word jeep. It has a 71-hp engine and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), and was classed as a quarter-ton truck in carrying capacity. It has a high ground clearance and four-wheel drive which made it capable of traveling over roads impassable to ordinary vehicles, climbing 60 percent grades and fording shallow streams.

This exceptionally sturdy jeep has a four-cylinder engine which has a single row of water-cooled cylinders. This engine is the central working part of the heat engine that performs the conversion of heat energy to make the jeep mechanically work. It was sometimes armored by weasel (a tank which is armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar treads) for combat missions. The jeep’s waterproof hull is the hollow, lowermost portion, floating partially submerged and supporting the remainder of the jeep. Its propeller (type of fan) transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. It consists of one or more blades about a central shaft and operates like a rotating screw or wing. Its waterproof hull and propeller give it amphibious capabilities which made it capable of operating on both land and water.

The jeep had a great variety of military uses, as a command car; reconnaissance car; light weapons, ammunition, and personnel carrier; and for many purposes. After World War II, the jeep found wide applications in civilian life. It is produced today by a division of the Chrysler Corporation, which uses the capitalized name as its trademark.

References:

& Goetz, P. W., McHenry, R., & Hoiberg, D. (1985). The New Encyclopædia Britannica (15th ed., Vol. 6). Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

& Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge (Vol.10). (1995). Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier Inc.

8 Jeep. (n.d.) In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved July 13, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep

8 jeep. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 12, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jeep