11/21/2024
We are excited to be working with Paul Bruno and his new book The Original Jeeps, an expanded edition with never before published information on the true story of how three companies competed from 1940 to 1942 to develop America’s first all-terrain, ¼-ton 4x4 vehicle, the Jeep, helping the allies emerge victorious in World War II. The book is now available at Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Original-Jeeps-Paul-R-Bruno/dp/B0DKBZ5YKM
The Original Jeeps is written by Bruno, recognized as one of the most knowledgeable living experts on the earliest history of the origins, design, implementation and worldwide delivery of the iconic Jeep vehicle. Bruno expands upon his award-winning epic stories, The First Jeep and The Original Jeeps in Pictures—revealing developments never before published by anyone anywhere.The book focuses on the three competing companies, American Bantam Car Company, Willy’s-Overland Motors and Ford Motor Company, all in pursuit of the sole-source government contract to build the Jeep.
It details the military’s plan to replace the mule as a key transport for troops and weaponry across rough terrain to fight on equal ground with the N**i Blitzkrieg focusing on the strategy, tactics, and politics of the key business, government, and military officials involved in the design and decision-making. All to have vehicles available in months, not years, in a time of depression, economic unrest and coming war.
The information is gleaned from thousands of documents researched and studied by Bruno over 25 years. It includes statements that detailed the entire process of the Jeep’s development contained in 3,557 pages of testimony and 527 exhibits from a lawsuit involving the Federal Trade Commission and Willys-Overland Motors Inc. prosecuted during the war.
Their direct testimony represents an oral history rarely found in historical research; direct recollections taken only a few years after the events happened. This record contained a treasure trove, a holy grail of information surrounding all key events including a comprehensive “interviewing” of all the significant participants and all-important documents organized, numbered, and described.
The inclusion of this information in The Original Jeeps makes it the magnum opus, the single, most historically accurate rendering of the Jeep’s creation and development ever published.
The Original Jeeps
