Welcome to our weekly blast into the history of Jeep! Every Friday we will post a fact about Jeep Vehicles.
During the prototyping stage of the Willys MB and Ford GPW the concern with occupant safety was brought to the table. The MB and GPW vehicles were designed to carry 3 people along with their gear. The most fragile portion of these vehicles were the driver and the fuel tank. This was especially true since the vehicle had no armor or protection of any sort for the occupants. A single round could cause the end of the entire crew. With that in mind, the decision was made to locate the fuel tank under the driver’s seat. The idea was to minimize the area that, if hit with a round, would result in a catastrophic failure to the vehicle and the occupants of the vehicle.
I know what you’re thinking: “Why would they do that?! That’s crazy!! I would’ve put the fuel tank in the back and protected the occupants with bullet-proof glass and thick steel.” That idea, while it is executed to near perfection today, was not what the government wanted. The specifications that were issued for the prototype stated that the vehicle had to have a wheelbase under 75″ and weigh less than 1,300 lbs. The vehicle the government wanted had to be agile and easily transportable. Bullet-proof glass and steel reinforcement would exceed the requirements provided by the government. Compromises were made and the MB and GPW ended up with a 80″ long wheelbase and weighed ~2,300 lbs. So to minimize the target enemies had to disable the vehicle and crew the MB and GPW were designed with the driver’s seat and fuel tank as close together as possible.
If you have any Jeep facts that you would like to contribute you can e-mail me at adamd@crownautomotive.net.
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