Photo: Streetside Classics
In today’s world, the word jeep means one of two things. On the corporate level, it is most easily associated with Stellantis, the mammoth corporation that came to be not long ago as a result of a trans-Atlantic union. Product-wise, jeep can mean any very potent off-road machine, that may or may not be produced by the company named Jeep.
This tendency of colloquially slapping the moniker on off-roaders made by other companies is probably rooted in the murky beginnings of the Jeep. Dating back to the years of the Second World War, and coined for unknown reasons, the term initially represented military vehicles produced by Willys and Ford as the MB and GPW, respectively.
In today’s world, Willys no longer exists and Ford has nothing to do with what Jeep stands for, but that doesn’t mean some of those original vehicles are no longer around, changing hands repeatedly on the collector’s market, and keeping things confusing.
We found one of the old Ford GPW jeeps, looking fresh, custom, and ready to take on whatever is left of the world would World War Three break out, on the lot of cars being sold by a dealer called Streetside Classics.
The 1943 example of an off-roading beast has little in common with the original machine. Sure, we get roughly the same body as the standard GPW, now wrapped in camo paint, but pretty much all else is beefed up on this one.
The lifted 4x4 rides on a suspension system that uses both leaf springs and shocks and gets its power from a 350ci (5.7-liter) engine, backed by a four-barrel carburetor, an Edelbrock aluminum intake, and a three-speed automatic transmission.
Up front, the jeep is equipped with a Rock Hard custom bumper that rocks every bit of gear needed to get the vehicle out of a tough spot: a push bar, tow hooks, and dual light bars. The rear complements that with a trailer hitch and a plate ready to receive jerrycans. A classic ax and shovel kit is also on deck to be used by one of the two people who can ride in it, protected by a roll cage at the rear.
The GPW is listed by the dealer with an asking price of $18,995, which is not bad at all, especially given how the thing shows no miles on the odometer since finished.
In today’s world, Willys no longer exists and Ford has nothing to do with what Jeep stands for, but that doesn’t mean some of those original vehicles are no longer around, changing hands repeatedly on the collector’s market, and keeping things confusing.
We found one of the old Ford GPW jeeps, looking fresh, custom, and ready to take on whatever is left of the world would World War Three break out, on the lot of cars being sold by a dealer called Streetside Classics.
The 1943 example of an off-roading beast has little in common with the original machine. Sure, we get roughly the same body as the standard GPW, now wrapped in camo paint, but pretty much all else is beefed up on this one.
The lifted 4x4 rides on a suspension system that uses both leaf springs and shocks and gets its power from a 350ci (5.7-liter) engine, backed by a four-barrel carburetor, an Edelbrock aluminum intake, and a three-speed automatic transmission.
Up front, the jeep is equipped with a Rock Hard custom bumper that rocks every bit of gear needed to get the vehicle out of a tough spot: a push bar, tow hooks, and dual light bars. The rear complements that with a trailer hitch and a plate ready to receive jerrycans. A classic ax and shovel kit is also on deck to be used by one of the two people who can ride in it, protected by a roll cage at the rear.
The GPW is listed by the dealer with an asking price of $18,995, which is not bad at all, especially given how the thing shows no miles on the odometer since finished.
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