Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Colin, thanks for the compliment, and for you help. When I initially published that web page some 6 years ago -with help from the very same people contributing here - very little seemed to be known about the "74 pattern jeep" in Canadian service (at least to me!). I'm glad this and other forums have yielded more information and photos.
You are aware that years before the Bantam/Willys quarter ton truck was named jeep, or let alone Willys trademarking "Jeep", this nickname was applied to utility vehicles being able to do things deemed impossible. Therefore I chose to use the use the nickname jeep, just like many soldiers have and will do, when referring to a small 4WD vehicle. This has nothing to do with the use of the "Jeep" trademark - I´m sure you´ll agree today´s Jeep is much further away from the WW2 jeep than the M151-series. . . .
Best regards,
Hanno |
It was more than just soldiers who referred to any small utility vehicle as a Jeep. The Iltis was constantly referred to as "Iltis Jeep" in official documents from the Life Cycle managers in Ottawa. I never minded that the M151s were referred to as Jeep, but the Iltis thing kind of irked me. They certainly did not have my favorite characteristic of the Jeep: simplicity.