Ford acted as second supplier of the Willys Overland `MB' design which won the US Army's contract for a light four wheel drive. Ford also made some special low-volume variations on the Jeep, notably the amphibious `GPA', a kind of small DUKW. After the war, Willys took the name `Jeep' as a trade-mark which must have been a great disappointment to Ford.

built 1944

Ford GPW v. Willys MB

The Willys chassis front cross-member is tubular, whereas the Ford cross-member is an inverted U section. Other ways include looking at the tops of all the nuts and bolts, Fords should all be script F marked, though this is not reliable as some restorers replace all the nuts and bolts with new ones. Most of the panels on a Ford Jeep will be stamped with a script F somewhere or another. For example in the middle of the seat frames (back panel), top of the mud guards, on the bonnet hinge, on the rear foot rests, even on the reflectors for some models. I think that the Ford Motor Co. made sure that their stamp was on every sub-assembly of their vehicles. - Rodney Walker