Long before the first true Jeep logo came to be, t he U.S. Army contracted with the American Bantam Car Company, Willys-Overland, and Ford to create a general-purpose vehicle for the WWII effort.

Willys is mostly famous for having created the MB Jeep, but it was also one of the first companies to join the compact car ...

Willys-Overland and the 77 went into limbo. ... In 1967 the Hill brothers in Ohio received it in return for placing the "Mr. Gasket" advertising logos on the car.

In 1940-45, Willys-Overland built 362,894 Jeeps; Ford 285,660; American Bantam 2,676. Bantam also built around 60,000 trailers to haul gear behind Jeeps.

Willys-Overland filed a trademark application for the name Jeep in 1943 and started selling "Civilian Jeep" CJ-2A, models in 1945, but it would be 1950 before the trademark was finally approved.

Long before the first true Jeep logo came to be, t he U.S. Army contracted with the American Bantam Car Company, Willys-Overland, and Ford to create a general-purpose vehicle for the WWII effort.