Image: MilWeb

For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at some very important vintage off-road vehicles. But this week, we’ve decided to go back even further, before the International Harvester Scout and Travelall, Chevy Blazer, or Ford Bronco were even flickers of ideas. This week, we take a look at the World War II Ford GP.

Image: OffRoaders.com

After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, starting the Second World War, there was an immediate need for all-terrain vehicles that could not only transport troops, but also tow light auxiliary and artillery equipment.

In an effort to come up with the perfect vehicle, the Army Quartermaster Corp. demanded prototypes from three major automotive manufacturing companies–Ford, Willys and Bantam–for testing purposes. The 1941 GP was the second prototype sent over by Ford and the one that made the cut for the U.S. military and its allies.

Lightweight and small in stature, the GP was exactly what the war-time efforts required. Capable of quickly transporting troops, the GP also had adequate towing capacity. Because of its capabilities, many attributes of the Ford GP prototype were transferred over to the official Army Jeep of the war.

Image: MilWeb

Under the hood, the Ford GP offered a Fordson N tractor engine, good for just 45 HP and 85 foot-pounds of torque. Backing this up was a Ford GP-7000 three-speed manual transmission, which transferred the GP’s limited power to the wheels through a Dana 18 rearend.

Image: MilWeb

For axles, the GP made use of a Spicer 23-2 in the front and a Spicer 25 in the rear, both with 4.88 gearing ratios. In total, the wheelbase was just 80 inches with an overall vehicle height of 65 inches with the canvas top up. The whole thing weighed just 2,150lbs.

Rudimentary features of the GP included a hand crank for the engine, a Ford truck instrument cluster, recessed headlights with black-out lamps, black-out tail lamps, a pintle tow hook, rear tail panel with embossed “Ford” script and a single drivers-side windshield wiper that had to be controlled manually.

Sure, the GP was an upgrade from the military Model Ts and motorcycles, but certainly not a plush transport vehicle.

Though the GP was Ford-built, many of the 4,458 manufactured were shipped overseas to U.S. allies, unsurprisingly for combat purposes. Because of this, only a handful are believed to be in the United States currently.

Image: FordGP.com

A large portion of those Ford GPs that survived the war have been retired to automotive collections all over the world. Of those still existing (estimated at only a few hundred examples), less than one hundred are believed to be in restored or repairable condition. Thus, a complete Ford GP in operating condition is worth its weight in gold and high in demand.

Part of the problem restoring the GP model is that even if you own one of the rare models that remains in decent condition, genuine parts for the World War II prototype are few and far between, as well as expensive. This makes the complete and functional Ford GPs that much more collectible.