MA number one – May 1941

1940 - 1941 BRC, MA, GP, Preproduction Prototypes. Knowledge Base NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.

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George Hollins
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MA number one – May 1941

Post by George Hollins » Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:04 pm

Congratulations to the ewillys website for finding a newspaper article dated May 20, 1941 about the first Willys MA. The article describes the first Willys MA brought to Washington DC for a review by the War Department and members of Congress. The newspaper states that this review occurred on May 19, 1941. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.ewillys.com/2019/01/14/1941- ... new-jeeps/

I also found a new original press photo of the first Willys MA dated May 12, 1941 showing the MA on the steps of the Willys administration building. This is about a week earlier than previously thought.

With the discovery of these two new photos of Willys MA number one, I thought I would post a photo review of some of the design features that were on this first MA, and the changes that were made for production in June 1941.

Blackout Lights
-Fender blackout lights, blue lens, louver (same as GP Series-1 and BRC Series-1).
-Tail lights cats eye (same as GP Series-1 and BRC Series-1).
PRODUCTION: Changed to MB type blackout lights (GP Series-2 and BRC Series-2 also changed to the MB type blackout lights).

Front bumper
-Welded brace with 1 bolt, left and right frame. The gussets must not have been finished in time to build MA number one. Therefore, a temporary welded brace must have been used at the last minute to attach bumper to frame.
PRODUCTION: Changed to stamped upper and lower gussets, each with 4 bolts, left and right frame.

Hood bumper
-1 hood bumper without shim.
PRODUCTION: Shim added under hood bumper, probably due to windshield wiper contact with hood.

Note: MA number one was used for photographs for the TM-10-1102 Parts List, TM-10-1103 Maintenance Manual, and TM-10-1186 Master Parts List. Therefore, and unfortunately, these photos did not properly represent the production MA. Willys must have been in a rush to print the manuals and did not re-take the photos of the production MA.

George
Attachments
MA number one 01.JPG
MA number one 01.JPG (244.2 KiB) Viewed 2988 times
MA number one 02.JPG
MA number one 02.JPG (225.07 KiB) Viewed 2988 times
MA number one 03.JPG
MA number one 03.JPG (207.63 KiB) Viewed 2988 times


Ladislav
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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by Ladislav » Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:13 am

Nice overview George,

Thanks for!

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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by YLG80 » Tue Jan 29, 2019 5:34 am

Really a professional overview. Thank you !
Yves
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George Hollins
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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by George Hollins » Tue Jan 29, 2019 7:37 am

Below is the May 20, 1941 Washington DC Evening Star article about the Willys MA number one.
George
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1941 Willys article MA Washington Evening Star 20May1941-01 reduce.jpg
1941 Willys article MA Washington Evening Star 20May1941-01 reduce.jpg (246.43 KiB) Viewed 2862 times
1941 Willys article MA Washington Evening Star 20May1941-02 reduce.jpg
1941 Willys article MA Washington Evening Star 20May1941-02 reduce.jpg (206.49 KiB) Viewed 2862 times
1941 Willys article MA Washington Evening Star 20May1941-03 reduce.jpg
1941 Willys article MA Washington Evening Star 20May1941-03 reduce.jpg (233.16 KiB) Viewed 2862 times

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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by Mark Jesic » Tue Jan 29, 2019 7:41 am

Great overview George, thanks for posting.

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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by Mark Jesic » Tue Jan 29, 2019 7:44 am

Does anyone know what became of this jeep ?

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Fred Coldwell
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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by Fred Coldwell » Wed Jan 30, 2019 6:51 am

George:

That's a very nice pictorial review of MA number one and how it differed from all the later production models. Thank you, too, for mentioning this first MA was used as to illustrate the MA in its various manuals. Seeing pictures registers much more with many of us than reading text, so its great to have a reminder that what-you-see is not always what-you-get. Your presentations always nicely summarize things succinctly, which tells me it takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make it appear so simple. :) I really admire your thorough research.
Happy Jeep Trails,

Fred Coldwell
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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by DavidA » Wed Jan 30, 2019 8:41 am

Great job George. Do you know who the people were there in the stairs photo?
David Aro - USN SEABEES '66-'70
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1942 WILLYS MB-131350

George Hollins
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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by George Hollins » Wed Jan 30, 2019 1:42 pm

Below photo, passengers identified, MA number one, 12May1941, Willys Administration Building Steps.
George
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MA number one Willys Administration Building steps 12May1941 text - reduce 90.jpg
MA number one Willys Administration Building steps 12May1941 text - reduce 90.jpg (247.37 KiB) Viewed 2804 times
MA number one Willys Administration Building steps 12May1941 press release - reduce - 70.jpg
MA number one Willys Administration Building steps 12May1941 press release - reduce - 70.jpg (241.17 KiB) Viewed 2804 times

George Hollins
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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by George Hollins » Sat May 01, 2021 7:01 am

Eighty years ago, May 1941, the first Willys MA was built.

George

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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by gpwmke » Sun May 02, 2021 6:46 pm

Enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing..

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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by George Hollins » Fri Oct 01, 2021 3:02 pm

Willys MA Number One was built 80 years ago in May 1941. I don’t know where MA Number One is today. However, I believe it appeared in the 1941 River photos published in Motor Magazine October 1941 (reference Fred Coldwell book “Preproduction Civilian Jeeps” pages 6 and 7). Fred speculated the actual date of the photos to be August 1941. Also, Fred speculated that this MA was being used as a test vehicle for the MB under development (note the MB double top bows).

I believe there is photographic evidence that the river MA is MA Number One. The license plate D-3863 is visible on MA Number One in Washington DC May 19, 1941, and on the MA in the river photos in August 1941. The river MA has the blue lens louver fender black out lights and the cat’s eye tail lights, same as MA Number One. Interestingly, the front bumper has been upgraded from the temporary 1-bolt brace to the production 4-bolt gussets.

George
Attachments
1941 Willys MA number one river testing 01.jpg
1941 Willys MA number one river testing 02.jpg
1941 Willys MA number one river testing 03.jpg

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Re: MA number one – May 1941

Post by YLG80 » Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:39 pm

Interesting that they are already using the nickname « jeep » in that article.
On the other photo with the caption they were using the term « army car ».(fully armored :lol: )
On the miraclechryslerdodgejeep.com website they publish:
Irving Hausmann, who was one of the engineers working for Willys-Overland, reported that he heard and picked up the name “Jeep” from soldiers while testing it the vehicle.
One of the first recorded instances of the name Jeep appeared in The Washington Daily News in June 1941 after Irving Hausmann crawled up the Capitol steps in a Jeep.
But that article here above was published on May 20th, 1941, likely before the intensive jeep tests by the army.
Yves
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