Seeing that World War II was coming and that they were going to need a new vehicle to get around on muddy, off road battlefields, in July 1940, Karl Probst, a freelance auto designer in Detroit submitted the BRC or Bantam Reconnaissance Car, which could be built with mostly off the shelf parts.  The Army loved the design, but didn’t think the company who originally pitched the idea could handle production.  So they asked Toledo’s Willys Overland and the Ford Motor Company to work on the design. 

And thus was born the Jeep.  The cost to produce each one in the 1940's was  $782.59, that would be $17,055.38 in 2023 dollars.  And 640,000 were produced to serve in the war, both overseas and at home.  And thus the Jeep Brand was born, here in Toledo.

Now, we take time to celebrate the Jeep line of vehicles here where the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator are made, by the men and women of UAW Local 12 a part of Region 2B, both headquartered in the Toledo area.  In addition many parts for other Jeep and FCA products area made by the talented women and men of UAW Local 1435 in Perrysburg.  From 2016 to present, with off years in 2017 to reorganize and 2020 due to the pandemic Toledo and the area have celebrated the Jeep brand, history and legacy with tens of thousands of people coming from around the world to celebrate.
  
The festivities get started Friday August 4th at Noon and run trough Sunday August 6th at 6 PM.  Most of the events are free and open to the public.  If you want to take part, go to https://toledojeepfest.com/plan-your-weekend/schedule-of-events/ and you can find a listing of all of the events.  

At the Law Offices of Kurt M. Young we are proud to have helped over 100 Jeep and FCA workers navigate our workers’ compensation system and get back to work making the decadents of the car that many historians say help the Allies win World War II.  If you need help navigating Ohio’s broken workers’ compensation system, contact us at 419-244-7885, the consultation is free and we only get paid if we get you results.