3rd Annual Jeep'n announced
Apr. 11—GREENSBURG — Registration is underway for the 3rd Annual "Jeep'n for New Directions" fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, April 29 at the Heritage Event Center on 4858 E. State Road 46.
Registration for the event begins at 11 a.m. and the ride begins at 1 p.m. Tickets to participate are $40 per Jeep which includes a pulled-pork meal and and one T-shirt. Additional meals are $10 and additional T-shirts are $20.
It's starting to feel like spring, and local Jeep fans are revvin' up their rugged vehicles of choice, anxious to trek the roads and byways of southeastern Indiana in the warmer air.
This is all to raise awareness of domestic violence and the New Directions Violence Awareness Shelter.
The vehicle giving them so much "fun on the backroads" has a history almost as rugged as the vehicles themselves.
According to Wikipedia, the U.S. Army contacted 135 companies to create working prototypes of a four-wheel drive reconnaissance car to replace the motorcycle as a mechanized form of transportation when it became clear the United States would likely be involved in the global war.
Only two companies responded: American Bantam Car Company and Willys-Overland. The Army set a seemingly impossible deadline of 49 days to supply a working prototype. Willys asked for more time, but was refused. The Bantam Car Company had only a skeleton staff left on the payroll and solicited Karl Probst, a talented freelance designer from Detroit. After turning down Bantam's initial request, Probst responded to an Army request and began work on July 17, 1940, initially without salary.
Probst laid out full plans in just two days for the Bantam prototype known as the BRC or "Bantam Reconnaissance Car," working up a cost estimate the next day. Bantam's bid was submitted on July 22, complete with blueprints.
Much of the vehicle could be assembled from off-the-shelf automotive parts, and custom four-wheel drivetrain components were to be supplied by Spicer. The hand-built prototype was completed in Butler, Pennsylvania, and driven to Camp Holabird, Maryland, Sept. 23 for Army testing. The design won the approval of Army generals and was called into production.
However, because the U.S. War Department required a large number of vehicles in a short time, and Willys-Overland could not supply the demand, they granted the U.S. government a non-exclusive license to allow another company to manufacture vehicles using Willys' specifications. The Army chose Ford as a second supplier, building Jeeps to the Willys' design. Willys supplied Ford with a complete set of plans and specifications.
Go to www.mynewdirections.org/ for questions and directions on registering.
Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com
