My Dad used to drive around in one of these when he was in the Army here in Panama and always swore that it was one of the best vehicles ever made.  The Armed forces rarely carried spare parts as they always could scrap one to rebuild 3 that may have  hit a mine or were shot up.  My friend Merrill Bennett told me the story of how the Army in Panama got rid of many of them and dumping them  in the Panama Canal.  The Panamanians would dredge them up and put them back into use.  The Army then started cutting them in half first.  Here in Panama they loved the show MacGyver and they even call a quick fix a “Mageever”.  So they would dredge up the two parts and weld them back together. So, the next time you see a jeep go by that has a seam, you will know the story.

Here is a great video that shows off The Willys Jeep. 

About 8 soldiers pull up on a main street in Halifax , Nova Scotia , on holiday. They’re in a standard issue WWII type Willys Jeep. In the span of about 5 minutes they completely disassemble the vehicle and reassemble it and drive off in it fully operable! The idea being to show the genius that went into the making of the jeep and its basic simplicity. Fantastic. Click here to see the video.