I just completed reading a book by a veteran who served in the US 3rd Armord Division during the last months of the war. He kept refering to Jeeps as Peeps. According to him Peep was the name in use at the time but was commonly changed to Jeep later. This the first I have heard of this name being used for the Jeep. Has anyone else heard of it? Was it common to troops in armord units, or has this guy spent too much time in the sun?
I wouldn't doubt that was his own, or his groups derisive name for the little scout car. It was (the design) called everything from "peep" to pygmy, quad to Bantam. But, that said the name "Jeep" was most common after production began, there were however real "Seeps" (the amphibious version from Ford), here is a pretty definitive run-down on the name of the unit. Goto: History of the Jeep, both the word and the vehicle - How it got it's Jeep Name - Brian's Military Jeeps of WWII -
You are welcome for the link, and don't forget that the word had been around since WW1. The term "jeep" had been around from WW1 when a new vehicle was introduced into the motorpool, or even when a new recruit was introduced into the group until they were tested. An unknown quality was a "jeep". This in turn may have influenced the cartoon character's name in "Popeye" (Eugene the Jeep) since his/her/its abilities were both unknown and barely believable. Why did the "Jeep", whether built by Willys as the MB or by Ford as the GP(W) become know as the Jeep? I think it is a combination of the old motorpool slang, carried into the cartoon character, and extended by the internal/unintentional nomenclature of the Ford Company. They (Ford) used G for government contracts, and P for all 80 inch wheelbase units, and the (W) since they were using the Willys designs and specs so the unit they made would be interchangeable with the MB already in production.
There's also the 'Beep' (big jeep) - T214 WC52/53 series. Possibly the most famous 'Seep', the Carlin's 'Half-Safe': THE 'HALF SAFE' - British Pathe Amphibious Jeep Half Safe ~A
I really liked a couple of the ads posted on Brian's Jeep website. These are the best. An ad for Warn Winches back in "the day" was; "Paved roads are another example of useless government spending." And another winner (to my mind) was by Jeep; "God created asphalt so yuppies could go four-wheeling."
Having interviewed several vets who served in an armored unit for my book, I'd say that the term "peep" was well-known, not at all derogatory, and in widespread use.
