For those born after the Second World War, it's hard to envision a time without the go-anywhere, do-almost-anything Jeep. Created by a War Department need for a four-wheel-drive light reconnaissance vehicle, the Jeep won the hearts of those it served in combat, and then proved a sales success among sportsmen, farmers and ranchers in peacetime America. It's no exaggeration to say the Jeep created the off-roading hobby, and its incredible success can be traced back to a single ancestor - the Willys MB.

To be clear, Willys-Overland Motors wasn't the first company to submit a design to the U.S. Army for testing. Read more about Willys MB on Hemmings.