Like many surviving U.S. automotive manufacturers of the last century, AM General can trace its beginnings to the late 1800s, when the Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, shed its carriage, wheel, and bicycle business and entered the automotive field with the introduction of the Overland vehicle brand in 1903. Claude E. Cox was the driving force behind the Overland brand project, but David M. Perry, member of a successful road cart and wagon business, was the moneyman.
Tragically, a boiler explosion at Overland's main manufacturing plant caused the Standard folks to withdraw from the novel venture. Cox scrambled to keep the project alive by purchasing Standard Wheel's $8,000 investment. This initial capital was not enough to keep the project moving, so Cox had to turn to Perry to finance a re-organization in 1906. Perry received 51 percent interest in the concern for his money, along with being elected president.
Several months later, the United States found itself in the recession of 1907. Interest in large ticket items like automobiles, along with securing the working capital necessary to manufacture vehicles, suddenly evaporated and production ceased.
500 Vehicles For $10,000
John North Willys, a highly successful Elmira, New York, car dealer, was impressed with the Overland product and sent the company a $10,000 deposit for an initial order of 500 vehicles. When his communications went unanswered and his 500 vehicles were never delivered, he traveled to the Overland factory to find the facility closed, management absent, and only a few partially completed vehicles on the work floor.
Willys, ignoring his initial shock, sensed an opportunity and raised the capital necessary to buy out Perry and re-open the Indianapolis factory in early 1909. Thus, the Willys-Overland brand was born.
Willys-Overland runabouts were a sales success, and with the increased cash flow, Willys purchased the Pope-Toledo automotive company in Toledo, Ohio. As an important side note, Willys-Overland was second in U.S. sales only to Ford in the period of 1912 to the beginning of World War I.
All was well with Willys, and its offerings were highly popular-until the depression caught up with its operations in 1936. As a result, the company reorganized under bankruptcy protection and became Willys-Overland Motors, Inc.
In 1940, American Bantam and Willys-Overland Motors were competing against each other for government contracts. The Army, looking for a radically new tactical scout truck, asked for bids on a new four-wheel-drive 1/4-ton mechanized platform. Bantam was unable to compete in the bidding process, and Willys-Overland began production of 1/4-ton utility vehicles (basically the first Jeeps) in 1941. Ford was also brought in, as Willys did not have the production capacity to build enough vehicles on its own. During the next four years, more than 350,000 1/4-ton Jeeps were produced.