Everybody wants to save the earth, nobody wants to help mom do the dishes.  --P.J. O'Rourke

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

American Expeditionary Vehicles 'BRUTE'

The Jeep is the quintessential American off road vehicle, and is, with the possible exception of the Land Rover (itself a pale copy of a Jeep) and the VW Beetle, probably the most easily recognized vehicle on the planet. In a weird deja vu, when the Jeep was first conceived (70 years ago now - think about that), it was put forth  by the (bankrupt) American Bantam Co. to a RFP from the GVT for a light all terrain vehicle for WWII. American Bantam hired a freelance designer who *purportedly* designed the thing in two days using off the shelf parts.  In a script that would stress credibility in Hollywood, the Bantam engine didn't meet the Army's requirements and the Army turned the design over to Willy's and Ford for mass production.  Bonus Trivia ; The vaunted Jeep grill design of vertical slats was actually a Ford thing.  In any case, the AEV Brute represents the logical evolution of the Jeep.  The Jeep has always been an American off road hot rod, in the truest sense of the word, a vehicle of imagination - cobbled together from found parts for a specific purpose. The AEV Brute is the perfect embodiment of the Jeep, it's clumped together from off the shelf parts for one purpose, off road ability.  It doesn't have a tufted mouse hair headliner, it likely rides like Gepetto's own donkey kart, but you can bet your ass that it goes like voodoo off road.