63
submitted 1 week ago by Yezzey@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

The original WWII Willys Jeep was as simple as it gets, no airbags, no seatbelts, no electronics just steel and guts.

It was a light and tough 4x4, easy to work on and you could fix almost anything with basic tools. You could tear the whole Jeep down in less than 5 minutes.

If someone tried to build one today, same size, same style, could it actually pass modern safety and emissions standards?

Or would the rules make a true “modern Willys” impossible?

Curious what engineers, mechanics, and everyone else thinks. It would save people so much money.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The entire design would need to change to meet safety standards. I don’t know that the ease of assembly and cheap low cost would survive the safety requirements.

A lot of the complexity of modern vehicles encompassing not just drivetrain but also exterior design is to squeeze fuel economy from a stone. The shape of the Willy’s isn’t aerodynamic and that’s putting it mildly. Modern standards for body panel tolerances raise component costs. Full time 4x4 is awful on paved roads and terrible for fuel consumption, so we would now use a transfer case or a AWD system, which add cost and complexity. The simplicity of the suspension design made it a death trap at speed - good for off road, no good at 70mph.

My point is that as much as I want a repairable, simple thing (car, computer, etc.) we’ve developed so much technology that even when a thing is designed for repairability, it’s going to need specialized skills to some extent - can’t fix everything with a hammer anymore. Might need a torque wrench.

The current wrangler is an idea of what a modern Willy’s would be like. It’s going to be a $40k vehicle.

ETA - Ineos Grenadier is a modern take on the classic Land Rover. Similar concept, similar departure from simple an cheap.

[-] tal@lemmy.today 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The current wrangler is an idea of what a modern Willy’s would be like. It’s going to be a $40k vehicle.

It looks like, adjusted for inflation, the original Willy's MB contract was for about $16k per unit in 1941.

This says that a 2025 Jeep Wrangler starts at $32k, so it's about twice the price.

https://www.jeep.com/model-compare.wrangler.2025.html

There's also apparently a "willys" model available that costs $8k more, amusingly, making it less-minimalist and putting it at your $40k.

this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
63 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

35280 readers
1753 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS