The bigger question is; what is a jeep? You can trace the concept to Jesse Livingood, a mechanical genius, who took a modified model T rear axle, his own design transfer case, mounted both to a model T car, and presto! a lightweight 4x4. LIGHTWEIGHT being the key word here. He actually proposed converting Ts to 4wd to Ford for a fee. Ford wanted all or nothing.

Then, Marmon-Herrington proposed converting half-ton Ford V-8s to 4wd for a fee in 1935. Based on a handshake, this deal stuck until 1959. Again, in 1935, stripped down cowl-chassis equates a lightweight high-speed 4x4. The military even bought a few for testing and use.

Any word about ******/Kaiser/AMC/Chryssie ler? Nope, zip, nadda.

Along comes 1940, we need to gear up for the rising threat in Europe. Ford ****** and Bantam heed the call for a lightweight, high-speed 4x4. Bantam actually created the vehicle we would know as the jeep. At least it was the only one that fit the criteria and would take the testing abuse. Yet based on the fact that Bantam had such a small factory, and maybe some other reasons as well, Ford and ****** got a copy of Bantam's blueprints. Wllys gets the nod, with Ford getting a contract to produce some as well, in order to keep up with demand, hence the GPW designation. W standing for ****** pattern. Then later in the 50's, Ford protoypes what would become the M151 M.U.T.T. What we understand to be the 'Nam jeep.

To finish my long-winded rant, ******, seeking to capitalize on the jeep craze that would surely boom in the postwar period, hurriedly patented the JEEP name. Consequently, anyone who then bought ****** got the name, including Dumber-Chryssie ler. Sorry to let my personal bias slip into this.

Oh, as far as Bantam, they got to build torpedo motors; and as an insult, at least as far as I'm concerned, the 1/4 ton trailers to be pulled behind the ****** pattern jeeps.

Finding the actual origin of the jeep name is a bit more muddled than trying to indentify the actual first jeep.