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The 1940's

Beep! Beep! Here Comes the Jeep!

Beep! Beep! Here Comes the Jeep!
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.76

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    all-terrain, off-road, wheelbase, trademark, reconnaissance, military, fairly, impressed, better, newly, definition, valuable, bridges, term, theory, production
     content words:    World War II, American Bantam Car Company, Bantam BRC, American Army, Bantam Car Company, Bantam Company, Ford Motor Company, Willys-Overland Company, Willys Company, Motor Company

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Beep! Beep! Here Comes the Jeep!
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     World War II brought with it the necessity for many new inventions. One of these inventions was a motorized vehicle. This vehicle had to climb mountains, crawl through mud, find a road of its own, and cross rivers where there were no bridges. There was no such vehicle before that time. Many engineers weren't sure that any vehicle could meet all of those requirements.
 
2     The first company to create the type of vehicle the military was looking for was the American Bantam Car Company. They produced the Bantam BRC which met every item on the Army's wish list. The leaders of the American Army were not convinced that the American Bantam Car Company was a large enough company to produce the number of these vehicles that were needed in war. The military figured it would need over 15,000 such vehicles, and the Bantam Company was fairly small. Invitations were extended to Ford Motor Company and Willys-Overland Company to create a similar vehicle. The Willys Company met the tests given by the military. They also submitted the lowest price to make the vehicles the Army wanted.
 
3     The U.S. government was still not convinced that one plant could produce all of the all-terrain vehicles it wanted to use in the war. The Ford Motor Company was also contracted to build a vehicle which could do the job they wanted. Here's where the story gets interesting as to how the Jeep got its name.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
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