Finally a good film on Youtube of the history of the M201 Jeep, The French took the original Willys design and made it even better, making them probably the best user friendly Jeeps to own if you want a WW2/Cold War era Jeep with that iconic Willys Go Devil engine...
The Hotchkiss Jeeps story is largely unknown in the USA where most flat fender Jeep fans own and drive early model CJ (Civilian Jeep) models or the later M38 military Jeep ( seen in the iconic series MASH) while the French military started with 22,000 or so ex military Jeeps that had done there job helping to win the War started a new life and chapter that would go on for another 40 years such was the success of that original design...
I love this picture believed to be in France after WW2 of piles of Jeeps assembled for overhaul...
And the Hotchkiss story continues as owners enjoy using them and making them their own, with a mix of WW2, Cold War, and modern stuff added you make them your own...
The film goes off onto later Hotchkiss civilian and military developments, and it would have been good to have seen more footage of French Military M201s in action, but its worth a watch at the beginning if you don't know about how these French Jeeps came to be...
More soon...
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