Having commissioned Willys, Ford and Bantam to build 4,500 jeeps (1,500 apiece) in March 1941, the US Motor Transport Board set up a project under the direction of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) to be designated QMC-4 1/4 ton amphibian. The Marmon-Herrington Co. -- specialists in building military vehicles -- in conjunction with boat builders Sparkman & Stephens and the Ford Motor Company, undertook this work for the NDRC, which involved designing a conversion based on the 1/4-ton road vehicle. The aim was to have the vehicle in service in time for the first landing operations planned for a September/ October 1942 timeframe.

Unfortunately, the GPA amphibian proved to be too slow, heavy, and clumsy on land, not to mention too small a craft to be of much use on open water. The GPA did see important use with US forces during the landing on Sicily on September 9th, 1943, but most of the vehicles ended up being passed to the Russian Army under the Lend-Lease scheme. Ironically, its river crossing capabilities were found to be so useful by the Russians that the design was developed further for their own post-war variant.

Pictured here is a 1:43 scale replica of a US Army GPA amphibian jeep with a Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Length: 4-inches
Width: 1-1/2-inches

Release Date: August 2023

Historical Account: "The Seep" - In contrast to the DUKW, the GPA did not perform well in the field. At some 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) the production truck had become much heavier than the original 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) specified in the design brief, but its volume had not been increased accordingly. As a consequence, a low freeboard in the water meant that the GPA could not handle more than a light chop or carry much cargo. The GPA's intended use of ferrying troops and cargo from ships off-shore, over a beach and continuing inland, was therefore very limited.

On land, the vehicle was too heavy and its body too unwieldy to be popular with the soldiers. GPAs would frequently get stuck in shallow waters, where the regular Willys MB's water fording abilities allowed it to drive straight through. Production was already halted in March 1943 after production of only 12,778 vehicles due to financial quibbles between Ford and the US government, as well as bad reception of the vehicle in theatre. Some sources state that less than half of that number were ever completed, serial numbers of surviving specimens suggest that the figure of around 12,700 is actually correct.

GPAs participated in the Sicily landings of September 1943 after a small number were used in action earlier in North Africa. Some also saw service the Pacific theater. Under the Lend-Lease program, some 4,486 GPAs were sent to US Allies. The largest recipients were the Soviet Union which received 3,520 and the British Commonwealth which received 852 GPAs.