Our classics
HOTCHKISS M201
I finally sold my beloved Austinhealey to an Englishman living in Luxembourg. New owner Ashley saw the car on Pistonheads and sent father Peter and mechanic Ray to look at it. The sale was agreed and I drove the 415 miles over to him, taking a couple of days and catching a flight home. I hope he has as many great times with the car as I did over 24 years.
With the Mustang away for restoration, the garage was looking mighty empty and, after consultation with wife Sarah about what to do with the Healey funds, it was decided that some of it could be re-invested in another old motor. I’ve always fancied a Jeep: a bit like the Mustang, I love the legend that goes along with these icons.
The story of the Jeep is a good one. A brief was sent out by the US government to the American automobile manufacturers in 1940 to design a quarter-ton scout car capable of carrying three men and their kit on- and off-road, for a tight budget. American Bantam won the contract with its design, but didn’t have the production capacity to build the necessary volume. Enter Willys and Ford, who had been shown the Bantam blueprints and also submitted prototypes; through an amalgamation of the best ideas from each vehicle, the Jeep we know today was born.
I went to look at two WW2 Jeeps. One was a 1944 Willys MB in Kent, with a good history and every type of military extra including a bustle rack and a radio, the other a 1942 slatted-grille Jeep. Neither inspired confidence that they would sustain regular use and, after discussion with the owners, I was pointed towards the more robust post-war French model.
Built by Hotchkiss under licence, the M201 was essentially the same as a Willys Jeep and the early cars included many spares left over after the war. They are better value and considered to be stronger than the wartime versions, with many of the glitches ironed out – and by 1966 Hotchkiss had built an impressive 27,628 units. Even as late as 1981 there were still around 8000 M201s in use with the French military.
I found my Jeep with farmer Robert U’ren in the South Hams area near Slapton, Devon. Robert has restored a number of Jeeps
‘The M201 was essentially a Willys built under licence, and early cars used spares left over after the war’
over the years, and my example is ex-norwegian army, built in 1962. It features a 24V system with waterproofed electrics.
As a test drive, we took it down to the memorial at Slapton Sands, remembering the 749 American servicemen who lost their lives off the beach there in Operation Tiger. During a rehearsal for the D-day landings, German E-boats torpedoed a convoy of US landing ships, sinking two and damaging others with an appalling loss of life. The tragedy was hushed up at the time for fear of bad publicity.
The U’ren family was moved out of the farm when it was requisitioned by the American military, so it’s likely that Jeeps would have been a common sight on the lanes around Slapton. After our test, I’d fallen for the Jeep and decided to buy it, returning on the train a few days later to drive it the 110 miles home to Dorset. Robert suggested we remove the shock absorbers for what he considered a long run in a Jeep – they were designed for a full load, and the ride would be very harsh. This done, I drove at a sedate 45-50mph all the way because Jeeps are low-geared, before introducing the family to our new recruit.