Clearly, the unit cost was also a contributory factor, given that the BMW R75 with sidecar produced from February 1941 onward (but which actually didn’t enter service until the following July) cost approximately US$1,052 (2,630 Reichsmarks). In contrast, the MB “slat grille” resulting from the initial contract for 16,000 vehicles – won by Willys in November 1941 – cost just US$748.74 each. 

Another factor that was considered important was the average American soldier’s unfamiliarity with the motorcycle. At the beginning of the 1940s, and for the entire duration of the Second World War, the US Army was a people’s army – it was made up of common citizens, not professionals, called up to defend the liberty of the United States and the world. In those days, the car was much more common in America than in Europe or Asia. It meant that the average American citizen-soldier wouldn’t have needed a lengthy training period on a vehicle such as the Willys MB Jeep®. 

The specifications required by the US military for the new vehicle called for the same light weight, speed, and versatility offered by the sidecar, together with the capacity to carry a machine gun. All of these features were highlighted by German propaganda, and were held in high regard by military experts at the time as a consequence of the waves of success achieved by the German army during the Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war”. 

For this reason it’s worth remembering what the requirements of the German Army’s Supreme Command were for the Wehrmachtsgespann, the above-mentioned BMW R75 and Zündapp KS 750 heavy motorcycles with sidecar. They needed to carry three soldiers or a load of 550 lb (250 kg), a wheelbase of 57 in (144.4 cm), maximum height lower than 39 in (1 m), normal operating speed between 1.8 and 59 mph (3 and 95 km/h), maximum unladen weight of 926 lb (420 kg), gradeability of 40%, and wading depth no lower than 14 in (35 cm).