[David_Hayward (RIP)]

..it's Willis. Not Willies! Yes it was Reo as in Ransom Eli Olds. Not R-E-O.

James D Mooney, who had retired from the USN in 1945, the former President of GM Overseas Operations, left GM and joined Willys-Overland and created the "Mooney Jeep".

After his resignation, effective 31 December 1945, JDM was appointed President of Willys-Overland for three years, resigning in the summer of 1949. Mr. Mooney states that W-O needed a chairman and president to steer the company from 100% military production back to civilian orientated lines, and JDM ‘relished this opportunity’. JDM replaced Charles Emil Sorenson who had resigned from Ford on 13 March 1944, and then by June been appointed President of Willys-Overland Motors of Toledo, Ohio. Sorenson then served as Vice-chairman of the board from 1946 to 1953. When JDM joined W-O, the company were no longer interested in provision for the military models, although there were enough ex-military stocks to last in governmental and then entrepreneurial hands. That said the Jeep formed the basis of post-war civilian and then military models. JDM apparently had thoughts of adding W-O to Packard, Nash and Reo to compete with Cadillac, Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac and trucks with W-O competing with small four-wheel drive vehicles. Unfortunately the controller of W-O was an advertising man Ward Canaday who was not realistic in dealing with the stockholders of the prospective acquisitions and the deal fell through: JDM resigned as a consequence although American Motors Corporation was later to be formed by the merger with Hudson, Kaiser, etc.