A silly Jeep question

[Tony Smith]

An interesting suggestion was put to me recently regarding the Willys Jeep. Because of the nature of the question, I thought rather than pose the question on a Jeep forum (which would have a singular agreed position on the matter), it would be better to pose the Q on a worldwide forum to better gauge local opinions and idioms.

I was always led to understand that the name Willys as applying to MA and MB Jeeps, and the car company before the war, was pronounced as in Willy's, or Willies. It has been put to me by a Jeep enthusiast that it ought to be pronounced with the "Y" being an "I", as in Bruce Willis. On reflection, I could not find any reference to the name Willys being a a condensed version of the possesive of Willy's. God knows I have come across names like Smyth and Smythe where the Y is an I, but surely such a well known car brand could not be so mispronounced for so long and have gone uncorrected? Then again, I suppose, there is the case of the truck maker Reo and their name being hi-jacked by 70's band R.E.O. Speedwagon and trying to correct it ever since.