Philippines Filipino Philipino Jeepney Fun Page - Brian's Military Jeeps of WWII -

THE JEEPNEY

Jeepneys are commonly used in the Philippines for public and private transportation. The one in this photograph is a public taxi cab. Others are privately owned. Some Jeepneys would be considered a fairly nice automobile and be used as private transportation by a fairly wealthy (by Filipino standards) family.

Jeepneys were originally built by modifying left over army surplus Willys & Ford military jeeps after WWII. Over the years the WWII military Willys MB and Ford GPW jeep Jeepneys were rebuilt and modified, again and again, until they finally wore out all the original parts. Today’s modern Jeepneys are produced in the Philippines by two types of builders:

The large volume manufacturers;
The many independent backyard workshops that produce a small number, typically 5 or fewer Jeepneys a month.

The Philippine economy is very different than the US economy. Manual Labor Cost is near the bottom of the list of expenses, which means it is much cheaper to import sheet metal and raw iron and then have the local labor force build things by hand, than to import complete finished products. The Philippines is one of the few places in the world where you can buy a brand new custom built jeep for $5000. However, recently, many of the builders, both large and small, have either gone out of business, or have had to switch industries because of poor sales and an economic downturn.

The large volume manufacturers come in two types:

The Jeepney Bus builder (PUJ);
The large volume metal-stamping companies who supply parts as well as complete vehicles.

To build their jeeps, the backyard builders buy second-hand chassis and frames from local salvage yards, install used engines, and then buy the die stamped pieces from one of the larger manufacturers. Dozens of these little Jeepney shops line MacArthur Hwy. in Angeles City P.I. In the past, Cebu City and Cavite was where most Jeepney builders were located. There are many small shops in the Philippines that produce many, many of these highly modified jeep taxicabs in every configuration that you could imagine. The largest Jeepneys are almost bus size. They are built almost completely from scratch. The Filipinos use whatever they can get their hands on. Recycled parts from many different makes & models, and it can be mixed and matched; you may get a Honda engine/transmission and a Hyundai rear axle assembly. The drive train & running gear on Jeepneys are usually not set up for 4x4 off road though.

Jeepneys are not the only jeeps being built in the Philippines. The Philippines has always been one of the major sources of reproduction World War Two jeep body parts. They produce replacement body tubs for CJ2a, M38’s and many other models as well.

The largest manufacturer in the Philippines of owner-type Jeepneys is David Motors Inc., of Quezon City, north of Manila. The largest manufacturer of vintage style army Jeepneys is MD Juan, who also supplies their WWII body tubs to restorers around the world. ;-)

For more detailed information on the Jeepney, follow this link to Wikipedia's Jeepney page.
For many more photographs of Jeepneys you can follow this link.

Netscape Users Click Here for a quick overview of the Jeepney
Netscape Users Click Here for the Jeepney Information page
Netscape Users Click Here for another Jeepney Information page

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