Just finished reading the Feb '11 issue of Four Wheeler mag. Had an article "Jeep:The First 70 Years", which states (to paraphrase) when ****** was unable to full fill the Army's order for Jeeps, Ford took over some of the production and to save manufacturing time developed "an inexpensive stamped unit to replace" the weld gill the ****** model sported. ****** later switch to this feature too. This became the iconic nine-slot grill which became a jeep's most notable feature and a version of which now the company's logo.
Say it isn't so!! Ford invented the Jeep logo!