After having commissioned Willys, Ford and Bantam to build the first 4,500 jeeps (1500 each) in March 1941, the US Motor Transport Board set up a project under the direction of the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) to be designated "QMC-4 1/4 Ton Truck Light Amphibian" [REF].
Roderick Stephens Jr. of Sparkman & Stephens Inc. yacht designers was asked to design a shape for a amphibious jeep, in the same vein as his design for the DUKW six-wheel-drive amphibious truck.