The MD was the first Willys jeep with a significantly restyled body, immediately recognizable by its rounded hood and fenders.

On early units (1952–1953) the front grille was mounted with two 45 degree hinges, one at each frame rail, to flip it forward for maintenance.

[9] The M170 Frontline Ambulance variant of the M38A1, with a 20 in (51 cm) stretched wheelbase, formed the basis for the later civilian Willys CJ‑6 Jeep.

The spare tire was relocated in a special wheel well on the right interior side of the vehicle, and a larger 20 US gal (76 L) fuel tank was fitted.

[11] The rear lift rings were fitted (by or for USMC) in a different position, than standard jeeps had been prepared for from the factory.

Further, most USMC jeeps had more waterproofing, and roughly two thirds of them received more undercoating – to the frame exterior, under the floor and hood, and the bottom half of the firewall.

For better traction, the Marine Corps started ordering limited-slip differentials, especially on the rear axle, and mostly after introduction of the M151 jeeps in the Army.

[13] The DAF proposal seemed neither better nor cheaper and lost the race, but as an economic stimulus, the American Jeeps were to be assembled in Holland[14] from knock-down kits parts, made in the U.S.A., in the "Netherlands Kaiser-Frazer" (NEKAF) factory.

The M38A1 Jeep eventually served with one of the longest service records in the Royal Dutch military, for more than 40 years, from 1952 until 1996, as a result of both budget constraints, and sheer longevity of the vehicles, even outlasting the DKW Mungas, which had been bought to replace them in Dutch service,[13] as well as some 1,200 DAF YA 66s supplied in the 1970s, which had little to no off-road capability, and which were decommissioned in the early 1990s.

After 1959, with American part sets, 355 Nekafs were converted to M38A1C: 106mm M40 recoilless rifle carriers, and from 1983 to 1989, forty M38A1Cs were equipped with cable-guided TOW missiles.

[13] Jeep Truck copies (variously called the Simurg or Simoorgh) are produced by the firm of Sherkat-Sahami in Iran.