History of Jeep  
   

In 1908, John North Willys bought the Division of Standard Wheel Company and in 1912 renamed it Willys-Overland Motor Company. From 1912 to 1918, Willys was the second largest producer of automobiles in the United States behind only the Ford Motor Company.
  Even though the world had seen wide-spread mechanisation of the military during World War I, and the US Army had already used 4x4 trucks in it, supplied by the Four Wheel Drive Auto Co. (FWD), by the time World War II was dawning, the United States Department of War were still seeking a standardized light cross-country and reconnaissance vehicle.
Early in 1941, Willys-Overland demonstrated the vehicle's ability by having it drive up the U.S. Capitol steps, driven by Willy's test driver Irving "Red" Haussman, who had recently heard soldiers at Fort Holabird calling it a "jeep". When asked by syndicated columnist Katherine Hillyer for the Washington Daily News (or by a bystander, according to another account) what it was called, Irving answered, "It's a jeep."

The origin of the term "jeep"

There are many stories about where the word "jeep" came from, how it was coined, These, although they make for interesting and memorable stories, are difficult to verify.

Probably the most popular notion has it that the vehicle bore the designation "GP" (for "General Purpose"), which was phonetically slurred into the word jeep. R. Lee Ermey, on his television series Mail Call, disputes this, saying that the vehicle was designed for specific duties, was never referred to as "General Purpose," and that the name may have been derived from Ford's nomenclature referring to the vehicle as GP (G for government-use, and P to designate its 80-inch-wheelbase). "General purpose" does appear in connection with the vehicle in the WW2 TM 9-803 manual, which describes the vehicle as "... a general purpose, personnel, or cargo carrier especially adaptable for reconnaissance or command, and designated as ¼-ton 4x4 Truck", and the vehicle is designated a "GP" in TM 9-2800, Standard Military Motor Vehicles, September 1, 1943, but whether the average jeep-driving GI would have been familiar with either of these manuals is open to debate.
  Although it bore the CJ name, the CJ-2 was not really available at retail. Willys produced less than three dozen CJ-2 Agrijeeps in 1944 and 1945, forty in all. It was directly based on the military Willys MB, using the same Willys Go Devil engine, but stripped of all obviously military features, particularly the blackout lighting. Apart from having larger headlights, a side-mounted spare tire and an external fuel cap, most importantly this was the first jeep to have an opening tailgate.
Lessons learned with the CJ-2 led to the development of the first full-production CJ, the 1945-1949 CJ-2A. Like the CJ-2 and the Military version, the CJ-2A featured a split windshield. An early column shifter and full floating rear axle gave way to the more familiar floor shift T90 and semi-floating rear axle. The three speed column shifter was introduced because it was thought that troops returning from WWII needed a change in the Jeep; ironically many of the earlier CJ-2As were produced using leftover military parts. The CJ-2A was intended as a farm vehicle so it was geared lower than its military couterpart. In the end, 214,202 CJ-2A's were produced.
  The CJ-3A was introduced in 1949, and replaced the CJ-2A by the next year. It featured a one-piece windshield with a vent. A bare-bones Farm Jeep version was available starting in 1951 with a power takeoff. 131,843 CJ-3A's were produced before the series ended in 1953.
  Only one CJ-4 was ever built, as an experimental concept, in 1951. It used the new Willys Hurricane engine and had an 81-inch wheelbase.
The CJ-4 body tub design was a kind of intermediate between the straightforwardly raised hood on the CJ-3B and the all new curvey body style of the CJ-5.
The design was rejected and the vehicle eventually sold to a factory employee.



The CJ-5 was influenced by new corporate owner, Kaiser, and the Korean War M38A1 Jeep. It was intended to replace the CJ-3B, but that model continued in production. The CJ-5 repeated this pattern, continuing in production for 3 decades while three newer models appeared. 603,303 CJ-5's were produced between 1954 and 1983.

In 1965, Kaiser bought the casting rights to the Buick 225 in³ V6 Dauntless and the CJ-5 and CJ-6 got a new engine with 155 hp supplementing the Willys Hurricane engine.

The company was sold to American Motors in 1970, and the GM engine was retired after the 1971 model year. (GM's Buick division repurchased the engine tooling in the early 1970s which served as the powerplant in several GM vehicles.) AMC began using their inline 6 engines, the 232 and 258 and in 1972 offering one V8 engine in the same tune as a base V8 muscle car - 304CID.

To accommodate the new I6 the fenders and hood were stretched 3" starting in 1972. Other minor drive train changes took place then as well.

In 1976 the tub and frame were modified slightly from earlier versions. The windshield frame also changed meaning that tops from 1955-1975 will not fit a 1976-1983 CJ-5 and vice-versa.
The CJ-7 featured a longer wheel base than the CJ-5 and lacked the noticeable curvature of the doors previously seen on the CJ-5. It was introduced in 1976 and 379,299 were built in 11 years of production. The CJ-7 featured an optional new automatic all-wheel drive system called Quadra-Trac, not necessarily known for its strength, as well as a part-time two speed transfer case; an automatic transmission was also an option. Other comfort features were an optional molded hardtop, and steel doors.
  The CJ-8 Scrambler was a pickup truck version of the CJ-7, introduced in 1981. It featured a 103 inch wheelbase and a pickup bed. Only 27,792 were built in the 5 years of production before being replaced by the similarly-sized Comanche. The Jeep CJ-8 did not offer the quadra track system. The majority of Jeep CJ-8s used the traditional transfer case and manual front-locking hubs to engage the 4-wheel drive. Most CJ-8s used a four or five-speed standard transmission but a 3-speed automatic transmission was an available option.
  The CJ-10 was a CJ-based pickup truck. Produced from 1981 through 1985, it was sold mainly as an export vehicle, though some were used by the United States Air Force for use as an aircraft pulling vehicle. They featured square headlights mounted in the fenders and an unusual 9-slot grille.
 

The Jeep YJ, sold as the Wrangler, replaced the much-loved but slower-selling Jeep CJ in 1987 and was built in Brampton, Ontario, Canada until the plant closed on April 23, 1992. It was a new design with a wider wheelbase, slightly less ground clearance, a galvanized body and more comfort. The YJ also had a leaf spring suspension similar to that of the CJ, however, the springs were wider, and the YJs sported trackbars and swaybars for added handling. YJs are easily identifiable by their rectangular headlights, which were a source of controversy when introduced. Despite the new grill, the body is very similar to the CJ's, and it is interchangeable with some minor modifications. Many CJ owners with a rusted body replace them with a newer YJ body, they are almost cosmetically identical and the lines from the nose match up perfectly. 632,231 YJs were built through model year 1995, though YJs were still produced into mid '96 bringing the total production number to 685,071 units.
  The Wrangler Rubicon (named for the famed Rubicon Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains) was introduced in 2003. It featured front and rear Dana 44 axles with built-in air-actuated locking differentials, 4:1 low-range NV241 transfer case, 4.10:1 differential gears, 16 in alloy wheels, and Goodyear MTR P245/75-R16 tires. 2003 to 2004 featured a standard NV3500 five-speed manual transmission, which changed in 2005 to a Mercedes-sourced six-speed. The optional 42RLE four-speed automatic transmission was available from 2003 to 2006.
 

The 2007 model year brought the complete redesign of the Jeep Wrangler, in both two and four-door models. The TJ platform was replaced by a new JK platform. This next-generation Wrangler was significantly larger than the existing model, with a 2 in (50.8 mm) longer wheelbase and 3.4 in (86.4 mm) wider track, though the two door model is actually 2.5 in shorter in the overall length than the TJ, allowing for better approach and departure angles. With a larger available standard tire size of 32 in, breakover angle is unchanged.

Some Wrangler enthusiasts decried this new vehicle's larger size, claiming that it runs counter to the character of the Wrangler, and is too big to be an effective off-road vehicle. However, it should be noted that similar complaints were heard during previous redesigns. Jeep reportedly sought to cement the Wrangler's position as the marque's most-rugged vehicle as new car-based crossover SUVs took some of Jeep's on-road market share.

JK was introduced at the 2006 North American International Auto Show with Chrysler group CEO Tom LaSorda driving one up some steps and through a plate glass window, just as Robert Lutz had done at the show in 1992 with the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The JK was first available for purchase with the 2007 model year.

The JK Wrangler is offered in two versions:

  • A short-wheelbase 2-door, in X, Sahara and Rubicon trim levels.
  • A long-wheelbase Unlimited 4-door, also in X, Sahara and Rubicon trim levels.

 
Site by Dean Summers 2007