American Icons – Jeep® Vehicles

Jeep® producers have a unique and distinct history in the American automobile production industry.

Starting at the very outset, the engineering of the Jeep® models came about based upon meeting or exceeding specific United States Army requirements.  The Jeep® line has gone through a diverse range of players and owners starting out from its very beginning, when the first Army-approved model had some input from at least three different automobile producer companies.

With the U. S. Army requiring a production of a sufficient number of vehicles of the selected model out of three prototypes in a relatively short time, necessity dictated cooperation between two manufacturers using the same design.  Yet a third company, the American Bantam company, had actually produced an original design.  However, when the U. S. Army became concerned about the already bankrupt American Bantam company’s inadequate size in terms of meeting the contract, the Army arranged for transfer of the original design to two other manufacturers with the directive to make their own design changes. 

At this point, the Willys Overland and Ford companies became involved, each producing prototypes.   The Army chose the Jeep® Willys Quad as the successful prototype, and this became the first Jeep® vehicle to actually go on the market:  marketed exclusively to the Army, starting in 1941.  Apart from the now popular four-wheel drive, the original Jeep® prototype incorporated an even more powerful engine than that which the Army had specified.

While one does get a certain sense of that nostalgic feel of looking over a classic or antique car from certain of the Willys Quad’s lines in photographs, in other ways the look of certain contemporary Jeep® models, such as the Jeep® Wrangler, remains remarkably similar to this earliest full-production model.

The manufacturers supplied the Army with two full-production models based on the original Willys Quad prototype:  The Willys MA and the Willys MB.

It took little time, partially influenced by the perceptions of servicemen who used the Jeep®s during the war, for the general population to realize the need for broadening the Jeep® market into the general population.  With additional post-war modifications to adapt for uses like agricultural applications, this led to the next generation of Jeep® vehicles, the CJ – or Civilian Jeep® – line by 1945.

The CJ line, as used in civilian applications, contributed significantly to the post-World War II restoration of prosperity in the United States.

Additionally, between the two, the original Jeep® Willys and the Jeep® CJ 2A models became the basis for a variety of other, later developed, four-wheel drive vehicles and the entire Sport Utility category of vehicles. 

Later Jeep® models would continue to innovate in various ways, maintaining the heritage of solid design and adapting the line so as to supply models suited to a variety of specific uses.

The heritage of the Jeep® line, therefore, offers valuable lessons both on the design innovation and the marketing adaptability categories of automotive production that other industry players could do well to learn from.

For those readers interested in more contemporary Jeep® models, you can find reviews on many models at the Dewey Dodge dealer of Des Moines website at
 www.deweydodgejeep.com.

References:

Jeep Heritage:  Multiple Blogs:    http://blog.jeep.com/category/heritage/page/3/

Jeep.   Wikopedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep