The JEEP brand has a long history of development. It can even be said that the development history of the JEEP brand represents the development path of SUV models. As we all know, JEEP is a model and brand produced during the war. If you want to trace its birth process, you have to talk about Germany's "Lightning Tactics" during World War II. The German army relied on mobile equipment to rampage across the European battlefields, which made the US military realize the importance of mobility to war.
Therefore, in 1940, the U.S. military issued a bidding notice to automobile manufacturers across the United States, seeking cooperation in the development of a lightweight multi-purpose off-road vehicle that could adapt to harsh road conditions. At that time, three automobile manufacturers entered the final round. During the screening process, they were: Bantam, Ford and Willys (WILLYS). The prototype delivered by Willis at that time was the Willys MA. In the end, the US military selected Willys' design and made the Bantam The drawings of Tamm were handed over to Willis, and Willis launched the final version based on absorbing the advantages of the half Tamm design: Willis MB.
Willys MB adopts a non-load-bearing body and a part-time four-wheel drive system, which ensures its passing performance. At the same time, the lightweight body also gives it excellent adaptability. Willys MB uses a 2.2-liter four-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine with a maximum horsepower of 61 horsepower and a peak torque of 142 Nm. Driven by it, this lightweight off-road vehicle can reach a speed of 105 kilometers per hour, as it does Designed from the ground up, the Willys MB is a multi-purpose military off-road vehicle. In addition to its functions of marching transportation, battlefield reconnaissance, and order communication, the Allies even used it as an artillery tractor and ambulance.
It is precisely because of the wide range of uses of Willys MB that it is now generally believed that the nickname JEEP comes from the homophony of GP. In addition to the U.S. military, Willis MB was also provided by the U.S. government to allied forces such as the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China. It is no exaggeration to say that Willis MB made major contributions to the victory of the Allied forces in World War II. As Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces Eisenhower said, jeeps, transport planes and landing craft are our three major weapons to win the war.
After World War II, Willys Company registered "JEEP" as a trademark. Since then, this collective name for light off-road vehicles in World War II has become a brand. Since then, Willis, who lost a large number of military orders, also began the process of converting the military into a civilian one. The first to come out were the CJ-1 and CJ-2, which were slightly modified based on the Willis MB. With the love of the American military and civilians for the MB after the war, the CJ-2A achieved an astonishing sales of more than 210,000 units. sales, Willis later launched a more modern CJ-3 model, becoming a loyal partner of American farmers and off-road enthusiasts.
After the CJ-3, JEEP launched the CJ-5, CJ-6 and CJ-7 models. Obviously, these models with air intake grilles and round headlights are directly inherited from the Jeep Leith MB's hardcore off-road tools. The successor of this CJ series many years later, the Jeep off-road vehicle code-named YJ is the Jeep Wrangler that we are very familiar with.
In addition to the CJ series, Willys also launched some other models after the war, such as the Willys jeep station wagon model launched in 1946. Like many station wagons at the time, it had a wide cabin that ran to the rear. , was unique in that while most station wagons at the time had wooden bodies, it offered an all-steel body that was easier to produce and maintain.
Many people believe that today's SUV models are becoming more and more "girly", and among many SUV brands, JEEP is the "tough guy" representative that retains the tradition of hardcore off-road vehicles. In fact, people often don’t know that it was the JEEP brand that first introduced the concepts of comfort and luxury into off-road vehicles.
And it all starts with JEEP Wagoner. The first-generation Wagoner used an inline six-cylinder engine with a maximum horsepower of 135 horsepower. This engine was the first mass-produced overhead camshaft engine in the United States after World War II. This JEEP engine also led the technological trend in that era.
In addition to its smooth operation and compact structure, it was also famous for its fuel economy at the time.
The Wagoner underwent a facelift in 1966. The biggest change in appearance was that the air intake grille concentrated in the center of the front of the car was extended to the entire front face. Such changes brought more modern visual effects, and also added a super wagoner model, which was equipped with a more powerful AMC v8 engine, up to 274 horsepower, and its luxurious configuration was comparable to the luxury cars of the time. For example, the radio with memory buttons, air conditioning, and 7-angle adjustable steering wheel. It is no exaggeration to say that the superwagoner pushed JEEP to the extreme in the field of four-wheel drive. There is now a very common saying that the super wagoner is the pioneer of today's luxury SUVs. After that, the wagoner model was produced as the flagship model of JEEP until 1991, during which two higher-end models were also launched.
In 1974, JEEP launched another two-door four-wheel drive Cherokee to the market, built on the JEEP SJ platform. Yes, it was on the same platform as the wagoner. In fact, it was a derivative of the two-door wagoner. At that time, the wagoner represented a model of luxury four-wheel drive and achieved good results in the market. So Jeep struck while the iron was hot and launched a family four-wheel drive for young consumers. This was the birth of the Cherokee.
What Cherokee has to say is not just its appearance and performance. The most important thing is that in 1974, the term "sport multi-function" appeared in the Cherokee sales brochure, and this sports multi-function The model represented is an SUV. Yes, the word "SUV" comes from here and was defined by the first generation Cherokee.
At that time, JEEP wanted to make the Cherokee a more sporty model compared to the wagon, and this model happened to have good passability and large space, which made it multi-purpose, so it combined these The car model together is the SUV. The first truly modern SUV should start with the second-generation Cherokee, which was withdrawn in 1984. Its body proportions are no different from those of modern SUVs.
The second-generation Cherokee, which uses a compact platform with a load-bearing body, is more suitable for home use. It is only from this generation that the name SUV has been widely spread. This generation of Cherokee won multiple Car of the Year awards in the United States and around the world, and also achieved amazing sales.
Since then, Cherokee has become one of the most important names in the Jeep brand and even in the world of off-road vehicles. This is also the first generation model produced by my country's first joint venture automobile company: Beijing Jeep. In 1985, the first domestically produced Cherokee rolled off the assembly line. After the second-generation Cherokee was discontinued in the United States, Beijing Jeep created derivative models such as the 2500 and Cavalier based on it.
JEEP Cherokee has been one of Jeep’s important models since its birth in 1974. Its latest version was launched in 2013, which is the domestic Cherokee. In 1993, Jeep also launched the mid-to-large SUV Grand Cherokee, which was the flagship of the JEEP brand after the Grand Wagoner. In addition, compact SUV Compass, Renegade and other models have been launched one after another, enriching this family.
It can be said that Jeep’s brand history is the history of the development of off-road vehicles. From the original military multi-purpose off-road vehicle, to the SUV pioneer, to the Cherokee that defined the SUV, JEEP has been on the road to the development of off-road vehicles. Made an unparalleled contribution.