History Of Jeep®

The history behind Jeep is over 100 years old, beginning with the construction of the Overland car in 1902, which was designed by Claude Cox and built by the Standard Wheel Company in Indiana. Within five years, the company was bought by John North Willys, in 1907. A year later, he changed the name of the company to Willys-Overland, moved the production facilities from Indianapolis to Toledo, Ohio and began to rebuild the firm's fortunes.

During World War II (1940), at Camp Holabird, Willys-Overland introduced the "Quad" prototype to the US army for assessment. This Quad model would be further developed into the model MA. For the remaining years of the war (1941-5), close to 360,000 Jeep MA and MB models were built.

1945 marked the year that the first civilian Jeep was put on the market: the CJ2A. By 1947, Jeep two-wheel and four-wheel drives were launched. The following year, Willys registered the name "Jeep" under copyright law. In 1949, the 4WD was introduced in the station wagon; this vehicle is considered to be the first modern SUV.

In 1953, the company changed its name to Willys Motors, Inc. and built the CJ5, which would continue to be manufactured over the next 29 years. The year following the introduction of their J-series (1963), Willys Motors changed its name to the Kaiser Jeep Corporation. In 1970, American Motors took over the corporation; and in 1987, Chrysler purchased American Motors.

Eight years after Chrysler celebrated the one-millionth Jeep to roll off the assembly line, in Toledo, the corporation merged with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler.

The corporate ownership of the Jeep name has been as varied as the models themselves. Over the years, "Jeeps" have been associated with the early station wagons, panel delivery trucks, pickup trucks, and Jeepsters; Commandos, Comanches, Cherokees, and Wagoneers, to name but a few.