Jeep car's Overview

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…and it was good.  In 1940 Karl Probst created the Jeep, and it rocked!  This is the story of how the legendary Jeep came to be…and how it has come to be what it is today. By 1939 the US military needed a new, universal vehicle to replace the motorcycle and its other vehicles (such as the modified Ford Model-T), so they invited 135 different car companies to compete for a contract to build a new vehicle for the military.  The vehicle had to meet certain specs, such as a payload capacity of 600lbs, a wheelbase under 75 inches, a fold-down windshield, a gross vehicle weight of under 1200lbs, and it must be four-wheel drive. Only three companies entered, Bantam, Willy-Overland, and Ford. Bantam enlisted the help of Karl Probst, and in 1940 was the first to produce a working prototype for the military, dubbed the Bantam Blitzbuggy and “Old Number One”. Willy’s-Overland and Ford soon followed with their own prototypes, the Willys Quad and the Ford Pygmy, which were basically knock-offs of the Bantam car. Willys eventually won the contract because of their 60hp “Go-Devil” engine, but Ford was also given a contract to help keep up with the military’s demand for the vehicles for use in WWII.  Willys later renamed their jeeps the MA and the MB, while Ford called theirs the GP and GPW.  Many believe, as I do, that the Jeep won the war for the Allies. As for the name ‘Jeep’, no one really knows for sure where it came from.  Some people believe that it evolved from the Ford ‘GP’ designation, which many think stood for ‘general purpose’, which is incorrect. The “G” was for Government and the “P” was the vehicle class (80″ wheelbase 4×4 ¼ ton truck).   Another possibility is that the name came from Popeye’s magical sidekick named jeep, who could do almost anything. Army Jeep brought Willys unprecedented success and worldwide fame. In 1944 Willys started working on the first in Jeep history civilian Jeep – model CJ. The company decided not to make a lot of modifications. They constructed almost the same car as army Jeep, but they started manufacturing it under the label CJ (Civilian Jeep). Willys’ wide range of post-war cargo-and-passenger and scout vehicles were registered as civilian just because they weren’t colored in khaki.In 1950 the international trade mark Jeep had been registered. In the beginning of 1992 concern Chrysler made a sensation: it finally exhibited a new generation of middle-size off roaders named Jeep Grand Cherokee which replaced Grand Wagoneer known in Jeep history since 1962 under Kaiser-Willis trademark.In 1997 manufacturing of the modern Jeep model Wrangler (of 6th Jeep generation) had been started. In its latest modifications Wrangler became much more comfortable. The new Jeep got rid of all his carriage springs which were replaced by coil suspension Quadra-Coil. The design became smoother and the excessive aggressiveness of the previous model had disappeared. The new Wrangler is waterproof like a good watch. The next period of Jeep history is the year 1998 when corporations Daimler Benz and Chrysler had merged. The new concern got a name DaimlerChrysler. In 1998-1999 Grand Cherokee’s SUV standard improves again and the model reaches a new level of style and luxury. High level technical solutions such as switching from 2 to 4 traction wheels makes Grand Cherokee the leader of SUV class compact cars market segment again. In 2004 Jeep gets new power-transmission plants, including CRD engine. This is the brief history of jeep.