S
eventy years is a long time. Few
vehicles can date their lineage back
that far. Fewer still can trace back
anything more than a few signature
design cues. Then there’s Jeep and
the iconic Wrangler, which can
draw a direct line in the sand of Omaha
Beach back to World War II military vehi-
cles and the civilian SUVs they inspired.
Pulling a 1945 Willys- Overland CJ-2A
from FCA’s heritage collection and
lining it up against a 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Rubicon is a humbling experience for the
homage the current JL pays to its past.
As MotorTrend celebrates its 70th
anniversary, we take you on a bit of a
walkaround of two Jeeps, both built in
Toledo but 73 years apart. We hope you’re
as pleasantly surprised by this tale of
morphing as we are.
Quick history recap: The original jeeps
were designed for military use only.
“Jeep” was a nickname then, derived
either from slurring the GP reference to
its “General Purpose” vehicle monikeror from Eugene the Jeep, the mystical
creature from the Popeye cartoon strip.
Government specs called for a 1,200-
pound, three-passenger vehicle with an
80-inch wheelbase that a burly sergeant
could drag out of the mud. It had to have
45 horsepower, and the windshield had to
fold flat so it could fit in a shipping crate
sideways, with room for the four tires.
The specs were derived by govern-
ment officials, not auto engineers, for a
vehicle to replace motorcycles and army
mules, explains Brandt Rosenbusch,
FCA’s Historical Services manager. Of
135 companies approached, Willys and
Bantam responded. In the end, neither
met the unrealistic weight requirements,
and Willys ended up making a version of
the Bantam concept, having the where-
withal for high-volume production and a
60-hp Go Devil four-cylinder engine.
The first 1,500 MA (Model A) early
builds had rounder fenders and a more
tapered hood. The revised MB became
the standard military jeep. During thewar Willys built 358,000 MBs. When
they ran out of capacity, Ford had a
contract to build 250,000 more, calling
theirs the GPW.
“Willys designers nailed it,” Rosen-
busch says. Line up every generation of
CJ and Wrangler, and there is no doubt
they are related. You can see the progress
while staying true to their roots.
There was civilian lust for jeeps even
back then. After the war, surplus military
jeeps were sold off to the public, while
Willys modified the MB into the first
civilian Jeep—hence the name CJ—forTHEN AND NOW II1945 Willys-Overland CJ-2A and 2019 Jeep Wrangle1945 Willys-Overland CJ-2A and 2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
66 MOTORTREND.COM SEPTEMBER 2019