Motor Trend – September 2019

THE WRANGLER HAS PACKED ON SOME POUNDS

WITH AGE: FROM 2,200 TO IN EXCESS OF 4,000.

It has a protective cage structure (and of

course no gas tank under the front seat).

The ’45 CJ has a folding windshield

hinged to swing forward from the bottom,

with a strap to hold it down. It also

has brackets for a gun rack. On today’s

Wrangler, the windshield still folds—in

less than four minutes, like the CJ-2A’s,

versus the two hours it took on the

previous JK model. Wranglers come with

a toolkit to remove the windshield and

doors, paying homage to the toolkit under

the passenger seat of military jeeps.

For civilian use, the CJ needed a 7-inch

headlight for use on roads, larger than the

5-inch lights on the MB. In back is a tail-

light on the driver’s side and a reflector

on the passenger side. No turn signal. The

windshield wiper is vacuum-operated in

front of the driver; on the passenger side

you have to move it manually.

The Wrangler has packed on some

pounds with age. The military-issue MB

weighed about 2,200 pounds and carried

enlisted farm boys and city slickers who

lived on K-rations and cigarettes. Today’s

Wranglers can easily exceed 4,000 pounds,

and occupants come in many more sizes.

This ’45 CJ-2A was found in Indiana in

1997, Rosenbusch says. The private owner

used it to pull homecoming floats. It had

about 15 coats of house paint that had to

be stripped but no major damage to the

frame or body. When Chrysler opened a

museum in 1998, the Jeep was on display.

While the Jeep lineup has expanded, the

Wrangler has remained the center of the

brand’s universe and gets special treat-

ment, Allen says. That’s why the newest

Wrangler still has exposed hinges and a

tailgate that isn’t integrated into the body.

Doors, roofs, and heaters were options

until the early ’80s. Air conditioning is still

an option today, but modern Jeeps also

have heated seats and steering wheels, big

infotainment screens, and USB ports.

The Mojito green Wrangler Rubicon

we drove alongside the CJ owes a lot to its

A true homage to the

past: The Wrangler’s

doors and roof are

easy to remove to

celebrate open air

on the open road.

68 MOTORTREND.COM SEPTEMBER 2019