I spend a significant portion of my life thinking about Jeeps. I am so obsessed, in fact, that I not only studied engineering so I could work for Jeep, but I recently built a WWII Jeep from scratch. Recently it became clear to us here at The Autopian that I need an outlet for this obsession, and so say hello to our first installment of “Jeep Thoughts With David Tracy.”
I’m told this is a reference to some kind of show that starts with “Deep Thoughts With,” but as my upbringing in Germany has broken my understanding of American pop culture, I have no clue what that show that is. Anyway, today’s random thought is this: There are three Jeeps that are, by far, the most important vehicles in the brand’s history. They didn’t just change the course of Jeep, they changed the whole industry.
Let’s talk about those three Jeeps.
The Obvious One: The World War II Jeep
I’ll start with the World War II Jeep, because it remains one of the greatest vehicles of all time (Jay Leno calls it the greatest, though I personally think that honor goes to the VW Beetle).
Most people will say the reason why the WWII Jeep is so great is that it helped the allies win World War II, and that’s fair. To me, the two main things that make it great are:
- It was a grand slam on the first swing
- It inspired every single iconic 4×4
Sure, those two points are related, but let’s get into it. I wrote about how the World II Jeep came about in my piece “Why The World War II Jeep Is One Of The Greatest Automotive Engineering Achievements In History,” so I’ll just keep this brief: A group of 16-ish employees from Butler, Pennsylvania’s “American Bantam” developed what became the World War II Jeep in a mere 49 days.
49 days!
And sure, there were plenty of changes between that first prototype and the final design — the Go-Devil engine came from Willys Overland and the stamped grille was a Ford idea — but the blueprints of the World War II Jeep were created by a tiny group of enginerds in Butler, PA who were fighting to keep their tiny company afloat.
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And what’s amazing is that this design from over 85 years ago still remains one of the best off-road platforms in the world, as I learned in Moab (more on this later):
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It’s unlikely those 16 engineers realized at the time that they had changed the course of automotive history, as I wrote in my piece:
But the Jeep isn’t just a masterpiece because it was an excellent tool for allied forces during WWII; the vehicle’s genius has been proven time and time again well after the war ended in the form of copycats. Just look at the world’s most legendary non-Jeep off-roaders: the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Land Rover, and the Ford Bronco.
Toyota has sold tens of millions of Land Cruisers over the years; Land Rover is a brand built entirely on off-road SUV offerings; and Ford calls the Bronco an “SUV Family,” with two Bronco vehicles selling in absurd quantities. And all three of these iconic brands owe their existence directly to the World War II Jeep.
I could go on and on, but that the very first of a brand’s cars is its most important is hardly a revelation, so let’s move on.
The Jeep Cherokee XJ
If you ask Google what the three most important Jeeps of all time are, it will spit out:
The three most important Jeeps ever are the Willys MB (the original WWII icon), the CJ-2A (the first civilian Jeep that created the off-road market), and the XJ Cherokee (which revolutionized the SUV market with its compact unibody design)
It got 1 and 3 right, but there’s no world in which the CJ-2A is a top three Jeep. Why? Because it and pretty much every Jeep up until the early 1970s was based so heavily on the WWII Jeep. The CJ-2A is basically a beefed up Willys MB with different axles, a revised transmission, and a set of timing gears instead of a timing chain. It’s just not different enough to make this list.
Google’s AI did nail the Jeep XJ, though. The vehicle was a humongous change for the brand, which in 1984 offered only niche open-top CJs and huge, gas-guzzling Wagoneers and trucks. The Willys MB may have brought Jeep into the world, but the Jeep XJ brought the brand into the mainstream.
The XJ was unlike any other Jeep before. If you turned in your 1983 Jeep Cherokee for a 1984 model, you’d be getting 90% of the interior volume but with 1000 pounds less curb weight. You’d get more off-road capability, much better fuel economy, a transfer case that you can now shift while you’re moving (“on the fly”), a revolutionary Quadra-Link suspension that would define the suspension setup of pretty much every solid-axle SUV to follow, and a truly modern and cushy interior.
Jeeps before were trucks; the XJ marked the beginning of Jeeps For Everyone. And indeed, everyone bought an XJ. Over the span of 1984 to 2001, Jeep sold over 2.8 million of the things, and though the XJ wasn’t the first unibody SUV (there was the military M151 MUTT in the 1950s), it did inspire pretty much every automaker to offer unibody SUVs, which would later be called “crossovers.”
What brings so many to the Subaru brand (and to crossovers like the RAV4 and CR-V and Escape, etc.) today — economy, comfort, some off-road capability — is what brought so many to the Jeep XJ and to the future Jeeps that it inspired (Grand Cherokee, Liberty, etc.).
The XJ, the best-selling Jeep model in history, was a juggernaut that ensured the survival of the brand, helping keep Chrysler afloat during the challenging 1980s. To this day, it remains beloved by all who experience its amazing blend of hard-core off-road capability, reliability, and comfort (relatively speaking on that last one).
The Jeep Wrangler JK ‘Unlimited’
The final Jeep that rounds out the top three most important vehicles from the iconic off-road brand is the Jeep Wrangler JK. It debuted for the 2007 model-year, helping Fiat Chrysler — the company that came out of the 2008 bankruptcy — build a path towards profitability, and ultimately becoming the second best-selling Jeep ever at 2.1 million units (the WK2 Grand Cherokee may have later eclipsed it, narrowly).
I don’t think the average person — or Google’s AI — truly understands how important the JK was. In 2006 Jeep was selling niche Wranglers in low numbers, as well as more mainstream offerings like the Liberty, Grand Cherokee and then-new three-row Commander. All three of these mainstream vehicles were only so-so off-road, but they appealed to customers who wanted to buy into the off-road image created by the Jeep Wrangler.
The Wrangler has always been the flagship whose rugged image everyone buys into when they purchase a more mainstream, more livable model like a Renegade or Grand Cherokee or Liberty. But what if you could take that flagship and make it livable? What if, instead of drooling over the too small, too rough-riding Jeep Wrangler at the dealership and ultimately buying the more practical Liberty someone could just buy a practical Wrangler?
This was the JK. It changed the game in ways not even Jeep realized.
At first, the brand thought it would sell few of the four-doors, but in the end, roughly 3/4 of all JKs sold were four-door “Unlimiteds.” And my god was the JK hype huge. Jeep sold roughly 200,000 each year, many to families who otherwise would have bought a Liberty or Rav4 or full-size pickup truck. The JK was a vehicle so appealing that it drew in people from every part of the marketplace. It created a larger-than-life off-road aftermarket worth billions of dollars, and it established new cultures like the whole “ducking” thing where Jeep owners put rubber ducks on one another’s cars.
The four-door Wrangler Unlimited was a game-changer. It was larger in every dimension; its wheelbase helped it ride better than ever before; it eventually received an engine and transmission that yielded relatively decent fuel economy; its interior offered bluetooth and available navigation, and for the first time a Wrangler offered power windows and locks.
The WWII Jeep had brought the Jeep into existence, the XJ had brought Jeep into the mainstream, and the JK — and the current JL that it inspired — brought the flagship into the mainstream.
These are the most important Jeeps of all time, and I’m hoping the next time I Google this, the AI summary has the correct answer.
If you have any thoughts on what you’d like to read in my next installment of Jeep Thoughts With David Tracy, let me know in the comments!
Top graphic image: Jeep
Over the years between 1985 and 2010 my son and I drove 4 XJ’s and except for the first one that was totaled when a drunk hit us head on (only broken ribs) they all served us well until Wisconsin’s salted roads destroyed them. My mechanic refused to work on my last one it was so rusty but I just couldn’t give it up. Almost bought a diesel Liberty but it just wasn’t the same 🙁
The title should be Deep Thoughts by Jeep Handy.
Thank you, I needed my fix.
I’d love to hear thoughts on finding the right balance of on and off road capability with Wrangler aftermarket mods, especially on a real life budget.
I am not david, not even close, but I have built up my JKU Sport S to keep up with Rubicons on a strict budget. Mods in order: rock rails, tires, front trutrac limited slip, bumpers as the factory ones got trashed 2 in lift and swaybar disconnects. Really that is all you need and it is still a fine daily driver.
If you ever drop your Jeep keys into a river of molten lava, let ’em go, because man, they’re gone.
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like the passengers in his Jeep.
I like to drive my Jeep around with the seats filled with giant sacks of shrimp. That way, when someone says “hey fella, can I catch a lift?” I just say, “sorry, got these shrimp.”
From a non-Jeep perspective:
The 1993 Grand Cherokee was the third most important Jeep.
Yeah, yeah, they had the Wagoneer of yore that appealed to the upper-class set previously, but that was a niche thing for those who wanted a trimmed-up 1970s truck throwback.
It was the ’93 that put hundreds of thousands of Jeeps into the suburban driveways of upper-middle class America before the Lexus RX was even a twinkle in the eye of Toyota design.
The Jeep XJ was the start of the unibody SUV craze, the Ford Explorer brought it to the unwashed masses, but the 1993 Grand Cherokee made the SUV an aspirational luxury lifestyle vehicle.
The JK Wrangler was an evolutionary step, the 4-door pickup to regular cabs, if you will. The basic package had been long proven in concept and market; the additional door just made it more palatable as one’s only vehicle.
I’d drop the mic, but I’ve a plate glass window to drive through instead.
For a while, it feels like the XJ Cherokee Limited was everywhere – between that and the assorted wood paneled XJs that preceded it) and just how popular the Grand Wagoneer was with affluent households, both feel like proof of concept for what the ZJ would later do.
Wasn’t the Explorer Body on Frame until Gen4?
You are correct sir.
I probably should have clarified that in my post.
I can get behind this take. Nicely executed sir. I concur.
I don’t think my then pregnant wife would have ever considered a Jeep until we test drove a ’94 Grand Cherokee. I liked the interior and especially the seats of the Ford Explorer we cross-shopped better, but it was going to be “her” car, so…
Other than an inordinate amount of piddly warranty work on components that suffered from infant or toddler mortality, it wasn’t a bad car. Thirsty. But after it settled down, it was pretty reliable. And it did handle a lot better than the Ford. (Which isn’t saying much.)
I’m a diehard ZJ person, and while the vehicle did help bring more comfort to the Jeep brand beyond what the XJ offered (the first-ever dual solid-axle vehicle with five-link coil springs front and rear!), it was more of an evolution from the XJ than the JK was of its TJ predecessor.
For the Jeep brand, the JK 4-door was revolutionary and outside-the-box; the ZJ was evolutionary. It took the XJ’s front suspension and put it in the rear as well; its cabin was cushy like an early Chrysler minivan; it was bigger and more aerodynamic. It was a big step, and if you add in how the ZJ brought JNAP into this world, I’d say it’s probably #6 on the list of most important Jeeps of all time.
I suspect we have different opinions of this because we have different perspectives.
An example: from a technical standpoint, the 1964 Ford Mustang was a fairly ordinary Detroit car of the era. However, from a cultural impact and brand marketing standpoint, it stood head and shoulders above any other Ford product of the era until the 1986 Taurus.
Despite the introduction of much more radical cars of the 1960s (thinking of stuff from GM – front-wheel drive, turbocharging), most of those cars remain relative footnotes in the broader cultural context, despite their technological advances.
From a non-Jeep enthusiast perspective, the Grand Cherokee absolutely solidified the idea of a luxury SUV in upper-middle class America of the 1990s. It’s why the nameplate still sells 200k+ units 30 years after its introduction, even though it was an evolution of an existing concept. Like the ’64 Mustang, it was more a marketing triumph than a technological one.
I am curious what Jeeps are #4 and #5 in your opinion though.
Cheers!
The ZJ was important, for sure. There’s a reason why it didn’t end up being the XJ’s successor (as intended), but rather a whole different offering.
#4 and #5 might be the Willys Wagon and Jeep SJ Cherokee/Wagoneer, but I could could see the argument for the ZJ.
No lies detected. None of those are my favorite Jeeps, but they are the most important ones.
Not a single mention of the Compass and its fold-down tailgate party speakers, what a world!
Back in 1996 (I think, or 1997?), Jeep previewed the 4-door Wrangler at their Camp Jeep at Camp Hale in the mountains in Colorado. They received a lot of positive feedback. Too bad they don’t put those on anymore . . .
https://www.jeepin.com/campjeep1998/campjeep98.shtml
And one that would have been a contender if it had made it past the prototype stage:
The Jeep FC-based minivan/crossover thing. It probably would have been too far ahead of its time, but it had such great potential.
They DID produce a van variant for the military called the XM-678:
https://hips.hearstapps.com/mtg-prod/65c90c386f698000087f28b4/216232715.jpg
“Rusty Reminiscing”
I’m sorry, but the Jeep Wrangler JK ‘Unlimited’ was the worst thing ever to happen to the Jeep brand.
Before they ruined the iconic Wrangler by making it a stupid 4-door, it truly was “A Jeep Thing – (you wouldn’t understand).
Now every suburban mom and wanna-be off-roader has one with stupid little ducks on the dashboard. Most of those are automatics and are riding on all-season tires to boot.
So by ‘important’ you really mean ‘sold our souls for the almighty dollar‘ on that third choice.
I used to want to own a Jeep. I thought they were cool and unique. Now I wouldn’t accept one if it were given to me.
In some better version of the world, I might agree with you, but the fact is, they’re beholden to that almighty dollar here. So for their continued survival, it was a fantastic thing for them.
There’s a million what-ifs in here, but let’s try narrowing it down to one: what if their choice was between releasing the 4-door or the brand dying entirely?
Edit: Not to mention, since when did an automatic make them less capable off-road?
I never said an automatic made them less capable off-road.
I just feel it just makes them drivable by people who don’t understand.
How very gatekeepy of you.
So happy that I don’t know what that means.
-And I’m not even going to look it up. 🙂
I have been off roading for 35 years all kind of jeeps and trucks, both automatic and manual in rocks mud sand etc. Both have their uses and places.
I mean, I agree it’s the worst, but doesn’t that mean that it is pretty darn important?
It’s a continuation of the XJ philosophy. That’s it.
Everything else in this miserable comment just ticks me off. It’s a machine. It’s goal is to be usable. And evolve to be more so. JLs are still miserable to be in for a long time compared to their contemporaries. An automatic does not somehow make a Jeep suddenly lesser.
Gate keeping has it’s place, but only for things one accomplishes, not for what one owns. If you’re this wrapped up in anger for a vehicle you don’t even own, must not have accomplished a lot.
Choosing what not to drive because it’s popular is certainly a choice.
Alicia Silverstone in Clueless would like to point out the that Wranglers were fully capable of never leaving pavement prior to the addition of extra doors.
But the addition of the second set of doors just made it so more moms wanted to buy Jeeps so they could take their little brats to the malls with them.
By that logic, the Model T was the worst thing to happen to cars ever.
The original Model T was a 2-door.
The Model T Touring was the 4-door.
The 2-door one is the nicer-looking car.
I briefly considered attempting to like a Jeep. My father had one he bought as a senior-years-crisis purchase, a Wrangler, I think a 2008, with the 4 banger and a manual. It rattled and shook hard with even minor bumps, and felt like a sack of hammers offroad. And the epic rattle of the 15 zippers on the soft top forced me to wear hearing protection. And it was a nice clean Arizona Jeep. In an emergency, I used it as my commuter vehicle for 3 weeks, for a 5 mile commute, and it was miserable. What a wretched vehicle. I think my 2003 Odyssey had better offroad chops.
Sounds like you bought the wrong Jeep. My 1990 Jeep Comanche is fantastic and actually has the best ride quality of any vehicle I own. I drive it all the time. That said, all my other cars are sports cars so ride quality is not expected to be good.
Here’s a Jeep Thought for you: What happened to the J Series pickup that was used as a support vehicle for Mark A Smith’s Tip to Tip expedition that included the famous conquering of the Darrien Gap? I do know that some of the CJ7s used are now in a museum and one is still tooling around on the Baja Roamers YouTube channel.
[Caution DT, paraphrased pop culture reference to follow]
MB Jeep to rule them all, MB Jeep to found them, MB Jeep to lead them all and in the wilderness unite them In the Land of Moab where the slickrock lies.
“One ring to rule them all” is a reference to 1970s Ford steering wheels where they used the same one in a Lincoln Continental, a Pinto and an F350 10′ box truck.
Saturday Night Live in the 1990’s featured a segment called “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey” with the intro narrated by the late great Phil Hartman. My favorite one was:
“One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. “Oh, no,” I said. ‘Disneyland burned down.’ He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.”
And just to stay with with website’s general theme but your timeperiod….”Toonces look out!!!”
Now marketed as “Cats Eye” Super Driver Assist.
The original Wagoneer is in the top 3.
I’d say it’s either #4 or #5, either just ahead or just behind the Willys Wagon.
The wagon is a good choice too.
…aaaaand so many Jeep Guys will still say that a JK or JL Unlimited is not a real Jeep. I suppose everyone’s entitled to an opinion.
they used to say it about the XJ too.
The Jeep community famously clutches pearls everytime a new generation launches. I’ve had a Jeep from every decade of the last 40 or so years and they are all still Jeeps. But mannnnn, the hate some have for anything after the one they got is crazy.
which is sometimes mirrored in in their choice of replacement grilles. Although it’s also many of the hated ones witht the same grilles.
A Practical Guide to Hating New Jeeps: How to Establish Your Jeep as the Last Great Jeep (JK Owners Edition) : r/Jeep
Very relevant.
“
JeepThoughts With David Tracy.”No need to include the Jeep in that title. We know if DT is having a thought, it is about Jeeps.
Good to see you in the masthead again. Truly miss your knowledge and unique take on all things automotive.
Had no idea the WWII Jeep had been developed in 49 days. Nerds, man… Give them a tight schedule, some hunks of metal and a parts bin, and they’ll come up with pure magic. The OG Jeep really is fascinating, all function, just the right amount of form, and bam, history is made.
Most important Jeep:
The one that’ll start in the morning.
It hasn’t been made yet.
My YJ is upset with you, she’s currently sobbing out of her square headlights.
If it makes your YJ feel better, I think it’s the best looking Wrangler design. The proportions with the long hood and bend in the grill are awesome. I also love me some angular designs so square headlights fit the bill fine.
The JK also tried a new formula for manufacturing: turn parts of the factory over to suppliers to run. Was this a good idea? That might depend on whether you want to work for FCA/Stellantis, Hyundai Mobis, or Kuka.
If I ever buy a Jeep, and someone puts a duck on it, I will fling it away as hard as I can.
Challenge accepted?
I guess I have to buy a Jeep now. Wife is gonna be pissed. I have a project already, and I just bought a truck.
Thanks a lot, Gene!
You’re welcome. 😀
I’d like to say the same when I inherit my dad’s MJ, but there’s a story beind why I can’t just toss ducks.
One of my friends lives for bad puns. When I first moved to Texas, I mistimed my departure and spent two hours stuck in traffic on 45. I get to my new home, only to be told to wait outside for ten minutes. Exhausted, annoyed, hungry, and desperately wanting a shower after spending 17 hours in a car, I begrudgingly say “fine” instead of what was running through my head. When they finally let me in, I see a bunch of ducks on the stairwell up to my room. I was very confused.
Get to my room, and there on the bed is my cat Goose, just a tiny kitten at the time. That little orange bastard coated bastard with bastard filling has pretty much fixed all my non-concussion related depression and anxiety problems, so I kept a few of the ducks because he still likes to play with them. And sit in the rain and angrily meow at me because I can’t turn it off and he’d rather be wet and on my balcony than walk in the open door and be dry. I think he’s a duck at heart.
If someone ever ducks the MJ, it’ll be a new toy for him.
That top secret vibrating soul healer mode makes cats irreplaceable. You have good friends.
I have an MJ, someone once ducked it. I kept it for a while and gave it to someone else. A friend who thinks the ducks are silly gave me a plastic lemon for the dashboard, it stays there next to the one duck I bought myself, which is actually a kid’s bath time duck.
Generally the folks that are into the MJ are not Wrangler owners.
I have noticed that. MJs are pretty rare in dad’s part of the country, and if one ever shows up in a yard it gets picked clean within a day. I don’t need all the fingers on one hand to count the number of times I’ve driven it and NOT been asked if it was for sale. None of them were Wrangler owners; all of them appreciated it for what it was and just the fact that you don’t see them there, ever. I nearly bought the only other one I ever saw when I still lived there, but these days my knee issues mean it would stay parked 99% of the time because it was a manual. Dad’s is an auto.
Not the Wagoneer, for pioneering the “luxury” SUV thing?
Not that it was itself luxurious (it was completely farm implement-y), but rather the type of people who originally bought them were the same types who bought Mercedes and Volvos b/c durable and/or well-made, which used to be the luxury flex back when. Luxury has changed, but it does seem to have birthed a whole segment.