**The Evolution of Jeep: A Story of Innovation and Popularity**

The name Jeep stuck and started becoming synonymous with rugged, versatile, nearly indestructible military vehicles. After the war, there were plenty of military personnel who wanted to take one home, having seen their performance on the battlefield.

The now iconic grill-fronted devil had driven its way off the road and into the hearts of those who served after being credited with helping allied forces win the war. Willis Overland was not going to lose the opportunity to capitalize on this demand. Ford's contract had ended with the military, and Willis Overland had sole rights to the Jeep designs.

Willis Overland jumped on the chance to sell more vehicles, not just to vets who had used them, but to civilians as well. They started marketing these cars to farmers, promoting the many accessories such as plows that can be bought and attached to the civilian Jeep or CJ2A.

**The Birth of a Legend: CJ2A**

The CJ2A, marketed as the Jeep Universal, differed from the military Jeep in a number of ways. In addition to the seven-slot grills as opposed to the nine slot in the military design, the CJ had bigger headlights, a tailgate, a spare tire was put on the right side, and the passenger side got an upgrade to an automatic windshield wiper.

The top speed was boosted by five miles an hour to 60, and with better shocks, improved cooling, and softened springs, it was an overall improvement in comfort for the civilian market. There were a ton of configurations and options to make it desirable for everyone, from farmers to fire departments to landscapers, alongside the general population that just wanted something more durable to drive.

**A Growing Market: The 1950s and Beyond**

With a little more leisure time available to more Americans, the concept of taking the Jeep off-road was becoming a very popular one for fishermen and outdoorsmen overall. The marketing was successful, and over 214,000 were built through 1949. Then Willis Overland finally trademarked the Jeep name in 1950.

Willis Overland would continue to make improvements and crank out CJ models. The CJ5 arrived in 1955 and much more closely resembled the Wrangler we know today. With an 81-inch wheelbase, more passenger room, and a rear bench seat, the ride was more approachable for a daily driver.

**The Rise of the Wrangler**

Following some additional CJ's, Kaiser Industry Corporation sold Jeep to AMC in 1969. After years of development by AMC, it was almost time for the next leap for Jeep. The Jeep Wrangler roared onto the scene in 1987, showing people that you're going to have a real off-roader that could also be a real family vehicle.

It wasn't all smiles though. The Jeep brand had taken some heat from national news organization 60 Minutes for being too easy to roll over and investors were starting to grow wary of the changes of ownership so they needed this model to work. With adjustments to the body for improved safety, including a perimeter frame, semi-elliptical leaf springs, and a front stabilizer bar, the Wrangler was offered with multiple options up to 112 horsepower.

**A Cultural Phenomenon: The Jeep in Popular Culture**

Over 632,000 of these were built through 1985, leading to many more iterations of the Wrangler models, which would begin to appear everywhere you looked. But was this actually a bad thing? It doesn't sound like it. Popular culture has always taken notice of the Jeep, but as the decades and models evolved, the demographics for the audience were no longer limited to veterans, farmers, or the off-roading enthusiast.

Everybody wanted a Jeep. In 1979, Jeep CJ7 nicknamed Dixie was driven by Daisy Duke in the show Dukes of Hazard. Another white Wrangler showed up in Clueless, introducing the idea of a younger female Jeep driver. Women had been featured prominently in Jeep ads in previous decades but only as passengers.

Of course, we can't forget Martin McFly hanging onto the CJ7 while riding a skateboard in Back to the Future, or the Wrangler YJ that flew and/or hovered in Back to the Future 2. The classic non-flying Wrangler YJ was also the model featured in Jurassic Park, shout out John Cerone, because what other than an orange-striped Wrangler could be capable of slogging through mud, rocks, and jungles while outrunning dinosaurs?

But it wasn't just showing up in movies. The music industry was betting on the growing market for music videos, and Jeep was too. Featured in everything from Britney Spears'...

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- We make fun of Jeep and Jeep ownersa lot on our Instagram.We can't help it, it's too fun.(soft ambient music)Why is it fun?Jeep is one of the mostpopular American brandsto ever exist.People love how they look,how capable they are,and the attention theyget when they're in one.(camera clicking)Driving a Jeep is a statementthat you love to go off the beaten path.But with the good attention,Jeep also gets a fair amount of hate,so what makes Jeep so divisive?Are they too good?What's going on?Thanks to Keeps forsponsoring today's episode.My Uncle Jerry was two ofa kind, and by that I meanhe was one of the two out of three guysexperiencing some formof male pattern baldnessby the time he was 35.He loved legs, hisex-girlfriend Gerry with a G,but most of all, heloved his best bird Dave.Dave, please say a few words.(soft somber music)(Dave clears throat)- Hi everyone.- Did youknow Dave was a girl?- Uncle Jerry was my best friend.We sold fireworks together, went camping,even drove across the country to Cabo,but instead of crying over his loss,let's celebrate his life, a good life,one that he'd still beliving if he had used Keeps.Keeps makes hair loss prevention easyby shipping your hair lossmedication directly to your doorevery three months,plus you get access toreal doctors online.So don't mourn the loss of your follicles,start your hair loss prevention today,by going to keeps.com/wheelhouse50,or by clicking the link in the descriptionto receive 50% off your first order.He may have been called Uncle Jerry,but he was a friend Jerry to us all.(soft upbeat music)- In order to understandthe love/hate relationship with Jeeps,it's important to know howand why they were createdin the first place.Jeep hater historystretches all the way backto World War II,which changed historyin immeasurable ways,one of those being technology.- Not so many years ago,the automobile was considered a luxury.- When America entered thewar in December of 1941,we brought support in the form oftroops, firepower, and technology.One of the biggest factorsfor victory at the timewas the ability to moveinformation and ground forces,and that meant transportation was key.While the military did have accessto some pretty fast and agile motorcycles,only the best riders were capableof conquering the roughterrain that forces were facingin war torn Europe.Makeshift roads were treacherousoften with no marked path at all.During World War I,the vehicles available to the militaryranged from horses and wagonsto commandeered civilian vehicles,so this time around the militarywas looking for a truegeneral purpose vehicle.They had a very specific idea in mindfor their ideal mass-producedoff-road war machineand their requirementsfor the project lefta lot of manufacturersscratching their head.See what I did there?Anyone who wanted to secure thecontract would have to builda working prototype with four wheel drive,room for three or more plusa 30 caliber machine gun,a payload of 600 pounds,all within a weight limitof 1300 pounds total.That seems insane nowadays,but it's more insane to thinkthat they expected this 80 years ago.The only three car companiesthat responded to the callwere Willis Overland, Ford, and Bantam.And the kicker?They had just 49 days to make it happen.Bantam was the only manufacturersthat met the deadlinewith the Bantam pilot,a light four by fourrecon and scout vehiclepowered by a 45 horsepowercontinental four cylinder engine.Unfortunately it did notmeet the weight limitat 2030 pounds, a good 700pounds over army specifications.(dramatic music sting)But the committee was willingto overlook the extra weightdue to the incredible amount of interestthe hand-built Pilot car,nicknamed the Blitz Buggy,had generated on its wayto the testing facility.Upon arriving to the test,right under the half an hourmark before the deadline,one of the first thingsthe army did was hand overall of Bantam's technical drawingsto Willis Overland and Ford,who had yet to roll intheir own prototypes.This did Bantam absolutely no favorsand stirred up even morecompetition in the raceto get the contract.Prototypes began rolling infrom all three companies,including multiple revisionarymodels from Bantam,Willie's Quad, and Ford's Pygmy.So despite a lot of the initial designhaving originated fromBantam's prototypes,and an almost indiscerniblemix of contributionsfrom all three companies,ultimately the majority of the contractwent to Willis Overlandfor their Go Devil Quad.Not wanting to be left out,the Ford company also manufactureda portion of the militaryvehicles within the limitsof a smaller contract.The winning Go Devil design hadan engine with 60 horsepowerand 105 foot pounds of torque,making it the mostpowerful of the prototypesin the running.Willis's go anywhere, do anything vehicle,the predecessor of the MBCJseries and Wrangler had quicklybecome the go-to generalpurpose vehicle of the army.Some sources say thatit took on the name Jeepafter shortening general purpose, GP.Some say it was derived froma comic strip character,but regardless of whereit actually came from,the name Jeep stuck andstarted becoming synonymouswith rugged, versatile,nearly indestructiblemilitary vehicles.- Ow!- After the war, there wereplenty of military personnelwho wanted to take one home,having seen their performanceon the battlefield.The now iconic grill fronteddevil had driven it's wayoff the road and into thehearts of those who servedafter being credited with helpingallied forces win the war.Willis Overland was notgoing to lose the opportunityto capitalize on this demand.Ford's contract hadended with the militaryand Willis Overland had solerights to the Jeep designs.Willis Overland jumped on thechance to sell more vehicles,not just to vets who had used them,but to civilians as well.They started marketingthese cars to farmers,promoting the manyaccessories such as plowsthat can be bought and attachedto the civilian Jeep or CJ2A.The CJ2A, marketed as the Jeep Universal,differed from the militaryJeep in a number of ways.In addition to the seven slot grillsas opposed to the nine slotin the military design,the CJ had bigger headlights, a tailgate,a spare tire was put on the right sideand the passenger side got an upgradeto an automatic windshield wiper.The top speed was boostedby five miles an hour to 60,and with better shocks, improved cooling,and softened springs,it was an overall improvement in comfortfor the civilian market.There were a ton ofconfigurations and optionsto make it desirable for everyone,from farmers to firedepartments to landscapers,alongside the general populationthat just wanted somethingmore durable to drive.With a little more leisure timeavailable to more Americans,the concept of taking theJeep off-road was becominga very popular one for fishermenand outdoorsmen overall.The marketing was successfuland over 214,000 were built through 1949.Then Willis Overland finallytrademarked the Jeep name in 1950.(upbeat music)Willis Overland wouldcontinue to make improvementsand crank out CJ models.The CJ5 arrived in 1955and much more closely resemblesthe Wrangler we know today.With an 81 inch wheelbase,more passenger room,and a rear bench seat,the ride was more approachablefor a daily driver.You could justify havingthis thing in your garage.After adding some chromesurrounds for the headlights,a rounded front fender,a better fitted top,the CJ5 remain in production until 1983after a total of 603,000 were built.Following some additional CJ's,Kaiser Industry Corporationsold Jeep to AMC in 1969.After years of development by AMC,it was almost time forthe next leap for Jeep.The Jeep Wrangler roaredonto the scene in 1987,showing people that you'regoing to have a real off roaderthat could also be a real family vehicle.It wasn't all smiles though.The Jeep brand had taken some heatfrom national news organization 60 Minutesfor being too easy to roll overand investors were starting to grow waryof the changes of ownershipso they needed this model to work.With adjustments to thebody for improved safetyincluding a perimeter frame,semi-elliptical leaf springs,and a front stabilizer bar,the Wrangler was offeredwith multiple optionsup to 112 horsepower.Over 632,000 of thesewere built through 1985,leading to many more iterationsof the Wrangler models,which would begin to appeareverywhere you looked,but was this actually a bad thing?It doesn't sound like it.Popular culture has alwaystaken notice of the Jeep,but as the decades and models evolved,the demographics for theaudience were no longer limitedto veterans, farmers, orthe off-roading enthusiast.Everybody wanted a Jeep.In 1979, Jeep CJ7 nicknamedDixie was driven by Daisy Dukein the show Dukes of Hazard.Another white Wranglershowed up in Clueless,introducing the idea of ayounger female Jeep driver.Women had been featuredprominently in Jeep adsin previous decades,but only as passengers.Of course, we can't forget Martin McFlyhanging onto the CJ7while riding a skateboardin Back to the Future,or the Wrangler YJ thatflew and or hoveredin Back to the Future 2.The classic non-flying Wrangler YJwas also the modelfeatured in Jurassic Park,shout out John Cerone,because what other thanan orange striped Wranglercould be capable of sloggingthrough mud, rocks, and jungleswhile outrunning dinosaurs?But it wasn't just showing up in movies.The music industry wasbetting on the growing marketfor music videos and Jeep was too.Featured in everythingfrom Britney Spears'"Hit Me Baby One More Time"to LL Cool J's "Backseat,"the Jeep was becomingsynonymous with younger,more modern culture and interestthan its original military roots.Listen carefully to Biggie's'Everyday Struggle,"and you'll hear him refer toboth Land Cruisers and Jeepswith the line "Toyota Dealathonhad it cheap on the jeeps,"which doesn't really make sense,and I'm sure I butcheredthe flow, I'm sorry.Taking advantage of the momentumthe inclusion in pop culturehad built for the brand,Jeep continued to reinvent the Wranglerwith more upgrades, features, and power,but Jeep wasn't the only onewatching the market trendsand the brand's notoriety was in some waysbecoming its downfall asother car manufacturersbegan sneaking very Jeep likedesigns into their own models.One company you might recognizewas not only inspired by Jeeps,but also literally built their prototypeson a Jeep axle and chassis.The 1948 Land Rover wasdesigned by an engineerwho had used Jeeps on his farmand even the much more modern Land Roverscarry on some Jeeps characteristics.One of them being unreliability, zing!But wait, wasn't Jeepsupposed to be super reliable?Wasn't that a point in the first place?What the heck happened?The brand is constantly boastingits adventurous, off-roadnature and capabilities,still marketing itselflike the indestructiblemilitary grade vehicle it once was.Problem isthat's not really the case.Ask a Jeep owner, they'll know.It's not hard to see the irony in the factthat the element that broughtthe Jeep into fruition,technology, is also whathas allowed other companiesto catch up and outdoJeep at its own game.Jeep's original models weredesigned to do hard workin a time when automobiles in generalwere still a fairly new concept,so doing anything outside ofgoing from point A to point Bwas an innovation, and jeepreally did that differently.Jeep started trends that arestill evident and alive today.Take a look at the Toyota Land Cruiser.It too has militaryroots in the Korean War.When the US still occupied Japanand urged the island nationto produce a militaryvehicle domestically.By 1951, they had the Toyota Jeep BJ,obviously inspired bythe military spec Jeepsdriven by US forces stationed in Japan.Toyota renamed the vehicleto the Land Cruiserand began selling it underthat name in the US in 1958.The 2016 Wrangler unlimited hard rock,mostly lives up to its Jeep reputation.It's pretty damn good.It's got Dana axles,it's powered by 3.6 liter Pentastar V6putting out 285 horsepower tourand 264 pounds of torque,and an optional five speedautomatic transmission.It's outfitted prettydamn well for off-roading,but Land Cruiser beats out the Wranglerby giving the 200 seriesmodel a 5.7 liter V8to gain 381 horsepower and401 foot pounds of torqueand an eight speed automatic.They overshadowed the Jeep's powerby almost a hundred horsepower,and they added features that really uppedthe off-road capabilities.The full-time four wheeldrive system defaultsto a 40-60 front rear split,paired with a torsion limitedslip locker center differential,sending the torque tothe axles for more gripon rough terrain, but ontop of the capability,it's also got luxury featureslike really nice seats and a refrigerator.It truly lives up to anoutdoorsman's expectationsand then some.Wherever these vehicles come from,they all share the off-roading originwith the All-American go anywhere Jeep.So with that many copycats,we must all love Jeeps, right?Well, sort of.Successful sales or anythingthat resembles a Jeeptells us the iconic lookis something we love.It says something about who you arean identity with off-roading culture,but even that has its splits,subcultures, and infighting.There are countless Jeep jamboreesthat happen anytime ofyear all over the countryfor Jeep owners to meet up andcheck out each other's ridesand swap stories and tips and whatever.But according to one Jeep ownerand former Jamboree attendee,even those can be pretty competitive,and there's some hostilitybetween stock Jeep enthusiast,vintage Jeep owners,and those who go all outmodifying their ride.(engine roars)There are some elementsof the jamboree culturethat have since deterredher from joining up,including the feeling that the competitionwas more money driven than fun driven,and whoever spent the most on their Jeephad somehow stolen the show.But just take a look back atthe pop culture appearancesto see how different thedemographics really arefor Jeep drivers.The same people runningout to look at white Jeepsthat match Cher's in Cluelessprobably aren't the same peoplewho are planning week-long camping tripsthat require off-road uphill climbs.I mean, maybe they are,but I've seen Jeeps that are so beat upthey can't leave the drivewayuntil someone scrapes away the mud to fixwhatever axle broke goingover the Boulder last week.But on the other hand,we've all seen them.There are a whole lot of veryshiny squeaky, clean Jeepsout on the roads thatdon't look like they doany more climbing than intoand out of the driveway.There's a term for it, a pavementprincess, a trailer queen,a mall crawler.Does that play into why Jeeps get hate?That poser factor?Well, maybe, but there'salso the fact thatJeeps are just super popular.They're everywhere andit's fun to make funof popular things likeColdplay or Tom Brady.You can't get away from TomBrady's face, he's everywhere,but you also can't argue the results.Back when we were shootingthe finale of high-low,we took our built Tacomasthrough the Poughkeepsie Gold's trail,a pretty serious route thatdemanded careful drivingand off-road tires at the very least.Our trucks were able to do it mostly,but what you didn't see in that episodewas our production vehiclethat held of our cameras and gear.A bone stock Jeep Wrangler limitedrolling on some BF Goodrich KO2 tires.The Jeep was able to doeverything the Tacomas didexcept for the final obstacle,without a locking rear differential,and that blew my mind.This was the same car you seeeveryday on the streets of LAmaking us look stupid forspending so much moneyon our trucks, andthat's when I understood.Sure, some Jeeps may never see a trail,but that doesn't mean it can'tperform when the time comes.Those mall crawlers withlike two inch profile tires,they'll probably stilldo pretty damn well.So regardless of whywe love to hate Jeeps,they've certainly made theirway into the cultural zeitgeistand have left their seven slot grill mark.They're a true American marvelthat was built to be tough,built to overtake impossible challenges,and overcome any obstacle put in frontof it's four wheel drive way.Whether you're waxing on weekendsor driving it through mud,you're still driving a Jeepand that's part of our history.So Jeep enthusiast, Jeephater, whoever you are,we can all appreciate it for what it is,a phenomenal meme generator.(computer mouse clicking)Follow us on Instagram @donutmediaif you want to see some Jeep memes.Truth be told man, likethey're super capable, dude.You can't argue with results, great cars.They're not the beston the road I will say.I would not buy one for a daily driver,but off-road amazing.Let me know what you thinkof Jeeps down in comments.Did this video help swayyour opinion a little bit?Let me know.I want to know.Truly.Follow me on social media@nolanjsykes if you'd like,Be kind.Don't litter on the trail,I'll see you next time.