(first posted 5/29/2011) Two key evolutionary developments define humans: a large brain and the ability to run long distances cross-country. That probably explains why the Jeep is the most iconic vehicle on the face of the planet. The fruits of our brain activity increasingly entrapped us in urban confinement and the constraints of pavement, but the Jeep offered the way out: the freedom to take us anywhere our legs once had, and our horses after that. Its roots were of course military, but it came to embody the cowboy myth, updated for the second half of the twentieth century; the last hurrah of Americans’ conquest of its open spaces. The Jeep became the mechanical alter-ego of man. Well, at least of one six-year old.
My father being an inveterate hiker, long family walks that started at our house in the center of Innsbruck and ended up in the Alpine slopes were a regular affair. In the city-center areas, I was a streetcar whose electricity came through a stick that I would brush along the walls of the buildings. As we reached the less densely-built areas, I would become a car; choice of make, model and its corresponding noises depended on my mood.
But once we made the abrupt transition from the flat valley to the steep road heading up the hillside, I always became a Jeep. The Go Devil four’s blubbering exhaust kept my lips busy. My hands were constantly moving, steering and finding just the right combination of range and gears with that assortment of levers on the floor in order to keep me moving over any terrain, even at a crawl over big rocks. The only problem was that I had a small gas tank, and the Jeep would inevitably run out of fuel and sputter to a stop. To my father’s eternal frustration, that meant the turnaround point in the hike, unless the Jeep conveniently happened to stop in sight of a Gasthaus or Alm Hutte.
I can credit my early influential Jeep exposure to its original purpose: the winning of WW II. The Allies left behind enough of them for the tiny post-war Austrian military to adopt as their own. At least those ended up in the hands of the former enemy legitimately. My father, who was a medic on the Russian front with the Wehrmacht, remembers how highly prized captured Jeeps were. The Germans were in full retreat from the Russians in the Ukraine during the winter of ’43-’44. When a sudden thaw turned the countryside into a morass of knee-deep mud, the German trucks and VW Kubelwagen were at a severe disadvantage for lack of front driving axles.
But the powerful 4×4 Jeeps (60 hp compared to the VW’s 25) and the highly prized 6×6 2.5 ton GMC and Studebaker trucks that the Russians got from the US were seemingly unstoppable in the Ukrainian mud, which was all-too similar to that in the US Midwest. Every German unit tried to end up with at least one Jeep and as many “Studebakers” as possible. Western Europe was a densely built-up land of many roads, leading to military transport solutions that either favored road-limited vehicles, like the RWD trucks and VWs, or the more extreme but maintenance intensive off-road solutions like the German half-tracks. The American adoption of mass-production AWD technology equally at home in both conditions was a revolutionary solution that helped win the war and changed the perceptions of cars’ possibilities forever. And armies around the world quickly copied the Jeep, legitimately or not.
Enough of the enemy’s perspective. There’s not enough time here but to give a quick overview of the Jeep’s remarkable beginnings and war-time accomplishments. Bantam Motors, a tiny struggling maker of teeny cars, responded to an RFP from the military in 1940. Using Spicer axles and transfer cases, they cobbled up the first proto-Jeep in a few weeks. Willys and Ford also developed prototypes. The big hurdle for those two was the military’s extremely low weight target, initially 1200 lbs. Bantam had the tiny engine and small-car experience to do what Ford and Willys couldn’t. Early test were promising and a modest number were built for grueling tests.
Eventually, the weight limit was pushed up to 2160 lbs, giving the Ford and Willys the edge in developing the definitive Jeep. The more powerful 60 hp engine ultimately gave Willys the nod, and Ford ended up building Jeeps under license. Bantam was left out in the cold, building trailers for the vehicle it created.
Here’s a wonderful ten minute video of the Jeep’s early days, its grueling tests and subsequent success: the “Autobiography of the Jeep” . If you look carefully, there’s a brief glimpse of an original curved-nose Bantam prototype on the test range at 3:31 minutes.
Some 640k Jeeps were built during the war, for $648 each ($7850 adjusted). This nice example was built in 1945. The owner, a neighbor down the street, drives it regularly, preferably with the windshield down in the summer. It still brings up a tinge of deep seated desire and envy every time I see him bopping down the road with the wind in his face. Once a Jeep, always a Jeep.
Like so many other Americans, I did finally buy one, an ’85 Cherokee, during the early days of the second wave of Jeep-driven SUV mania. But the Cherokee was a long way from the cheap surplus Jeeps that started the 4×4 boomlet after the war. They, and the subsequent post-war CJs did for off-roading what the Model T had done on-road.
Prior to WWII, four-wheel drive was an expensive and relatively rare proposition. Marmon-Harrington and other companies offered 4×4 conversions, mainly to Ford passenger cars. They made great hunting rigs for the affluent, but their high cost made them inaccessible to the average Joe. But the mass production of four wheel drive components for the Jeep changed the equation forever.
The Jeep’s post-war revolution’s first stage was somewhat slow in developing. Surplus Jeeps were cheap. Willys tried to market the civilian CJ-2 as an agricultural tractor alternative. Eventually, off-shoots like the Willys Jeep Wagon and its successor, the Wagoneer, began to expand and civilize the four-wheeler market. By the sixties, the other manufacturers could smell the 4×4 future coming. The IH Scout and Ford Bronco jumped in first. The sea change came with the K5 Blazer in 1969 and its pick-up-based imitators. And 4×4 pickups themselves began to morph from butt-busting hard-sprung beasts to more civilized incarnations. By the seventies the SUV moniker was coined, and the first SUV phase was exploding, although then it was mostly a manly affair.
The second phase is closely associated with the Cherokee (CC here) and its ilk: more reasonably sized and much more civilized. Now it was Mommy who didn’t want to be seen in anything other than a Cherokee or Explorer at the school parking lot. As gas prices kept dropping, Suburbans and Expeditions took their place. And now we’re in the deep end of the third phase: CUVs.
But as they become ever more car-like, the Jeep influence is getting mighty hard to discern.
The truth is, the Jeep’s remarkably long reign as the source of automotive dreams and trends is well over. Looking back on it, it was one of the more ridiculous mega-automotive manias ever, once it metastasized. Why would folks that would never contemplate dropping a wheel off a curb punish themselves with hard-riding, ill-handling, gas-guzzling beasts?
But the freedoms to escape to a hidden mountain lake in a Jeep are both deep-seated and cherished symbols of the exuberant post-war American experience. In our changing world, the Jeep myth may be diminished, but it endures yet.
Great stuff Paul. I include a pic of my old CJ3a. It was my daily driver for several years. But eventually the poor gas mileage, low speed, and terrible farfegnugen got to me. I have to say though, I have really been missing it lately. A Wagoneer or Cherokee is not really a Jeep. Its an SUV, just like all the others. What revolution has swept the nation you ask? Right now it looks like the car market is as mixed and varied as the garment market. Back in the fifties and before everything was very uniform. But things have been steadily moving away from that since the 60’s. As Don McLean said; we are “the generation lost in space with no time left to start again” .
I don’t care what takes their place, I am gonna drive what I perceive to be “cars” until they bury me in one. And zipping down the road in a mean looking low-rider with the wind in your hair is never going away, ever!! 🙂
Another great entry, Paul. I always wanted to ride in one of these.
When Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was asked what the most important weapon of the war was, he replied, without hesitation, “The six wheel drive Studebaker truck.” What a brilliant weapons system it was. For example, the air brakes were designed to integrate into all US artillery systems. This allowed the 203 mm “Long Tom” guns to be towed at 40 mph on good roads. The trucks following could carry enough ammunition to keep them firing indefinitely. This is what wins wars, not bayonet charges.
Great article, Paul! More! More!
My uncles sawmill operation used ww2 Studebakers right thru tii the 80s to pull logs from the bush with the walking beam axles nothing could stop them
25 pounds was the lend lease price of a 6×6 GMC or Stude about 14 quid got a jeep but back then 1 NZ pound got 7 US dollars there were lots of early jeeps around but real rare now The Wilks brothers copied it and produced the LandRover which took the market over along with its LWB stationwagon probably the first real SUV but unlike its later counterparts the Landy wagon is very capable off road. Jeeps have killed many users with their lack of hillside ability one of the reasons military all over the world dont use them. One of the greatest automotive inovations ever.
Thats what I moved on to as well after my jeep
I just saw one of those old Land Rovers one week ago. Loaded on a car trailer to who knows where. First time I have seen one of them in many, many decades.
Interesting that they had telescopic dampers in 1945 – some British makers were still using lever-arm dampers in the 70’s.
BMC were still using Morris Minor suspension parts on their horrid Marina
Poor American Bantam! They were the only manufacturer to meet the 1200-lb. requirement. IIRC, someone at Willys–no slouches at building small cars themselves–realized that the 1200-lb. limit would result in a vehicle too light and flimsy for military service. Willys convinced the War Department that an increase in weight would result in a much more reliable and rugged vehicle, and they were right. Ford in turn was brought on board because Willys didn’t have the production capacity to crank out GPWs in the quantities envisioned.
Army Chief of Staff George Marshall was in conference with some high-ranking officers when Walter Bedell Smith–at that time only a major–came in after having talked with the American Bantam salesman, who couldn’t find anyone in the War Department interested in the concept. After Smith had given a thumbnail description of the vehicle, Marshall asked, “Do you think it’s worthwhile?” Smith said yes. “Then go ahead”, said Marshall. And as casually as that, the Jeep began its career.
American Bantam really did get gypped on the original Jeep design. Getting to build the trailers was such a weak consolation prize!
Has there been a Bantam/American Austin CC article? Seems like a good story, but I only know the broad strokes. Shame they didn’t even make it through the war. Their Austin-derived cars came off as a lot more polished than the Crosleys that more or less took their place. Just another “accidental visionary” that’s hardly remembered today. It does seem like they made a strong impression in their day, though – despite not selling many cars.
The Bantam, BMW Dixie, Datsun ? all photocopied from the Austin 7.
Though I am not old enough to remember WW2, I do remember that every service station in our town had a flat fender jeep with either a plow (winter) or some sort of push bumper(summer) mounted on their front
Being from NJ and born in the 70s I remember that too. A halfcab equipped CJ-5 with a plow rig up front and a small tow boom out back made for one versatile rig. Plowing for hire is a lucrative side biz up there…at least it was when my dad had his ’69 CJ-5. A jeep with a tow boom makes for a perfect auto rescue unit too.
Paul one place where I think you missed the mark was the Jeep’s reign being over. The Wrangler has consistently sold ever-better with each passing year. True, CUVs make up the bulk of the market, but the 4-door Wrangler proves that the market for a true 4×4 with all around capabilities will always find takers. A few imitators have come and gone over the years, meaning that this particular demographic has become more and more loyal.
I didn’t take that to mean the Jeep brand’s reign is over, just that the imitators it inspired have largely ceased to exist and morphed into crossovers. Jeep is directly responsible for the ongoing SUV boom, but since things have shifted to car-based vehicles, it’s clear that the ultimate evolution of the CUV is for them to just turn back into wagons and hatchbacks… which also begs the question, why didn’t we just drive those in the first place?
But clearly we’re still hung up on something. The car below is allegedly NOT a station wagon and between it and the slightly larger X3 sold almost 60,000 copies in the U.S. last year. I don’t know how many 3-series wagons BMW sold here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a tenth of that or less.
That’s an interesting point. The postwar position of “all purpose vehicle for a farm” (mini-Unimog?) is now arguably an ATV, there are still a few ‘proper’ Jeep-type vehicles with varying degrees of weather protection and refinement in swb SUVs from Suzukis to Land Rover 90s, and on it goes from there all the way to 2wd CUVs. The latter I think are less of a 4×4 and more of a pre-1950’s car form factor.
The only experience I have with Jeeps is seeing them in parades etc, but I have a memorable experience with an ex-army Land Rover (parasailing including ‘co-driving’).
More recently I saw a truck load of M-B G-wagen 6x6s that looked like they were being transported to have bodies fitted – times have changed!
There were many Army surplus Jeeps around in 60s Britain.Often seen on farms or at the seaside when I was a kid.The Army vehicle that fascinated me as a child was the DUKW amphibious truck.A ride through London and the Thames in a DUKW is still on my to do list
Had one of these from that era parked near my home. It was under wraps and someone beat them up with money and took it. I thought one of the most informative articles on it was here in CC. I should have snatched one up when they were still cheap.
Great article and that new Jeep Renegade Trailhawk sure is catching my eye. I feel like it is the closest we can get to a Toyota Tercel 4X4 stick shift.
The irony of this American vehicle is that it has a German-designed (specifically, Nazi German-designed jerrican for the spare fuel tank).*
*See picture 2
A left hand drive jeep pictured at a scrap yard in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. A relic dragged back from the korean war perhaps?
The Bantam Jeep was created in my hometown of Butler, PA, 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. After American Bantam left and Pullman-Standard took over the plant, my grandpa worked there from the ’50’s until his retirement in 1970. I remember his speaking about Bantam Jeeps but as a grade-school kid, it was a little confusing, only having seen Jeeps built by Willys or Kaiser…
Every year there’s a Bantam Jeep Festival in Butler…but anything wearing the “Jeep” logo is permitted.
http://www.bantamjeepfestival.com/info/
There is only one Jeep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdXSe1J_oE4
I owned the twin of this when I first met Mrs. Bear.
Not surprisingly Jeeps were very popular toys after WWII. I still have a few left from my childhood collection. The large red metal one has Willys stamped in the bumper. And Roy Rogers’s Nellybelle embodied the cowboy myth.
Thanks for a timely reminder of the Jeep, and the personnel who worked it. Always good to remember them all
Paul: When I was in Vienna in the summer of 1970 I was slightly surprised to see several wartime Jeeps still in use by the Austrian military. Very nice to have your explanation of the earlier chapters of this interesting story.
Given that Austria was neutral and had a very modest military, I guess I’m not surprised.
I suppose that WW2 VW Kubelwagen would have been more culturally correct. 🙂