Jeep history

[J.D. Howells]

any one know jeeps history and what years they where owned by different comanies. when did AMC buy jeep or I guess they did put buick motors in them I hell I cant remember every thing jeep has done especialy in 69 and later I only know jeep has been owned by amc and chrysler I think ford owned them once to any one want to help out with this american history. hell lets have your opinion if you like jeeps whats the best motor you think they made.

 

[pELYgroso]

Well when the "jeep" first came out, it wasn't called a jeep. the government was looking for an all-terrain vehicle better than the heavy (modified civilian) vehicles they were using for war. The first company to come up with a vehicle was called Banta. to make a long story short, a few different companies went back and forth making these vehicles (Including Banta a little but mostly Ford and Willies) and eventually somewhere they were nicknamed "Jeep" for one of 2 reasons. Either after popeye's pet named "jeep" who had magical powers or something and could do anything, or after GP (general purpose) vehicle slurred together. It's not certain exactly. Well eventually Willies made the name Jeep officially theirs and they started making a production model and after many years, here we are today with the all new jeep commander which i want very badly but can't afford. I did a paper in college all about the history of jeeps and I'm pretty sure, if I"m remembering right, that this info is correct.....so the first company to make a "Jeep" was Banta. If there are details that I missed or twisted, feel free to correct me people.

 

[Pathos]

These dates are a bit rough but...

pre 1953 the brand was owned by Willies OverLand
1953 - 1969 or 1970 Kaiser
1970 - 1986 or 1987 AMC
1987 - present Chrysler

The Buick 350 was short lived something like 1968 thru 1970.

 

[Caleb]

Well when the "jeep" first came out, it wasn't called a jeep. the government was looking for an all-terrain vehicle better than the heavy (modified civilian) vehicles they were using for war. The first company to come up with a vehicle was called Banta. to make a long story short, a few different companies went back and forth making these vehicles (Including Banta a little but mostly Ford and Willies) and eventually somewhere they were nicknamed "Jeep" for one of 2 reasons. Either after popeye's pet named "jeep" who had magical powers or something and could do anything, or after GP (general purpose) vehicle slurred together. It's not certain exactly. Well eventually Willies made the name Jeep officially theirs and they started making a production model and after many years, here we are today with the all new jeep commander which i want very badly but can't afford. I did a paper in college all about the history of jeeps and I'm pretty sure, if I"m remembering right, that this info is correct.....so the first company to make a "Jeep" was Banta. If there are details that I missed or twisted, feel free to correct me people.

another reason that is said they called it a GP was for the, "G" for government issue and "P" for the size of the wheelbase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep this link has a bunch of info...

 

[Darwin]

it was bantam motors who made the first jeep. it was designed, built, and shipped to the army in 49 days. pretty cool ! bantam couldn't build all the jeeps the army wanted so willy's and ford made jeeps, and bantam made trailer's. the willy's jeep was the better jeep so they got the jeep name so to speak.in 1953 kaiser bought jeep,then in 1971 amc bought jeep, and finally in 1987 chrysler took over.thats the short jeep history. imho

 

[Badcop]

These dates are a bit rough but...

pre 1953 the brand was owned by Willies OverLand
1953 - 1969 or 1970 Kaiser
1970 - 1986 or 1987 AMC
1987 - present Chrysler

The Buick 350 was short lived something like 1968 thru 1970.

Did you mean the Dauntless? It was the buick engine owned and used my them and was only in a V6 225.

1943-1965 Willy's
1965.5-1973 Kaiser
1974-1985 AMC
1986-1999 Chrysler Copr
1999-Present Daimler Chrysler

Edit: Heres a link to help, were all off....

http://www.4wdonline.com/Jeep/Jeep.History.html

 

[dunatic67]

Did you mean the Dauntless? It was the buick engine owned and used my them and was only in a V6 225.

1943-1965 Willy's
1965.5-1973 Kaiser
1974-1985 AMC
1986-1999 Chrysler Copr
1999-Present Daimler Chrysler

Edit: Heres a link to help, were all off....

http://www.4wdonline.com/Jeep/Jeep.History.html

Kaiser also used Buick 350's in J10's and wagoneer's in the late 60's. I don't believe they owned the rights to them as they did the 225. Buick sold off several motors in the '60's- another example is the 215 aluminum V8 sold to Land Rover.

 

[pELYgroso]

it was bantam motors who made the first jeep. it was designed, built, and shipped to the army in 49 days. pretty cool ! bantam couldn't build all the jeeps the army wanted so willy's and ford made jeeps, and bantam made trailer's. the willy's jeep was the better jeep so they got the jeep name so to speak.in 1953 kaiser bought jeep,then in 1971 amc bought jeep, and finally in 1987 chrysler took over.thats the short jeep history. imho

yea, Bantam, not banta.....It's been a long time since that report I wrote in college.......

 

[Badger]

it was bantam motors who made the first jeep. it was designed, built, and shipped to the army in 49 days. pretty cool ! bantam couldn't build all the jeeps the army wanted so willy's and ford made jeeps, and bantam made trailer's. the willy's jeep was the better jeep so they got the jeep name so to speak.in 1953 kaiser bought jeep,then in 1971 amc bought jeep, and finally in 1987 chrysler took over.thats the short jeep history. imho

Bantam designed the first Jeep concept but never won the contract.Ford and Willys also put out concepts to the government.Willys won the contract and Bantam,Ford,and Willys built the Willys design.

 

[iceaxe]

nice writeup from a mag a few years ago covering the history of the term "Jeep" to the beginnings of the brand name as we know it, interesting read. here is a link to a recent posting of it.

http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=63

 

[mbryson]

Ran across this picture of a WWII unit in Italy in 1944-45. My brother put the photo in a book he wrote about my grandfathers Italian campaign. I don't know for sure of the source of the photo but I believe it was gathered from my aunt who has the originals from my grandfather?

I seem to remember a thread about historic pics and am not sure this thread is the right one or not? Thought it a cool photo to share, nonetheless. If I find the right thread, I'll have a mod move this post to it.



This is a photo of him (on the far right) with some New Zealander buddies in Italy in '45. He was in a "Communication Platoon" and ended the war as a "Wire Chief", "Tec 5"

 

[DaveB]

The articles I've read say AMC purchased Jeep in 1970. My friend's CJ was produced in 1971, sold as a 72 and has an AMC 304 V8. The parts for that year of Jeep are a pain to find. When I was fixing my friends jeep I had to order 70-71 parts for some things and 73 parts for others. My Commando is a 73 and came with the AMC 304.

 

[Jinx]

AMC was famous/infamous for using other manufactures parts...

For example, i believe the sr-4 found in early 80's CJs were from a ford pinto...

 

[Greg]

For example, i believe the sr-4 found in early 80's CJs were from a ford pinto...

And the Iron Duke, used behind the SR4 was a GM engine. They were used in the 1980 & '81 CJ. A GM engine would bolt right up, using a 10.5" clutch.

That's how i ended up with a 400 hp CJ5! 😁

 

[Hickey]

My 83 CJ5 258 six wiring harness for the ignition plugged directly into the Motorcraft ignition box and distributor for the 289 I swapped in.

 

[Magerdgr]

View attachment 131168

Ran across this picture of a WWII unit in Italy in 1944-45. My brother put the photo in a book he wrote about my grandfathers Italian campaign. I don't know for sure of the source of the photo but I believe it was gathered from my aunt who has the originals from my grandfather?

I seem to remember a thread about historic pics and am not sure this thread is the right one or not? Thought it a cool photo to share, nonetheless. If I find the right thread, I'll have a mod move this post to it.

View attachment 131169

This is a photo of him (on the far right) with some New Zealander buddies in Italy in '45. He was in a "Communication Platoon" and ended the war as a "Wire Chief", "Tec 5"

That’s super cool, thanks for sharing! My grandpa was also in Italy During the war, he was with the 88th Infantry. Do you know what division yours was with?

 

[mbryson]

That’s super cool, thanks for sharing! My grandpa was also in Italy During the war, he was with the 88th Infantry. Do you know what division yours was with?

I honestly don’t know what a division is but I think I can find out. My brother did a pretty impressive amount of research to do this book for the family.

91st Division
363rd Regiment

 

[BCGPER]

I honestly don’t know what a division is but I think I can find out. My brother did a pretty impressive amount of research to do this book for the family.

91st Division
363rd Regiment

I’ve got my fathers foot locker from Germany in WW II, it’s a coffee table in front of the sofa in my office now.