Jeep posters

The first Jeep car was designed by engineer Karl Probst in 1940 after the US army asked American Bantam Car Company to create a four-wheel-drive reconnaissance car. But as the car needed some improvements, Willys-Overland was chosen to develop the design. But Willys-Overland couldn’t cope with such a big order for the army and Ford also produced Jeeps, according to Willys-Overland’s specifications.

The first civilian cars were produced in 1945. In 1950, Willys-Overland registered "Jeep" trademark. In 1953, Willys was sold to Kaiser Motors and in 1970, Jeep became a part of American Motors Corporation. In 1977, Jeep Cherokee was presented and it became the most popular car in the history of Jeep Motors. It was the only compact SUV, which had four doors and two transfer cases ? Command-Trac and Select-Trac. In 1987, Chrysler purchased the brand. Since 2014, Jeep is a subdivision of FCA US LLC (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles).

Many car manufacturers created their products under Jeep license, including Indian Mahindra, Spanish EBRO and Japanese Mitsubishi. The majority of them were based on the CJ-3B model.

There are many opinions of how word "Jeep" appeared. The most widespread variant is that it was slurred from military designation GP (for Government Purposes or General Purpose). R. Lee Ermey in his TV series "Mail Call" had such a version: the soldiers were so impressed by the vehicle that they named it after Eugene the Jeep, a personage from "Popeye" comic strip, a mysterious animal with magical abilities.