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Jeep 1941 - 2001

The Original 4x4 Sport Utility vehicle is now 60 years old. Here we chart the meteoric rise from a military drawing board to one of the best selling off-road vehicles of all time.

1980-1990 THE 'X' FACTOR:

As the American auto industry limped into the 1980s in the midst of full-blown recession, Jeep Corporation was hard at work designing, researching and testing an all-new sport wagon that by the end of the decade would become the most successful and most profitable Jeep vehicle in history - the XJ.

"Market studies indicate that more than half of the sales of 4WD vehicles by 1985 will be in the compact segment, compared with only two percent in 1978," said then-marketing group vice president Joseph Cappy in the fall of 1983.

With those words, Jeep introduced the 1984 Cherokee 2-door and 4-door models and 4-door Wagoneer sport-wagons measuring in 21 inches shorter, 6 inches narrower, 4 inches lower and weighing 1,000 pounds less than the senior Jeep Wagoneer first introduced in 1963. The senior model did not retire from the Jeep lineup, but rather was renamed Grand Wagoneer

The $250 million AMC invested to bring the new XJ sportwagons to market proved to be a wise investment The XJ models brought many Jeep exclusives to the market, including the only compact sport utility available in four-doors and two 4WD systems -- shift-on-the-fly CommandTrac and SelecTrac. It took the competition six years to match the Jeep exclusive of four doors.

The XJs, particularly the Cherokee, were more than overnight success stories as they became the only utility vehicle to be named "4X4 of the Year" by the three major off-road magazines.

The XJ success eclipsed Cappy's market prediction of 1983. By 1985, more than 70 percent of 4WD vehicle sales were in the compact segment.

While the 1984 model year is remembered for the introduction of the XJ, it was also the year that the great CJS, first introduced in 1954, was discontinued in order to concentrate on production of CJ-7 and the Scrambler, the first small 4X4 pickup introduced in 1982 and known internationally as the CJ8. This was also done to reduce production complexity at Toledo Assembly.

While this was accomplished, it didn't mean the new product blitz was over. Of f the XJ platform came the fall 1985 introduction of the Jeep Comanche pickup. A short wheel base version of the Comanche was added one year later. The Comanche represented the first completely new generation of Jeep pickup trucks since the introduction of the 1963 J-Series.

In January of 1986, Jeep said goodbye to the CJ7. As the growing market for compact 4WD vehicles sought the utilitarian virtues of the Jeep CJ, consumers also were seeking more of the "creature features" associated with the typical passenger car. Jeep responded that spring with the introduction of the Jeep Wrangler. While the Wrangler did share the familiar open-body profile of the CJ7, it contained few common parts with its famous predecessor. (In fact, mechanically, Wrangler had more in common with the Cherokee than it did with the CJ7). What Wrangler did was improve the comfort, ride quality and appearance while preserving the durability and unrivaled off-highway utility of the CJ.

Less than one year after Wrangler's introduction, Jeep changed hands again as Chrysler Corporation acquired American Motors on August 5, 1987. Chrysler didn't hide the fact that it considered the Jeep lineup the jewel of the deal.

While Chrysler did not change the Jeep lineup, Jeep vehicles today are part of the Jeep/Eagle Division of Chrysler Corporation.

As Jeep was preparing to finish the 1980s, Jeep vehicles were often finishing first in a revitalized motorsports campaign.

Jeep CJs and J-series pickups, under the driving expertise of Don Adams, Larry Olson, Roger Mears, Bob Gary and the late Jason Myers, dominated off-road and desert racing in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Then, after an absence of several years, Jeep vehicles re-entered the racing scene in 1987 with six fully-sponsored race vehicles in three series. The Archer Brothers in Jeep Comanche trucks won the Manufacturer's Championship in the SCCA Racetruck Challenge, while Mike Lesle added a second Comanche championship in HDRA/Score Desert Racing Series.

In 1988 and 1989, Jeep vehicles continued winning with four more Manufacturer's Championship.

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