Jeep is an American automobile brand , now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep's current product range consists solely of sport utility vehicles βboth crossovers and fully off-road worthy SUVs and models, including one pickup truck. Previously, Jeep's range included other pick-ups, as well as small vans, and a few roadsters. Some of Jeep's vehiclesβsuch as the Grand Cherokee βreach into the luxury SUV segment, a market segment the Wagoneer is considered to have started.
Prior to the term "jeep" had been used as U. The term became common worldwide in the wake of the war. Doug Stewart noted: [ 14 ] "The spartan, cramped, and unstintingly functional jeep became the ubiquitous World War II four-wheeled personification of Yankee ingenuity and cocky, can-do determination.
With its solid axles and open top, the Wrangler has been called the Jeep model that is as central to the brand's identity as the is to Porsche. At least two Jeep models the CJ-5 and the SJ Wagoneer enjoyed extraordinary three-decade production runs of a single body generation.
In lowercase, the term "jeep" continues to be used as a generic term for vehicles inspired by the Jeep that are suitable for use on rough terrain. When it became clear that the United States would be involved in the European theater of World War II , the Army contacted companies to create working prototypes of a four-wheel drive reconnaissance car. The Army set a seemingly impossible deadline of 49 days to supply a working prototype. Willys asked for more time, but was refused.
American Bantam had only a small staff with nobody to draft the vehicle plans, so chief engineer Harold Crist [ 20 ] hired Karl Probst , a talented freelance designer from Detroit. After turning down Bantam's initial request, Probst responded to an Army request and began work on July 17, , initially without salary. Probst drafted the full plans in just two days for the Bantam prototype known as the BRC or Bantam Reconnaissance Car, working up a cost estimate the next day.
