Where does the Jeep Wrangler originally come from?

Where the Jeep Wrangler Got its Start

Apple pie. James Dean. Bald eagles. The blues. Bruce Springsteen. Barbeque. Hunting season. Sweet tea. Jeep Wrangler. What do all these things have in common? They’re all American icons. Just mentioning them conjures up images of nostalgia and pastoral tableaus. “The Good Years” some would call them.

Today, we’ll look at how one of these of icons came by its status.

Where does the Jeep Wrangler originally come from?

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Jeep Wrangler Origins

The first Jeep vehicle was the Willys Quad, a prototype made to earn a government contract for a lightweight off-road reconnaissance vehicle. After another iteration, the Willys MA, the Willys MB was produced en masse for American GI troops. Many models were also sent to the Allied Forces, mostly England and Russia. In the war that set the USA on the path to become one of the two world superpowers, the Willys MB was one of the prominent vehicles that propelled the Allied Forces to victory. Even now, in the 21^st century, the Willys MB is recognizable as a Jeep and the basis for the Wrangler.

Transition to Civilian Use

After the war was won, Jeep made a few adjustments to the Willys MB and sold it as the CJ-2A. It was heavily marketed towards agricultural use, being called “the All-Around Farm Work-Horse.” It gained a lot of traction, and sales were high. More CJ iterations came out, like the CJ-3A, CJ-5, and CJ-6. The Jeep Wrangler as we know it today is heavily based on the CJ5, which was produced from 1955 to 1983.

The First Generation of Wrangler

In 1987, the first Jeep Wrangler (YJ line) was produced, which ended the CJ line. While the Wrangler looked a lot like a CJ, it had a lot more in common with the (at the time) recently-introduced Cherokee SUVs (the XJ line).

The Wrangler as We Have It Today

After the YJ Wrangler ended production in 1996, the TJ Wrangler was produced from 1997 through 2006. The TJ Wrangler looked almost exactly the Wrangler models of today. In 2007, the JK Wrangler took over, and it is still in production today.

Want to Go More In-Depth?

Check out the official history of every Jeep vehicle with this interactive Jeep archive. If you’d like to own a Jeep, then get pre-approved with CrossPointe Motor Cars in Winchester, VA.