Jeep, with its range of off-roaders and crossovers, is arguably the jewel of the Fiat Chrysler empire, but what does its name mean?
The Jeep brand traces its history back to the open air military vehicle that Willys-Overland made for the US army in World War II.
Officially that car was known as the Willys MB, with the letters standing for Military model B. And earlier proposed car, the Willys MA, was rejected by the government.
Due to high demand, the Willys MB was also produced by Ford under licence and officially branded as the Ford GPW. GPW is short for Government contract, Passenger vehicle, Willys design.
Within the military it was often referred to as the GP or general purpose vehicle. The commonly held belief is that Jeep name come from the way one might pronounce the two letters GP.
After the war ended, Willys turned the MB into a road legal vehicle, and sold it was the Willys CJ or Civilian Jeep.
In 1950, Willys was granted a trademark for the Jeep name. Over the years, the Jeep brand has changed hands many times, first with Kaiser’s merger with Willys in 1953, AMC’s purchase of Jeep in 1970, Chrysler’s takeover of AMC in 1987, Daimler’s “merger of equals” with Chrysler in 1998, Chrysler’s sale to private equity firm Cerberus in 2007, and the company’s subsequent bankruptcy and sale to Fiat in 2009.
