Know your Jeep CJ

Jeeps were originally produced for military use during the World Wars.

The jeep CJ – 2A was produced by Willys-Overland in 1945 after WWW II came to an end. This was the first civilian jeep ever built.

It was marketed as a work vehicle for farmers and construction workers. It had a tailgate, large headlights, side mounted spare tire and an external fuel cap to name a few things. It was produced for 4 years before the next model was introduced.

The CJ - 3A was introduced in 1948. It was very similar to the CJ - 2A but featured a one-piece windscreen. It also retained the original four-cylinder engine of the military MB model.

The CJ - 3A was upgraded in 1953 and came to be known as the CJ - 3B. The CJ - 3B had a new Hurricane F-Head four-cylinder engine and a taller front grille and hood than the earlier Jeep CJs. It remained in production until 1968 and 155,494 CJ - 3bs were sold in the 15-year production period.

In the meanwhile, Willys-Overland was sold to Kaiser in 1953. In 1955 Kaiser introduced the CJ - 5.

Major improvements in the engine, axles, transmissions and seating comfort made the CJ - 5 the idea off roading vehicle. The CJ - 6 was also introduced and other than a longer wheelbase it was identical to the CJ - 5. The CJ - 5 was produced for 28 long years from 1955 - 1983!

In 1965, Kaiser introduced the new 'Dauntless' V-6 engine for the CJ - 5 and CJ - 6. The new 155 horsepower engine almost doubled the power of the standard four-cylinder engines being used

Subsequently, Kaiser was bought out by American Motor Corporation in 1970. After 1970, all Jeep CJs came equipped with AMC built 304 cubic inch V-8 engines. AMC also added heavier axles, bigger brakes and wider tracks to both CJ models.

In 1976, AMC introduced the Jeep CJ - 7. The CJ - 7 made the first major change in the Jeep design in over 20 years by introducing a slightly longer wheelbase than the CJ - 5 to allow an automatic transmission to be fitted.

It offered optional plastic molded top and steel doors. The demand for the CJ - 7 soon out numbered that for the CJ - 5 which is why the latter was discontinued in 1983.

The CJ - 8 also known as the Scrambler was also produced. It had a slightly longer wheelbase than the Jeep CJ - 7.

Thus, the Jeep CJ is the original Jeep that found a large fan following which continues till date!



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