Historians Call Jeep’s Creation a ‘Meeting of the Minds’

By Detroit Steel - August 17, 2016

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The idea that the creation of Jeep was a “meeting of the minds” is certainly an interesting take on the nameplate.

Then again, it kind of makes sense that when it comes to a vehicle with as much history as this one, it’s tough to narrow down its success to one particular thing. As a Military.com report points out, Jeep really grew out of a compilation of different events, companies, and timing — some good, some bad. But it was all pretty important in the creation of the nameplate.

The Military.com reporter provides a really good historical view on that idea, focusing a lot of attention on the three major companies that played a role in Jeep’s development: the American Bantam Car Co., Ford Motor Co., and Toledo-based Willys-Overland. More specifically, the report zeroes in on the fact that while Willys-Overland wound up winning the contract to build the first Jeep, the military wound up using the best attributes of all three companies.

Those attributes included the stamped grille and fuel tank location under the seat from Ford, the basic lines from Bantam, and the “Go Devil” four-cylinder engines from Willys.