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Jeep's story is the most picturesque, although practically everyone knows that their origin was due to the need for an all -terrain vehicle for allied troops.What is no longer so known is that, in its origins, it was manufactured by several companies, including Ford, nor the reason for their name "Jeep".

Little must be counted on the logo of this brand, since it is simply its own name written with a characteristic typography.The truth is that the Jeep brand, as such, was registered in 1950 by the Willys Overland company, which years later would become part of the Chrysler group, currently owned by Fiat.

Before it was registered as a brand, Jeep was nothing more than the nickname with which people called the American army light, even in many countries, Jeep is called the 4 × 4, whether or not they were of this brand (of thesame way that in Spain it was called, until not so ago, DKW to the vans).We already know that the name of the brand was born as a nickname, but why Jeep?.There are several theories about the origin of these 4 letters, but two of them are the most likely to be successful.

The first refers to a phonetic game of the initials with which the G model was developed.P.CAR (General Purpose Car, "Car for General Use" in English).It seems quite logical, but it is not the most widespread.

The most widespread theory about the origin of the name of Jeep comes from the Popeye comics of the 30s.In them there was a character, known as Eugene The Jeep, which was a kind of pet with almost magical powers, capable of doing anything.Precisely this ability to get ahead of the most incredible athletes caused the troops to be affected by affectionate to the 4 × 4 «Jeep», as the character of Popeye

In any case, it is curious that a nick.

In addition to his name and his logo, there is another hallmark that is present in all Jeep: his characteristic shell of 7 vertical stripes.These openings were born by the need for the original vehicle to provide enough air flow to refrigerate the mechanics despite the slowness with which it should travel long distances.The reason is that one of the conditions that the Jeep had to meet was to have a sufficiently short -enough change so that its first march with a reducer could be followed by infantry soldiers walking with their team in tow.

Actually, the jeep that has been immortalized in countless films and images of World War II is the fruit of plagiarism.Discarded some prototypes of other manufacturers, including Tucker, there were two companies as finalists to obtain the army supply license.Bantam was a clearly better model than Willys-Ford, but exceeded the limit weight of 1.310 pounds (around 600 kg) set in the specifications.Despite this inconvenience, the winner of the contest was the model presented by Bantam.Unfortunately, the company was going through a series of financial problems (personally I find some mystery in this reality, I do not understand what financial problems a company can have that will sign a millionaire contract), which made the government deliver the plans of the model to Willys-Ford, who finally were responsible for producing the final model.

Jeep: Adapt to peace

With the end of the war in 1945, and as happened to other brands such as Bentley, BMW, Citroën or Saab, the 4 × 4 whose development was ordered by the US Government.UU.In 1938 he had to reinvent himself to stay useful.

In the same way that Land Rover was responsible for seeking civilian use to the military jeep, on this side of the Atlantic, on the other shore, Willys looked for new ways to sell the jeep to civilians.However, the scenario was less conducive to this type of rude vehicles in a country that had barely suffered the rawness of war battles than in a Europe devastated by allied and German bombings.

For this reason, Willys presented in 1949 a model with closed body and certain comfort, especially if we compare it with the Land Rover model and the original jeep.

Little by little, Jeep's range is diversified and models with a much more playful approach begin to emerge, such as the Jeep Jeepter in convertible (half a century before the "modern" Range Rover Evoque convertible), the luxurious Jeep Wagoneer, etc..

Jeep's real "civil" range would arrive at the end of the seventies and eighty of the last century with the Jeep Cherokee, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and more recently with the Grand Cherokee, Command and Renegade.

Jeep Barreiros: The American with Orensano Heart

In 1960 the Viasa company was founded in Zaragoza to produce agricultural vehicles and Jeep models with Willys license, both with gasoline mechanics and with the diesel engines of Barreiros origin (although Perkins mechanics were also mounted).

Although society manufactured basic Willys CJ5 models used by the army and Spanish authorities (which is why many units of this vehicle survive in our country), it was also responsible for producing the Jeep Jeepster with the name of Jeep Command, as well as aAdvanced cabin version to rival Land Rover models made of license by Santana.

Jeep Renegade: finally conquer Europe

Although its production began in 1941 and its famous landing in Europe was on June 6, 1944, the true conquest of Europe by the American brand would arrive in 2015, a year in which the company beat all sales records,mainly thanks to the success achieved by the Jeep Renegade presented in 2014 and developed in collaboration with Fiat.

Their square forms and very personal design details full of winks to the original jeep (such as the rear pilots imitating the supplementary fuel drums) have earned the heart of the Europeans, who also praise their wide interior and a very price ratio/product ratiointeresting.

In the midst of this euphoric panorama, Jeep celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2016 with the launch of a special anniversary series in its entire range (formed by the Jeep Renegade, Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee).This Special 75th Anniversary edition of Jeep is characterized by very complete equipment and aesthetic details in which black is the protagonist.

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