It’s been 75 years since Jeep’s very first model, the MB, rolled off the car maker’s production plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Back then the Jeep brand as we know it was just in its infancy, with Willys-Overland getting permission to use the name “Jeep” as a registered trademark. The origin of the name is still being debated, with many believing that the military designation GP (Government/General Purpose) was slurred into the word Jeep – just like HMMWV became Humvee.
Either way, thanks to the vehicles that followed the Wyllis MA, including the iconic MB and CJ-2A, the brand became a symbol of freedom and adventure – traits found in every Jeep’s DNA since then, including in the new 2016 Wrangler 75th Anniversary Edition, the direct successor of the fabled army vehicles.
The current Wrangler’s replacement is expected to keep the model’s defining characteristics, but it’s also rumored to employ an all-aluminum construction, and fuel-saving suspension changes. It will also sport a redesigned body, but it will retain its utilitarian boxy appearance, solid front and rear axles, and body on frame construction – in true Jeep fashion, bringing the Willys MB’s philosophy into the future.