Founded by
John North Willys, Willys-Overland was successful in car making. At one point, Willys-Overland was the U.S.'s second-largest car maker after
Ford, but their success waned during the 1930s.
Willys benefited from the production during
World War II by winning the primary contract to build
Willys MB ton jeeps for the U.S. and Allied armed forces to the factory's maximum capacity. Willys also began almost immediately to brand the term "Jeep" through advertising, applying to trademark it in 1943, and receiving the "Jeep" trademark in 1950. From 1945, Willys focused almost exclusively on selling
Jeep branded vehicles, civilian and commercial, as well as utility and military jeeps for (the U.S.) governments. While
Joseph W. Frazer, earlier a one-time president of Willys-Overland, had left Kaiser-Frazer ca. 1950, going it alone,
Henry J. Kaiser's finances ultimately dictated that he could no longer compete with the established manufacturers in the U.S. passenger car business, but he saw value in Willys' Jeep line. Thus, Kaiser pursued a merger between
Kaiser Motors and Willys, arranged in 1953, and the assets were bundled into Kaiser-Willys Corporation. Willys-Overland was renamed Willys Motors at first, and for the next ten years. In 1955, Kaiser phased out both the Kaiser and Willys passenger car lines and shipped the dies to
Argentina, where the joint venture with the Argentine government-owned
Industrias Kaiser Argentina (IKA) continued to build cars through 1977, when
Renault took over.
New Kaiser era models Under Kaiser's management, Jeep introduced the Forward Control vans and the groundbreaking Wagoneer, which offered unprecedented comfort and available (luxury) options combined with serious off-road capability. Under the name "Willys Motors", the Jeep-based truck line continued in the United States, including the
CJ (Civilian Jeep) Series, all steel
Willys Jeep Wagon (station wagon), and
Jeep Forward Control FC-150 and FC-170 models that were introduced in 1957. In 1962, Willys introduced the
Jeep Wagoneer as a 1963 model to replace the 1940s-style Jeep station wagons. Designed by industrial designer
Brooks Stevens, the Wagoneer (later known as the Grand Wagoneer) would remain in production with the major architecture unchanged for two more decades after AMC's 1970 purchase of Jeep – until 1991 – and is often credited as the first true
sport utility vehicle (SUV). Also, in 1962, The original
Jeep Gladiator full-sized pickup truck was introduced to replace the previous, also Brooks Stevens designed Willys Jeep Truck. As part of a general push to place all of their corporate holdings under the Kaiser name, in 1963, the company changed the name of Willys Motors to Kaiser Jeep Corporation. In 1967, Kaiser Jeep resurrected the
Jeepster (in concept; the vehicle was all-new, albeit loosely based on the
Willys Jeepster), which had been produced by Willys-Overland from 1948 to 1950. It was available in three models (roadster, convertible, and pickup) and proved to be moderately popular (
see Jeepster Commando).
American Motors Corporation (AMC), looking to expand their product line, had on a couple of occasions entered into negotiations with Kaiser executives with the intent of purchasing the company. The deal was finalized in 1970, and Kaiser Jeep became "Jeep Corporation," a wholly owned subsidiary of AMC.
Chrysler Corporation in turn acquired AMC in 1987, again (just like in the Kaiser-Willys merger) mainly for the Jeep brand. ==Notes==