Kaiser Jeep: the company that built the Wagoneer

Kaiser Jeep was the company formed when Kaiser Motors of Willow Run, Michigan, merged with Willys-Overland of Toledo, Ohio, in 1953. For seventeen years it was the owner of the Jeep brand, and it was under Kaiser that Jeep moved from war-surplus utility vehicles to the Wagoneer, the first modern sport utility vehicle. In 1970 it was sold to American Motors.

Kaiser Jeep at a glance

The English Wikipedia page is about the company rather than a model; this article follows it.

History of the Kaiser Jeep

Willys before Kaiser

Willys-Overland, founded by John North Willys, had once been the second-largest car maker in the United States after Ford, but its fortunes faded in the 1930s. The war saved it: Willys won the primary contract to build the wartime Jeep, the Willys MB, for the American and Allied forces, and the factory ran at capacity. Willys began branding the word “Jeep” in its advertising almost at once, applied for the trademark in 1943 and received it in 1950. From 1945 the company sold almost nothing but Jeep-branded vehicles, civilian and commercial, along with utility and military jeeps for governments.

The merger and the new Jeeps

Henry J. Kaiser could no longer compete with the established makers in the American passenger car business, but he saw value in the Jeep line, and in 1953 the two companies were merged into Kaiser-Willys Corporation, with Willys-Overland renamed Willys Motors. Willys handled the Jeep side of the business; the Jeep brand was the crown jewel of the deal. In 1955 Kaiser phased out both the Kaiser and the Willys passenger car lines and shipped the dies to Argentina, where Industrias Kaiser Argentina kept building them until Renault took over in 1977. From then on the company concentrated on Jeep products in most markets. Under Kaiser it added the Forward Control vans and pickups of 1956–1957, the Gladiator full-size pickup in 1962 and, as a 1963 model, the Wagoneer designed by Brooks Stevens: a station wagon with car-like comfort, power steering, automatic transmission and optional air conditioning, often credited as the first true SUV. In 1963 the company took the Kaiser name for everything and became Kaiser Jeep Corporation, dropping Willys.

Jeepster and the sale to AMC

In 1967 Kaiser Jeep resurrected the Jeepster name with an all-new vehicle loosely based on the Willys Jeepster of 1948–1950; sold as a roadster, convertible and pickup, it became the Jeepster Commando. American Motors, looking to expand its range, negotiated with Kaiser several times and completed the purchase in 1970, when Kaiser Jeep became Jeep Corporation, a wholly owned AMC subsidiary. Chrysler then bought AMC in 1987, again mainly for Jeep, which is how the brand reached the present day.

Design and features

• Jeep trademark: Willys applied in 1943 and received the mark in 1950.
• Wagoneer: the 1963 luxury 4×4, often called the first true SUV.
• Forward Control: cab-over trucks and vans added in 1956–1957.
• Gladiator and Jeepster: a full-size pickup in 1962 and a recreational car in 1967.
• Argentina: Kaiser dies went to IKA, which built them until 1977.

Kaiser Jeep versions

• Kaiser-Willys Corporation (1953–1963): the first form of the merged company.
• Kaiser Jeep Corporation (1963–1970): the name adopted when Willys was dropped.
• Jeep Corporation (1970–1987): the AMC subsidiary.
• Industrias Kaiser Argentina: the Argentine venture that built Kaiser cars until 1977.

The cars of the Kaiser years have their own articles: the Wagoneer, the J-series, the Forward Control, the Jeepster Commando and the M715. More models are in the Jeep collection.

Sources

• Kaiser Jeep, English Wikipedia: merger, model launches, renaming, sale to AMC