Kaiser Jeep
From its origins in the US military, to the modern day beaches of California, The Kaiser Jeep is still an icon in the world of off road vehicles today.
History Of The Kaiser Jeep
The Kaiser Jeep was born when Willys-Overland based in Toledo, Ohio joined forces with the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation from Willow Run in Michigan. John W.Fraser had left the organisation by 1950 due to disagreements with his business partner; deciding to continue the business alone, Henry J.Kaiser decided to seek a partnership with Willys-Overland; This deal was finalised in 1953. After seeing that they could not continue to afford the Kaiser-Frazer range of domestic cars, the production of these was drawn to a close; He did see great potential in the Jeeps, so continued to produce a Kaiser Jeep based range of trucks. American Motors, otherwise known as AMC completely took over from Kaiser Jeep in 1970 and the Kaiser Jeep brand name change to The Jeep Corporation. The Chrysler Corporation finally took over the production of the Kaiser Jeep, from American Motors in 1987; The Jeep division is still owned and successfully run today by the American car manufacturer giant, Chrysler.
Kaiser Passenger Cars
The Kaiser passenger car range was dropped by Kaiser, but that was not the last of it. All of the dies were sent to Argentina where production continued until 1977 when Renault stepped in and took over.
Models and Years
The FC-150 and FC-170 Kaiser Jeep models were introduced in 1957. The Kaiser Jeep Wagoneer was introduced between 1962/63 to replace the original 1940's model; This model continued in production until 1991 and is still considered today to be the first ever real Sports Utility Vehicle or SUV.
The Military Background Of The Kaiser Jeep
Willys-Overland managed to survive all of the pressures that World War 2 bought and managed to form and sustain financial stability by creating Jeeps for the military to utilise. The Kaiser Jeep, founded by North John Willys was revered by the military as Willys-Overland's best creation. They eventually branched out and are now known for trucks, automobiles and SUV's as well as their world renowned Jeeps.