Willys-Overland Jeepster
While the Jeep Commando was one of the first SUVs, the earlier Jeep Jeepster was one of the first crossovers. Jeepsters were bridge vehicles for Willys-Overland. The company wanted to move away from the military-style jeeps it produced and begin making passenger cars. Willys-Overland, which later became a division of AMC, hoped that the new product line would appeal to a broader swath of consumers; planners believed that only foresters and farmers would ever buy Jeeps. A crossover, even though the term did not really exist in 1948, seemed like the way to go.
So, the company tapped noted industrial designer Brooks Stevens to come up with a concept for a new vehicle. Stevens, who gave both Studebakers and Harley-Davidsons their distinctive looks, founded the prestigious Industrial Designers Society of America. For this project, he began with an idea of a sporty car tailored to World War II veterans. The Jeepster came off the drawing board in several forms: station wagon, pickup, and open coupe.
1948 Jeepster
To compete with Ford’s Super DeLuxe, the first Jeepsters included a number of extras as standard equipment. These extras, such as sun visors, whitewall tires, hubcaps, and a lockable glovebox, were optional on most other vehicles of this class. However, the Super DeLuxe had similar features as well as a more powerful V8 engine.
The first Jeepsters had the same 4-cylinder engines which powered the wartime jeeps. The 63hp motor had a 3-speed manual transmission. Automotive reviewers generally liked the Jeepster’s distinctive boxy look, but customers did not like the fact that the Jeepster was a two-wheel-drive vehicle.
An anemic marketing campaign and limited dealer network depressed sales even further. To survive, the Jeepster needed some significant retooling. But unfortunately, such a makeover was not in the cards. That could be that since Willys-Overland only planned to sell Jeepsters for a couple of years, the company did not want to invest heavily in this particular vehicle.
1949 Jeepster
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the 1949 Jeepster was almost identical to the 1948 version. In fact, the company scaled back production. It eliminated the pickup and station wagon models to focus exclusively on the coupe. A price cut failed to boost sales, mostly because Willys-Overland reduced the interior options to pay for the price cut. Late in the model year, a limited number of Jeepster VJ3-6s appeared. These vehicles had upgraded V6 engines.
1950 Jeepster
In what may belong in the “too little too late” department, Willys-Overland reworked the Jeepster for the 1950 model year. The company largely abandoned Stevens’ vision of a sporty, nostalgic car and went with a more utilitarian approach. These changes included a V-shaped, chrome-trimmed grille and a redesigned instrument panel. Most of the other creature comforts in the earlier Jeepsters vanished.
The tactic might have worked if Willys-Overland had upgraded the engines as well to reach a different kind of customer. But most of the 150 Jeepsters had four-cylinder engines. Upgraded V6s were only available in very limited numbers which normally required a special order.
Altogether, Willys-Overland produced about 19,000 Jeepsters over a three-year period. Over half of these vehicles rolled off the assembly line in the first year., which was 1948.
