JP’s A to Z Challenge – J Is For Jeepster

The Jeep got its start as a military workhorse, but it has become one of the most favored SUVs for the modern suburban mom. Most people think that transformation began in the 1970’s, but they would be wrong. Would you believe that Jeep’s then-manufacturer, Willys-Overland, first tried to crack the family car market with a sporty, 2-wheel drive roadster in – 1948? And they called it the Jeepster.

This 1948 version is from the Jeepster’s very first year. At first glance, doesn’t it look like a perfect substitute for a boring family sedan? Who didn’t want a jaunty little convertible? It had the famous Jeep “Go Devil” 4 cylinder engine that every ex-G.I. knew how to work on. It had modern car-like features, such as a 3 speed shifter on the steering column. The Jeepster was also loaded with things most other vehicles charged extra for, like chrome trim rings on the wheels and an overdrive transmission for easier cruising at higher speeds. And it was cute as a button.

Well, as is often the case, the problem was in the details. Convertibles sold pretty well in the late 1940’s. But pretty much everyone else’s convertible offered roll-up glass windows. Not the Jeepster. If you wanted protection from the weather, you had to put up the cloth and plastic side curtains with a bunch of snaps. Also, the 2 wheel drive system meant that the Jeepster lacked the off-road capabilities that had become Jeep’s trademark.

And then there was the price. $1,765 sounds like quite a deal now, but in 1948 the same amount of money would get you a new Ford Super DeLuxe convertible. And the Ford gave you its famous V8 engine and (of course) roll-up windows. And seats without painted steel frames on their backs. Willys-Overland managed to sell a tad over 19,000 Jeepsters over 3 model years (1948, 49 and 50), with nearly half of those sales being in the first year.

Jeep has been passed from owner to owner over the decades – from Willys-Overland to Kaiser to American Motors to Chrysler. During those years, Jeep eventually cracked the code for success with buyers who never go farther off-road than a gravel parking lot. But it would be many years after this first attempt.

Photos by the author, taken in St. Joseph, Michigan, July 18, 2013

25 thoughts on “JP’s A to Z Challenge – J Is For Jeepster”

  1. Let’s not forget the 1971 T. Rex’s song Jeepster: “…girl I’m just a Jeepster for your love…”. Yep, never made any sense back in the day to me either.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FApi-kFFqUI

    I love the look of this, and remember seeing a few on the roads back in the day, but Poor Jeep, every subsequent buyout or changeover seems to leave them more of a mess than before. I knew a few people that owned them back in the 80’s and they were complete junk, breaking down well before 50K miles, with terrible engine screw-ups and transmission problems. Poor engineering like plastic engine parts. I knew someone who had a Jeep that broke down on the highway before 50K miles: The plastic impeller in the water pump was mounted off center, and shaved plastic parts into the water jacket until it choked the whole engine and overheated. They couldn’t figure out how to get all the junk out of the water jackets, and had to keep going back for more service. Jeep was the only brand I ever heard the NPR Car Guys constantly attack as garbage. I’m sure there’s a million people who will defend the brand and say how many hundreds of thousands of miles they got on them, but every rating service in the world gives them substantially lower than average dependability and quality rating. One of my pals used to work for Stellantis, and he would tell me there was one model that was “OK” (can’t remember which one he said), but the others he wouldn’t touch. A once great brand from the 50’s and 60’s run down from corporate cost savings and malfeasance.

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    • I agree that many modern Jeeps are not something I would buy. But I would love one of these. I once bought a raffle ticket at a car show where one of these was the prize. I was really disappointed when I didn’t win.

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    • Someone once explained that the T Rex Jeepster song is referring to the fact that the lead singer is not handsome, but tough and tenacious…like a Jeepster.

      He’s trying to woo a beautiful woman – “Just like a car, you’re pleasing to behold, I’ll call you Jaguar if I may be so bold…”

      The song is basically another take on the old tale of an average looking man trying to win over a beautiful woman.

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      • Considering that “Jeepster” actual production was only three years, ending in 1950, one had to bet that very few of those made it to Britain at all, so it makes it weirder still that basically a 1970’s British band would name check the Jeepster at all? It’s a weird world!

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  3. The closest our family came to owning any model of Jeep was when we shopped a Liberty for our teenage daughter back in the 2000s (I didn’t let her go anywhere near the Wranglers). It’s one of the few times I remember laughing out loud when the dealer gave us the quote. Any idea on the origin of “Jeep”?

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  4. Willys introduced Jeep-based vehicles after the war because the existing body manufacturers were not interested in supplying bodies for Willys passenger cars, due to the company’s small volume. To stay in business, the company’s leadership turned to Jeep-based vehicles, which did not require complex dies to produce.

    The irony is that these Jeeps enabled Willys to survive, even as it was bought by, or merged with, other companies. Today, Jeep is what is left of the old independent manufacturers.

    In the early 1970s, our neighbor had a first-generation Jeepster Commando, which looked a great deal like this Jeep. He was a hunter and fisherman, and owned two other cars for himself and his wife. In those days, using a Jeepster as the main vehicle was not what successful suburbanites did. How times have changed!

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    • I think the steel Jeep station wagon that came out around the time of the Jeepster was the one that did the heavy lifting in keeping the company going after the war. The 4 wheel drive option made them really versatile.

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  6. I kind of guessed correctly that “Jeep” might be your topic for “J” … but “Jeepster” was not on my bingo card as that saying goes. That was quite a snazzy convertible and I do like that bright red color. In the second-to-last photo, what is the yellow horizontal bar behind the steering wheel – for some type of stability? As to your last paragraph and what the Jeep can do, at the Detroit Auto Show this year, there was a new Jeep introduced with the capability to climb steep terrain like never before. One of the news reporters from the all-news radio station I listen to was at the Auto Show and shot some video from his phone while on a test drive up and down a very steep and rocky hill, then some other fancy maneuvers of the vehicle climbing. I was impressed as they were at a very steep angle and looked like they might go backward at any moment! I think he was a bit intimidated the higher they climbed! Was this a classic car show in St. Joseph, Michigan JP?

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  8. I like the Jeepster!

    We have had two ‘Jeeps’. I had a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Classic when we lived in Doha. Fun vehicle to take to the sand dunes for off-roading. Later, back in Canada, The Car Guy bought a diesel 2008 Jeep Grande Cherokee Overlander. One of the grand children owns it now and it is still going strong. The funny thing about the second Jeep was how the sat nav always wanted you to take a route that was gravel back roads – not the best way to get from Alberta to Arizona in the winter…

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    • I always wanted one of those Cherokees but never connected with the right one at the right time.

      I guess your Nav system was stuck in Jeep Mode. I’m surprised it didn’t take you through gorges and rivers too. 🙂

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