Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Jeep Celebrates 70 Years
 A brand boasting an extraordinary tradition, Jeep has always been able to offer innovative products marked by a strong personality. This coming June will mark the brand’s 70th anniversary.
Jeep's history started almost 70 years ago when, in June 1941, the US Army received the first supply of Willys MA models, the rugged and reliable olive-drab 4x4 vehicle that afterwards would be called Jeep. Some claim that the name came from the slurring of the letters "GP," the military abbreviation for "General Purpose." Others say the vehicle was named for a popular character named "Eugene the Jeep" in the Popeye cartoon strip. Whatever its origin, the name entered into the American lexicon and, for a while, served almost as a generic title for off-road vehicles, while the Jeep itself became an icon of the war.
Since 1941, the Jeep name has symbolized a unique family of robust go-anywhere, do-anything vehicles, first developed for military use and, after 1945, continually adapted for a wide variety of civilian applications.
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