Jeep gets competition for the first time in a long time.

Mid 1960s Ford Bronco in original configuration. Seeing one today that hasn't been lifted or altered in some fashion is rare.

Bantam invented the Jeep, basically, but went a bit too light in doing so.  Entering a competition prior to World War Two to make a really lightweight multipurpose truck, they fulfilled the requirements perfectly and it turned out to be good, but too darned light.  Shortly after that, Willys Overland, a car manufacturer that had started off marketing rugged cars that could be driven by anyone, entered the picture, went a little heavier, and the Jeep was born.

Jeeps were so new at the start of the American entry into World War Two that there weren't any in the very early 1941 combat theaters of the war, contrary to what films like They Were Expendable or In Harm's Way may suggest.  But Jeeps came to be such a feature of the American military that even by 1945, when They Were Expendable was made, it was impossible to imagine a U.S. military without them.

Naturally Jeeps went right into production after the war and, save for a pickup truck and an early 4x4 proto SUV, they came to define Willys so much that hardly anyone remembers they made anything else.  In spite of that, however, Willys itself didn't survive even as Jeep did.  Willys was sold to Kaiser in 1953 and the company became Kaiser-Jeep, which was soon really just Jeep.  In 1970 that company was sold to AMC, showing that having only one popular product is a tough marketing line.  In 1986, AMC sold the line to much larger Chrysler, which has kept it ever since.

During that period of time, Jeep kept on keeping on and the popularity and utility of the "1/4 ton truck, Utility" was such that a plethora of competitors arose.  The British Land company entered the field soon after World War Two with the Land Rover, a heavier, more expensive, and much less reliable competitor.  Toyota entered the field with the Land Cruiser, a heavier, extremely reliable competitor.  Nissan entered it with the reliable but rarely seen Nissan Patrol.  And American giant Ford entered it with the Ford Bronco.

Well, actually Ford had always been in the Jeep game, having made Jeeps during World War Two. Their production capacity was larger than Willys and so they received a contract to make them after it was clear Willys couldn't produce enough.  In 1951 Ford reentered the field with the M151, the last widely used Jeep in the American military. The M151 didn't enter commercial production, and indeed was downright dangerous, while ironically the military Jeep being replaced by it, the M38A1, did, as the iconic CJ5.  It took Ford until 1965 to rectify that with its own Jeep sized vehicle, the Bronco, which it made until 1977.

The Bronco was always unique.  It's style leaned on the Ford pickups of the day, with its square styling which somehow managed to look sleek.  It still does.  And while a lot of Bronco's were 6 cylinders, quite a few were V8s, with the largest of the two V8 options being a 302 (AMC's CJ5 had the option of a 304 V8.

And then it all went away.

Why that occurred isn't exactly clear.  Ford quit making the Bronco in 77.  Toyota quit offering the J40, their Jeep like Land Cruiser, in 1984, although it kept on in Brazilian production until 2001.  Nissan Patrols were always rare in the US, but the original Jeep like version went out of production in 1980.  Having said that, they quit selling the Patrols in the US in 1969.  Suzuki entered the field late, but then left the US market in 1995 when they quit selling their Samurai here.  The International Scout, which also had its own unique styling like the Bronco, disappeared in 1980.

Now, if a person is picking up a them here, it's probably the "here" aspect of it.  What occured is that these short small trucks disappeared from the US market, save for Jeep. Why would that be?

We've dealt with that some here before, so we won't delve back into it.  That old post is here:

The Rise and Decline of the "SUV".

We'll add that its likely lawyers had something to do with it as well.  The American judicial system which in civil courts strongly features the "contingency fee" in which lawyers make a percentage of what they collect from their victims encourages lawsuits at an epic rate (although Germany amazingly exceeds the US for suits per capita, somehow).  That makes anybody making anything a target for suits.  Lawyers justify themselves to the public and themselves by arguing that they're making the world a better place by doing this, which is debatable, but they're certainly making it a more expensive one without a doubt.  Lawyers have wiped out light aircraft manufacture in the US, the only country where it was really common, and they likely helped drive all but the Jeep out of the US market. Small 1/4 ton 4x4s remained sold in nations with a less insane civil legal system.

Well somehow they've started to come back.

It started, as we've already noted, with the modern Jeeps seeing competition enter in the form of its old self, by an Indian company, which we noted here:

The Jeep to receive competition from the Ghost of Jeeps Past?

That version of the CJ5 was governed down to 45 mph. But the Bronco isn't.  Indeed, one of its options features a seven speed transmission and its clear that it will be a fully highway going vehicle as well as an off road 4x4.  And by appearances, it introduces the independent front suspension into the civilian market for 1/4 ton trucks.  Jeep has resisted that as Jeepers really adhere to tradition and the old Willys had solid front axles.  The M151 didn't, however, so that isn't that new.

This Bronco signals the real return of competition in the 1/4 ton field.  Land Rover may be back in play as well with a new Defender. 

Jeep may be set to get a run for its money.