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What is a "jeep"

clivehorridge

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To save the hijack of someone's valuable thread, and not really wanting to make an issue of this, but...

Extracts unashamedly stolen from Wiki


Toyota Land Cruiser Origins

When the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the Philippines in 1941 they found an old Bantam Mk II Jeep and promptly sent it to Japan. The Japanese military authorities ordered Toyota to make a similar vehicle but to change the appearance. The resulting Model AK prototype led to the Yon-Shiki Kogata Kamotsu-Sha (type 4 compact cargo-truck).Later in 1941 the Japanese government told Toyota to produce a light truck for Japan's military. In 1942 Toyota developed the AK10 prototype by reverse-engineering a Bantam GP Jeep. The half-ton truck features an upright front grille, flat front wheel arches that angled down and back like the FJ40, headlights mounted above the wheel arches on either side of the radiator, and a folding windshield. The AK10 is powered by the 2259 cc, 4-cylinder Type C engine from the Toyota Model AEsedan coupled to a three-speed manual transmission and two-speed transfer gearbox. Unlike the U.S. Jeep, few AK10's were ever used and photographs of them in the battlefield are rare.The postwar Toyota "Jeep" BJ is completely different from the AK10 and inherits no mechanical parts from it.Off-road orientedBJ and FJ (1951–1955)


  • 1951 — The Toyota "Jeep" BJ prototype was developed in January 1951. This came from the demand for military-type utility vehicles, much like the British Land Rover Series 1 that appeared in 1948. The Jeep BJ was larger than the original U.S. Jeep and more powerful thanks to its Type B 3.4 L six-cylinder OHVGasoline engine which generated 63 kW (86 PS; 84 hp) at 3600 rpm and 215 N·m (159 lb·ft) torque at 1600 rpm. It had a part-time four-wheel drive system like the Jeep. Unlike the Jeep, however, the Jeep BJ had no low-range transfer case.

  • 1951 — In July 1951, Toyota's test driver Ichiro Taira drove the next generation of the Jeep BJ prototype up to the sixth stage of Mount Fuji, the first vehicle to climb that high. The test was overseen by the National Police Agency (NPA). Impressed by this feat, the NPA quickly placed an order for 289 of these offroad vehicles, making the Jeep BJ their official patrol car.

  • 1953 — Regular production of the "Toyota Jeep BJ" began at Toyota Honsya Plant (Rolling chassis assembly), and body assembly and painting was done at Arakawa Bankin Kogyo KK, later known as ARACO (now an affiliate of Toyota Auto Body Co.).

The "Toyota Jeep BJ" Series was introduced alongside the following:

    • BJ-T (Touring),
    • BJ-R (Radio),
    • BJ-J (Cowl-chassis for a fire-engine).


What is a Jeep? According to Wiki, it’s a brand of American automobiles that is a division of Chrysler Group LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Italian multinational automaker Fiat S.p.A.

Many explanations of the origin of the word jeep have proven difficult to verify. The most widely held theory is that the military designation GP (for Government Purposes or General Purpose) was slurred into the word Jeep in the same way that the contemporary HMMWV (for High-Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle) has become known as the Humvee. Joe Frazer, Willys-Overland President from 1939 to 1944, claimed to have coined the word jeep by slurring the initials G.P.

Words of the Fighting Forces by Clinton A. Sanders, a dictionary of military slang, published in 1942, in the library at The Pentagon gives this definition:Jeep: A four-wheel drive vehicle of one-half to one-and-one-half-ton capacity for reconnaissance or other army duty. A term applied to the bantam-cars, and occasionally to other motor vehicles (U.S.A.) in the Air Corps, the Link Trainer; in the armored forces, the ½-ton command vehicle. Also referred to as "any small plane, helicopter, or gadget."This definition is supported by the use of the term "jeep carrier" to refer to the Navy's small escort carriers.The original trademark brand-name application was filed in February 1943 by Willys-Overland.

It is also used as a generic term with a lowercase (jeep) for vehicles inspired by the Jeep that are suitable for use on rough terrain.As the only company that continually produced Jeep vehicles after the war, in June 1950 Willys-Overland was granted the privilege of owning the name "Jeep" as a registered trademark.And so on… which leads me to conclude (rightly or wrongly) that BJ stands for the US Bantam Jeep, when the word Jeep became a registered trade-mark at least 8 years before anything made by Toyota was called a “Land Cruiser”.Consequently (although I also don’t like to hear Land Cruisers being called jeeps or any 4x4 other than Jeep, for that matter) it seems quite in order to call a Land Cruiser a jeep as long as a lower case “j” is used.

These are my observations and I'm more than ready to be corrected.:icon-biggrin:
 
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:think: A Land Cruiser a jeep? I think you'll burn in Hell for suggesting such a thing Clive.
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Not sure when or where i read it but the most believable origin of the name Jeep i've heard is that it was American soldier slang . When a soldier wanted a vehicle for personal use he was was required to fill in a form called , i don't know what , but lets say for example a J33P hence any and every vehicle a soldier might have been given permission to use to pop into town and see his floozy became known as a Jeep .
 
:think: A Land Cruiser a jeep? I think you'll burn in Hell for suggesting such a thing Clive.
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Very likely Chas, but if you read the post, I'm not advocating the use of the J word!

As a relative newbie to the Land Cruiser world (8 years an owner) I have read up on LC history and although the interweb is not 100% reliable, I get the impression that Wikipedia can't be far off the mark.

It's not denied (even by the Japanese) that back in the 1940s, copy technology spawned their early successes. Wiki clearly states that the beginning of the LC came from a copy job on the Willis Jeep, albeit different. Jeep was the word used by Toyota, not me.


jeep with a small j is now acknowledged as a generic term as opposed to the various vehicles produced by Jeep with a capital J.

I don't think any of us like the word jeep in the LC circle, but my question or morelike observations so far is that the J in model codes comes from the J word. To suggest that the J stands for Land Cruiser doesn't sit right with me, that's all.

Anyway, lets have a bit of controversy on the forum, it beats "sticking lockers" and "my brake light doesn't work" once in a while :lol:
 
Very likely Chas, but if you read the post, I'm not advocating the use of the J word!

As a relative newbie to the Land Cruiser world (8 years an owner) I have read up on LC history and although the interweb is not 100% reliable, I get the impression that Wikipedia can't be far off the mark.
OK Clive you're forgiven, I've just had a recount and I've been an LC owner for approx. 15 years.
 
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All of them jeep-free too! :lol:

Oh yes! 4x4 ownership history so far an Austin Champ, then my first Cruiser LC 80 then a Mitsubishi Shogun then another LC 80 then yet another one.
Interspersed with various other vehicles.
 
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I was offered an Austin Champ years ago, wanted it desperately for towing a 1 and a 1/2 ton boat. The Rolls Royce engine appealed to me too :lol:

Pity, it was one of the many times I had no cash!
 
Fantastic vehicle the Champ, would only do about 70 flat out, but I think it could do it up the side of a house. :icon-surprised:
 
Sort of on topic but when selecting body type on mot it lists landrover/jeep :shock: pains me every time lol even stuff like a X5 is listed like that. I can to a point live with people saying nice jeep but it's when they say nice landrover :icon-evil: usually followed by me informing them it's a landcruiser lol.
 
Yes I agree with Clive, j**p has become a generic term for identifying 4wd`s. Rather like hoover as a term for any vacuum cleaner.
As a small scale rant, it pi55es me off if some one refers to my LC as a j**p, to which I normally reply, "it`s not a f@%king jeep"!!!!

John
 
It all depends on whether this is a proper noun or not. Maybe. Jeep is different to a jeep. Just as an apple is different to Apple. So 'Toyota make good jeeps' is probably fine. Just as 'Jeep make ancient agricultural rubbish', is probably true.

I saw that thread last night too Clive and went to be grinding my teeth. But I am alright now.
 
An interesting post.

Starting at the beginning with Wiki: kids in Canada are not allowed to refer to Wiki for fact finding as it only takes twelve people to verify a 'fact' and so a dozen of us could post that the only real offroad vehicle in the world is a Toyota but that may not be true. But 12 on wiki could make it so.

Secondly apparently (not read on Wiki) Toyota did not make weapons during ww2 and that went a long way towards them being the first allowed into the USA after that debacle.

Thirdly, altthough I don't particularly like my truck being referred by the J word I'd rather that than 4x4 which to me smacks of Chelsea tractors.

For me, and many would probably not agree, if I couldn't have a 30+ year old 40 (or a 70 series) then I'd have a Jeep that has its door hinges exposed - a proper one. My son has one and does the trails in the Rockies and when it gets to 30 below he puts the soft top up!

Rodger
 
I was driving my red 70 home tonight thinking about this J business on this thread!
And. .. I dont want the J**p word associated with my hj, lj, hdj or what ever my junk truck is! Ok! I don't like it....
 
I'm surprised to see so many posts on this one, pleasantly surprised. :icon-biggrin:

Not too soon to conclude that the j word is not popular in the Land Cruiser circle, irrespective of Toyota origins.

Personally I agree with BAT 21's dislike, I hate it!

As a generic term I prefer 4x4, at least it's factually suitable and doesn't suggest a brand of any sort.

BTW, Chris, my hoover is a Panasonic :lol:
 
I don't really care to much about my truck being called a jeep because its usually preceded "how much will you take for your" and followed by "name your price" which somewhat takes the sting out of the insult :icon-wink:
 
I don't really care to much about my truck being called a jeep because its usually preceded "how much will you take for your" and followed by "name your price" which somewhat takes the sting out of the insult :icon-wink:

:laughing-rolling:

Oh, and BTW, I agree with Roger, relying too much on the "truth" on the interweb is a dangerous trend, which is why in the post I tried to make this "their" opinion, not mine.
 
Have a listen to this from the BBC World Service (Global Brands); they discuss the way that brands have become too "right" and in effect have become the generic name for the product, and possibly that the brand is in it's last stages of life when that happens.

Looking at the current Jeep line, and I think that this is being proved correct... have you seen the new small Jeep?!
 
The word jeep is a noun used by people who are too lazy or stupid to know what the proper name for the 4x4 in question actually is. Or they think it's cool and trendy and will enable them to blend in and be accepted. :icon-rolleyes:
 
Here in the far North, all 4 x 4's are referred to as 'jeeps'.
I don't really have a problem with that.......mainly because my 'jeeps' a cruiser.

I never refer to it as a jeep, but I don't care if others do.
 
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