1978 Jeep Lineup Brochure

Like the brochure says, “We can take you to Jeep Country!” 1978 was a good year for jeep, still moving along strong with the jeep making that steady progression towards becoming less of a work vehicle and more of a family and fun vehicle. And it was a success. On June 27 of 1978, the 150,000th jeep assembled rolled off the Toledo factory floor, a CJ-7 Renegade that went to the governor of Ohio, James Rhodes. It was a boom time, plans were made to expand production at the Toledo plant and AMC announced plans as well to convert its Brampton, Ontario plant to produce CJs. There were just under 2,000 dealers in the US and Canada that sold over 162,000 units. That’s alot of jeeps by any standard!

And the jeep itself as well as its purpose was evolving. Little things that we take for granted were now made standard like front disc brakes and passenger side mirrors. It may seem like a lifetime ago when these models and special editions like the Renegade package and the Golden Eagle were introduced but in some ways these jeeps seem like a modern advertising push. This brochure is a gem of details from the auto enthusiasts website, a “web magazine/blog” Lov2xlr8. Check the whole brochure out here.

Check out everything that this brochure contains from tire and engine choices to specs and colors and trims, not to mention the Levi’s fabric choices for the Golden Eagle package. Enjoy it and enjoy your weekend and take a moment to think of the fallen service members who have given everything for you on this Memorial Day.

1976 Jeep Of Canada Lineup Brochure

The year was 1974. The jeep in its civilian form had been trucking along for nearly 30 years. The original wagon was gone, but there was the Wagoneer, the first full sized SUV that gave birth to all of the modern SUVs on the road today. Jeep had the CJ, of course, as well as the J-trucks, but there was something missing from its lineup, something mid-sized with an appeal to a family that wanted and needed something smaller than a Wagoneer. It was the jeep that Jeep nicknamed “the Jeep and a half,” the Cherokee that debuted that year. It was poised to place Jeep in a better position to go up against the likes of the International Scout, the GMC Jimmy and Ford’s Bronco. Families were looking something a bit less spartan than the CJ, larger than a pickup, but not as large as the Wagoneer and that package came in the Cherokee, SJ.

The Cherokee became the jeep for young families and as well had the benefit of automatically placing the Wagoneer into a new category, that of the luxury and prestige vehicle. The Cherokee was offered as a two door model that was similar to the Wagoneer’s four doors and for the first time a jeep was offered with front power disc brakes and Saginaw power steering as well as an open knuckle Dana 44 that, especially helped the Wagoneer to reduce its turning radius. The Cherokee was no slouch in its class. While its older big brother came with the 360 or 401 V-8 standard, the Cherokee had the solid 258 inline six.

The Cherokee came in a base and an ‘S’ trim model as well as a Cherokee Chief trim level. Forty years ago is a long time, but the Cherokee had a lasting impact that can be felt until just recently. The first incarnation of the Cherokee, the SJ continued on until 1983 and its second remodel, the XJ soldiered on until 2001. In honor of the Cherokee’s 40th anniversary enjoy this full 1976 model lineup brochure from Jeep of Canada that was sourced from the auto enthusiasts website, a “web magazine/blog” Lov2xlr8.  The Cherokee of course isn’t the only thing to enjoy in it! Come back next week for lots more of the best of the jeep since 1940!

From Jets To Jeeps

Its another beautiful Sunday in early spring (at least it still feels early....) and I find myself in the same quandry that I do when composing an update every Sunday- what to bring out? Well, I have a ton of stuff. More than enough to supply me with stuff to write about and pack the website with for a few years I’m sure. But what to present to you guys today? I was planning on more from Lov2xlr8 today, but I’ve a few big catalogues up next and I’d like to do a bit more research when I present them and I frankly don’t have the time this morning. So it was onto two more ideas that I had as backups and then I realized that they weren’t as short as I thought they would be. I had found so much more that they deserved a better writeup than I can do this morning. 

So today we have this Fram ad which I have always loved. Its not much but I hope that you like it. I love the jet taking off with the jeep in the foreground as a great contrast from big to small. Its another classic of ad design when a jeep was simply a small go-anywhere and do-anything runabout. And this certainly wasn’t the first time a jeep was used in advertising. Check out more here.

Next week I’ll be out of town for the weekend so I won’t be able to present anything, but I wish everyone a great day. Get out there and enjoy it and come back in two weeks for more of the best of the jeep since 1940!