Jeep does not build many cars like the Jeep CJ: a doorless / 2-door Sport utility vehicle / SUV / doorless / 2-door convertible / 2-door pickup truck with 134 CID L134 I4, built from 1944 to 1986 in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted.
The story
The Jeep CJ models are a series and a range of small, open-bodied off-road vehicles and compact pickup trucks, built and sold by several successive incarnations of the Jeep automobile marque from 1945 through 1986. The 1945 Willys "Universal Jeep" was the world's first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive car. In 1944, Willys-Overland, the primary manufacturer of the World War II military Jeep, built prototypes for a commercial version – the CJ, short for "civilian Jeep". The design was a direct evolution from the wartime Jeep, but the most obvious change was adding a tailgate, and relocating the spare wheel to the side. Also, besides adding basic civilian amenities and options and legally-compliant lighting, the CJ required a sturdier drivetrain than the wartime model, because the targeted rural buyers would expect years of durability, instead of mere weeks as during WWII.
From then on, all CJ Jeeps consistently had a separate body and frame, rigid live axles with leaf springs both front and rear, a tapering nose design with flared fenders, and a fold-flat windshield, and could be driven without doors. Also, with few exceptions, they had part-time four-wheel drive systems, with the choice of high and low gearing, and open bodies with removable hard or soft tops. A few stand-out changes during 42 model years were the introductions of round-fendered vs. flat-fendered bodies (1955 CJ-5), straight-6 and V8 engines, automatic gearboxes, and different 4-wheel drive systems. The 1976 CJ-7 stretched the wheelbase by 10 inches (25 cm), and made doors and a removable hardtop comm
What is underneath
Under the skin sits 134 CID L134 I4. The gearbox is a 3-speed Borg-Warner T-90 manual. The wheelbase is 80 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Jeep's history is not in doubt: the Willys MB (For World War II) / Jeep Commando (For pickup version) came before it; it was built at Toledo, Ohio. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Kia Kia, the British Motor Corporation Austin 16 hp, the GAZ GAZ-67. Nearby in the Jeep catalogue sit the Jeep Wrangler (JK) and the Jeep Wrangler (TJ).
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Jeep CJ has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.