Adrian Haley What could be a movie hero without a nice car? The question, of course, is rhetorical. Today it’s hard to imagine a good blockbuster that doesn’t feature cars. If a movie becomes a cult movie, then the car the main character drove also becomes a celebrity. So, for example, the “Mini Cooper” from the old movie “Italian Robbery” in the 1960s instantly became the best-selling car of the year. Sales of the Peugeot 207, which was driven by the hero of the movie “Taxi,” and, of course, the Aston Martin from the 1960s to the present day is firmly associated with the legendary James Bond. The technical characteristics of the car are no longer either important here. Movie cars are bought based on personal preferences. A person likes to imagine himself as a hero of the favourite film. Some people buy notepads and T-shirts with film posters, and those who are richer, go further in their fanatic impulse. Consider a few of the most memorable Jeep-branded movie cars.
A Bit About Jeep
Jeep – American brand of off-road vehicles, produced by the Willys company since 1941. At first, they produced their vehicles for the military, and after the war they began to sell civilian cars. If you own a Jeep, you may find this helpful: best steering stabilizer jeep jk
The first prototype – Willys Quad was created in just…49 days! To this day, it remains one of the most popular vehicles of World War II. In 1950, Willys reserved the name Jeep, but the first civilian model appeared as early as 1945 – the CJ2A. There are many stories about the origin of the name, one of which is that it comes from Eugene the Jeep, a character from the cartoon “Popeye,” known for his exceptional prowess and skills.
In 1962, in the Wagoneer model, the American manufacturer introduced the first automatic transmission in a 4×4 vehicle. It was also the first 4×4 model with independent front wheel suspension. However, the most popular models were the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.
Jeep often changed owners – in 1953 it was bought by Kaiser, 17 years later by American Motors Corporation, so that after another 17 years, Chrysler bought the AMC concern. In turn, in 1998, Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler, which broke up in 2007.
- “Jurassic Park” and the Jeep Wrangler
Who would have thought that a family movie about dinosaurs would be the best car commercial ever made. At least one of the best. The incredible success of Spielberg’s film made the Jeep Wrangler a truly iconic vehicle. From then on, everyone knew that if you wanted to fight dinosaurs, this car was the best possible option.
According to the story, park employees drove around in nimble Jeep Wrangler vehicles with the park’s emblem. For the shooting we used cars of the limited edition “Sahara Edition”, which were repainted specially for the shooting. In fact, no special changes were made to the cars used on the set. They only added a slightly larger fuel tank, replaced the rims, sprayed branded aerography and slightly changed the design of the dashboard.
- “Transformers” and the Jeep Wrangler
The super-popular “Transformers” movie franchise also soon turned into a kind of commercial for the American automobile industry. All Transformers, according to the plot, have the property of turning into simple, even “killed” cars. Autobots and Decepticons are so loved by cinephiles, that very soon went up not only the sales of the popular series of toys, but also cars, which were transformed into good Autobots and some evil Decepticons.
Hound, for example. This Autobot, if Michael Bay’s interview is to be believed, came about entirely through the U.S. Department of Defense. It turned out that most of the evil Decepticons turn into military vehicles, which, according to the Department, was detrimental to the image of the government, so it was decided to introduce Hound, an Autobot capable of transforming into a paramilitary version of the Jeep Wrangler. This is how a representative of the Chrysler concern got into the realm of General Motors.
- “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” and Willys Jeep Station Wagon
Good old comedies! One can argue for a long time about their naivety and simplicity, but still some of them remain in the hearts of viewers for a long time. That’s how “This Crazy, Crazy, Crazy, Crazy, Crazy World” from 1963 still has a good rating. The film is shot according to the canons of the old school: a lot of general plans, a lot of situations of over-the-top absurdity. But if you look at the picture as a whole, not in details, you can see how all these comic, sometimes silly little things add up to an overall positive, morally saturated picture.
The Willys Jeep Station Wagon is an incredibly rare car today with a wooden body based on an Army Willys. Willys-Overland Motors president James Mooney called it “the people’s car.” And indeed, the first mass-produced station wagon, and even four-wheel drive, found its buyers in all corners of the world. Produced as a van and 7-seater station wagon, Willys was recognized not only by the civilian, but also by the military. Main production began in 1959 and ended in 1965, but in Argentina these easy-to-manufacture Jeeps continued to be assembled until ’81. In the movie, a British officer drives one of these Willys.
More iconic Jeeps, you can find here. And for sure thank you for reading this article. We hope it was useful for you!
