The First SUV?

[Johnny_L.A]

You know that the first Land Rover prototype was built with parts from a Jeep?

Do you have a cite for that? I’ve heard that the first Land Rovers used Willys-Overland parts, but I don’t recall which. I thought it was the chassis, but then I thought that the chassis was welded up by the guy who came up with the Land Rover. I also thought that they used the W-O “Go-Devil” engine, but it turns out that they used a pre-war Rover engine and quickly upgraded it to a more powerful Rover engine. Sheet metal was aluminum (steel being in short supply).

Anyway, I have heard that Land Rover “used Willys parts”; but I haven’t seen any evidence of it. Not that I’m doubting you; I just want to know for sure.

[Tuckerfan]

@Johnny L.A.

Do you have a cite for that? I’ve heard that the first Land Rovers used Willys-Overland parts, but I don’t recall which. I thought it was the chassis, but then I thought that the chassis was welded up by the guy who came up with the Land Rover. I also thought that they used the W-O “Go-Devil” engine, but it turns out that they used a pre-war Rover engine and quickly upgraded it to a more powerful Rover engine. Sheet metal was aluminum (steel being in short supply).

Anyway, I have heard that Land Rover “used Willys parts”; but I haven’t seen any evidence of it. Not that I’m doubting you; I just want to know for sure.

I’ve seen it mentioned a couple of places, but the cite I have handy is Car Wars: Fifty Years of Greed, Treachery, and Skulduggery in the Global Marketplace by Jonathan Mantle. It’s described on pgs 132-133.

Gordon Bashford was the thirty-two-year old charged with the initial design of new Rover postwar cars. Bashford was also given the job of designing the new four-wheel-drive vehicle for Rover. He took Jeep components, a new frame, and reconfiguring the body slightly, used the four-wheel-drive layout of the Jeep. Bashford had the prototype on the road in six months–not a short development time when major mechanical systems not only already existed but were utilized.

Interestingly, it has this to say about the Jeep:

The first four-wheel-drive vehicle is widely believed to be the wartime U. S. Army Willys Jeep. In fact, many manufacturers preceded it, albeit on a much smaller scale, from Stryker to Bugatti.

[Skywatcher]

@Tuckerfan

I’ll see your Ford and raise you a 1905 Packard or any number of 1909 Packard trucks.

I give you the Mack Manhattan, first made in 1901 but didn’t go into mass production until '04.

[RM_Mentock]

@Johnny L.A.

I’d like to say that; but I think Chevrolet has a good earlier claim, based on what someone said in another thread a couple of years ago. (Could depend on how you define “SUV”, but I don’t know enough about the Chevys to say.)

Earlier threads, When did we start calling them SUVs? from a year and a half ago, and The SUV saga… from four years ago. My comments in those threads were partly based upon discussions from the usenet group alt.fan.cecil-adams

[Rocketeer]

@Jeff Olsen

1940-'45.

Whoa, Nellie! I thought the Kubelwagen was two-wheel drive.

[Skywatcher]

@Rocketeer

Whoa, Nellie! I thought the Kubelwagen was two-wheel drive.

Actually, I’m not sure if they did or not. It’s the closest thing Germany had to our Jeep so naturally I thought it was what Tucker was referring to.

[Tuckerfan]

@Jeff Olsen

Actually, I’m not sure if they did or not. It’s the closest thing Germany had to our Jeep so naturally I thought it was what Tucker was referring to.

At least one version of the kubelwagen was 4WD, that was the Type 87 Kommandeurwagen.