Willys-Overland tried trademarking the “Jeep” name in ’43. However, it took several years of considerable legal wrangling before winning the name in 1950. Three years later, Henry J. Kaiser purchased the company for $60.8 million, becoming Willys Motors Inc. During the 16 years Kaiser owned them, Jeep manufacturing facilities opened in 30 foreign countries, and the brand went global.
CJs were also flatties, as was the Willys wagon (its all-steel take on the “Woody” of the day) and its truck made between 1946 and 1965. The CJ line extended to the CJ-8 Scrambler in 1985, but not all of those are considered flatties. In 1950, the first post-WWII military Jeep-branded flattie known as the M38 (the Willys Model MC) rolled out.
Between 1941 and 1965, all flat fenders (minus the CJ-3B) were powered by a flathead four-cylinder, with minor differences scattered across the innumerable models.
The “Universal” CJ-3B sold between 1953 and 1968, making it the longest production run for any Jeep model, while the DJ-3A (1959 to 1964) was used primarily on resort properties. Both are considered flat fenders. Even foreign divisions banged out “flatties” of their own as late as 1998. Still, hardliners believe the last true flat fenders rolled off the production floor at the original plant in Toledo, Ohio, way back in 1952.
[Featured image by Remi Jouan via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]
