Jeep, Your Vehicle For Everyday Fun & Driving

Jeep® is registered trademarks of DaimlerChrysler Company, LLC and is used under license. They have always been known for their abilities off-road, and their popularity endures. Commander - XK - Newest model in the line, it is a seven passenger SUV. Patriot - A small SUV based on the Dodge Caliber, slated to begin production for 2007 model year. These vehicles have been built and/or assembled around the world by various companies.

Many people treat the word "jeep" as a generic term and use it un-capitalized for any vehicle of this shape and function: see generalized trademark. There are many stories about where the word "jeep" came from. Probably the most popular notion has it that the vehicle bore the designation "GP" (for "General Purpose"), which was phonetically slurred into the word jeep. Many, including Ermey, claim that the likelier origin refers to the character Eugene the Jeep in the Thimble Theater (Popeye) comic strip. Eugene the Jeep was dog-like and could walk through walls and ceilings, climb trees, fly, and just about go anywhere it wanted; it is thought that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicle's versatility that they informally named it after the character. When asked by syndicated columnist Katherine Hillyer for the Washington Daily News (or by a bystander, according to another account) what it was called, Irving answered, "It's a jeep. Katherine Hillyer's article was published on February 20, 1941 around the nation and included a picture of the vehicle with the caption :LAWMAKERS TAKE A RIDE- With Senator Meade, of New York, at the wheel, and Representative Thomas, of New Jersey, sitting beside him, one of the Army's new scout cars, known as "jeeps" or "quads", climbs up the Capitol steps in a demonstration yesterday.