Jeeps with Non-Jeep Grilles
Peter DeLorenzo, an automobile industry observer whose father was a General Motors executive and whose nearby neighbor was GM Design Vice President Bill Mitchell, hosts the must-read AutoExtremist web site. About once a year DeLorenzo presents his evaluation of the branding strength of many makes of cars. A consistent standout is Jeep . From my perspective, one strong factor in Jeep's brand identity is its grille design that dates back to its World War 2 origins as a light military vehicle. Almost all Jeeps since then have featured variations on that design. This is akin to the famous long-lasting grille design themes of Rolls-Royce and Packard. However, there was one exception to this strong Jeep theme. That was found on Jeep's Wagoneer station wagon line produced from 1963 into 1991. Early Wagoneers carried a stylized version of the traditional grille, but in 1970 that was abandoned for the rest of the model's production life. (The Wagoneer model is being revive