Heritage and Leadership
--R.T.
There's probably no single company more connected with the development of the modern SUV than Jeep. The design DNA of the Jeep Rescue goes back to 1947, when Willys introduced its first postwar station wagon, available first in two-wheel drive, featuring a Brooks Stevens-designed all-steel body. In 1949, the station wagon incorporated four-wheel drive, making it the first sport/utility vehicle.
This green 1962 example (pictured) belongs to Larry Howlett from Orange County, California. About the same size as a contemporary Jeep Liberty, Howlett's station wagon can still cruise at 70 mph while getting almost 20 miles per gallon.
Another link in the Rescue's evolutionary chain was the Kaiser Jeep Wagoneer, introduced as a 1963 model. The Wagoneer offered a number of firsts to the emerging SUV category: automatic transmission, V-8 engines, and fac-tory-installed air-conditioning. The yellow Wagoneer pictured is a rare 1969 Super Wagoneer owned by the author. Costing as much as a contemporary Cadillac--around $6000 in 1969--it featured as standard equipment a 350-cubic inch Buick-sourced V-8, a Turbo HydroMatic three-speed automatic transmission with console-mount-ed shifter, bucket seats, air-conditioning, vinyl roof, and unique gold-anodized trim on the sides and tailgate. The last Grand Wagoneer rolled off the Toledo, Ohio, assembly line in 1991.
With its slab-side exterior design, it's easy to see where Jeep's designers got their inspiration for the Rescue. Parked side by side, from its vertical grille to the trapezoidal wheel-arch openings and other Jeep design cues, the Rescue knows from where it evolved--an unbroken string of evolution and innovation.