Why Did Jeep Discontinue The CJ Line?

If you're even casually familiar with the Jeep brand, you likely know that it essentially owes its existence to U.S. Armed Forces efforts in World War II. However, at war's end, the minds behind the battle-tested four-wheel-drive vehicles decided to expand their client base, redesigning and eventually rebranding them for purchase by the off-road-loving general public. 

Those vehicles hit the market in 1945, when the Willys-Overland company released the Jeep CJ-2A. The CJ designation means Civilian Jeep, signaling that the vehicles had been reimagined to appeal to the public. They proved so popular that some version of a CJ would be a part of the Jeep lineup for the next 40 years.

During their production run, CJs saw numerous mechanical and cosmetic upgrades, with Jeep attempting to fine-tune designs with models like the closely related CJ-5 and CJ-7. But in 1985, Jeep bosses surprisingly pulled the plug on the entire CJ line, with the beloved Jeep CJ-7 Laredo outlasting even the CJ-8 Scrambler to send the line out on a high note. While Jeep, by then owned by the American Motors Corporation, never officially declared its reasoning for killing the CJ lineup, it's likely that a changing marketplace was the primary reason. Consumers were favoring more luxurious sport utility vehicles over the CJs, leaving Jeep little choice but to pivot in that direction to stay competitive. 

The four-wheel-drive market was rapidly growing by the mid-1980s, with consumers favoring a level of comfort and driver-friendly design the CJs were unable to support. Jeep was already offering its own sport utility vehicles by then, with its Cherokee and Wagoneer having recently joined the mix. Given the Cherokee's popularity in particular, it's unsurprising that it would inform how Jeep developed its replacement for the CJ – the first generation of its now-legendary Wrangler.

Those Wranglers hit the market in 1987, roughly a year after the CJ left the Jeep lineup. Given its open-body profile, it arrived looking a lot like its predecessors, though there were some notable upgrades, with Wranglers taking cues from the Cherokee's wider wheelbase and lower-to-the-ground setup. The first Wranglers also featured the distinctive squared-off headlights that fronted the Cherokee, though they'd ultimately be the last generation to have them.

Perhaps most importantly, those first-gen Wranglers debuted with a more driver-friendly approach that included the option of an automatic transmission. Adjustments to its width, length, and suspension made the Wrangler a bit more street-ready than its rough-and-tumble predecessor, while ensuring it could still handle the off-road arena. Whether you were taking it off the beaten path or not, now there was what the company called a more "civilized" Jeep, and it's remained an integral part of the lineup through four Jeep Wrangler generations.