More than a quarter of wartime jeep production was shipped to the Allies via Lend-Lease. By the end of the war, the United States had produced a total of 647,343 jeeps—about 350,000 from Willys, 280,000 from Ford, and the early 2,675 from Bantam. The assembly line at Willys and its successor companies went on turning out military jeeps until 1981, when the army ended its jeep orders to make way for the new bigger, stronger Humvee—the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.

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In 1946, Willys began manufacturing a civilian model of the jeep—trademarked with a capital J. The civilian Jeep, in a variety of models from Willys and its successors—Kaiser, American Motors, and Chrysler—became the forerunner of the ubiquitous four-wheel-drive sports utility vehicles produced and marketed by automakers worldwide.

Meanwhile, in the years following World War II, the army deemed surplus, and thus disposable, thousands of combat-weary jeeps. These surplus jeeps were sold to the public at prices between $400 and $600. At the head of the line of buyers were returning GIs who wanted to own the indomitable vehicle that had helped them win the war.

This article originally appeared in the September 2009 issue of World War II magazine.

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