From April 19th through Dec 30 the Walter P. Chrysler Museum at One Chrysler Drive, Auburn Hills, MI, will be holding a special “70 years of Jeep” exhibit, which includes a special display of a Willys MA. Personally, it is slightly frustrating that the officials holding these ‘jeep’ anniversaries don’t recognize this as the 71st year (1940 was the actual delivery date of the first jeeps) rather than the 70th year, but it seems since they are sponsoring the events, they are framing history in their own way.
I test drove one of the new Wranglers the other day, and on the grab bar on the passenger side it said “71 years of Jeep”. I thought it was cool that it had that.
Anything that focuses on the history of Jeeps and showcases them for the general public is certainly a good thing. I remember reading on a forum that when a guy drove his Willys Jeep around town the young people would ask him if he built “that rig”, they had no idea what it was. I guess to them World War 2 history was just something they were forced to study in school, and after being tested on it they didn’t need to remember anything about it anymore. Maybe exhibits like these will help keep Jeep history alive and help foster an appreciation of them for the next generation.