Jeep: Compelling Hollywood Character

If you are looking to drive a vehicle your favorite character drove, it’s as simple as taking a trip to your local Jeep dealership. Jeeps are everywhere in Hollywood, and we should know, with Orange Coast CJDRF being only a relatively short drive down the road. So let’s take a look at some of the Jeep models made famous by Hollywood. It’s a favorite brand of the movies, and for good reason. Jeep represents the freedom and adventurous spirit that America was founded upon, and there’s no better way to show this to viewers than by using a Jeep.

In fact, you will often find Jeep’s used to build character in television and the movies. Having a character drive a Jeep conveys immediate confidence and trust in a character, so let’s take a look at which models have been used in Hollywood. Whether the conflict is WWII or the Vietnam war, Boss Hogg or Biff Tannen, you can expect a Jeep to be there to help our favorite characters get through it all.

Jurassic Park – 1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ Sahara

Now, which vehicle would you choose if you found yourself on an island with many T-rexes and Velociraptors, among other ferocious beasts? Well, obviously, the 1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ Sahara. Otherwise you wouldn’t stand a chance. At least that’s the conclusion drawn by the writers and producers of one of the most popular movies ever made. Apparently, audiences agreed, because it was the start of a mega-franchise and went on to break many box-office records. No other vehicle could show the initial wonder of this magical island like a convertible Jeep Wrangler. Nor could any other vehicle give our beloved characters a fighting chance when modern-day technology fails to protect them—only the Jeep is left to help save them.

The Goonies – Jeep Cherokee

The opening scene of The Goonies features a Jeep Cherokee running from the police. Throughout this scene, we witness the Jeep Cherokee survive gunshots while winding its way through the rain-soaked streets of Astoria, Oregon. In this case, it’s the villains of the narrative driving, and the Cherokee adds menace to the arc of the story because if these characters have a vehicle this awesome, watch out. No one is safe in this world. To lose the police, the villains drop the Jeep Cherokee into four-wheel drive and jump into the “Astoria ORV Rally” just beginning on the beach, where they proceed to blow away the competition. The Jeep Cherokee can be seen speeding past the many Ford Broncos through the wet sand.

The Dukes of Hazzard – Jeep CJ-7; Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

A popular vehicle throughout the show’s seven-year run was the 1979 Jeep CJ-7. This Jeep was driven and featured on 119 episodes and was driven by the lead actress, Daisy Duke. Many variations of the CJ-7 were used throughout the series, including one with no doors, different paint jobs, automatic and manual transmissions, and different styles of roll bars, but the off-road spirit of the CJ-7 was always present. In the full-length feature movie, Daisy Duke has a new Jeep, a white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.

Back to the Future – Jeep CJ-7; Jeep Wrangler YJ

An open Jeep CJ-7 is the vehicle Marty McFly grabs onto when being chased because he has style, you know. No other vehicle would be as cinematic. This was a Jeep model that had earned the nickname of “America’s Workhorse,” and no one better embodied the American spirit more than Marty McFly. The Jeep CJ-7 was a popular model, but it was discontinued shortly after and replaced by the Jeep Wrangler in 1986. But the CJ-7 was not the only Jeep to make an appearance in the Back to the Future franchise. In Back to the Future II, a flying Jeep Wrangler YJ is seen landing on Hill Valley’s Second Street on October 21, 2015. Of course, the future hasn’t worked out like the writer’s expected as Jeep does not make a flying model yet—but one can only hope.

M*A*S*H* – M38 (CJ2A Willys Jeep)

Part of the reason this television show was so popular was due to its authenticity. The show focused on the details to make this portrayal as real as possible, and part of this included the vehicles they drove. This was one of the highest-rated television shows in the history of television. The Jeeps you’ll find in this show were the 1953 military M38, or civil CJ2A Willys Jeeps, and also World War II Ford GPWs and Willys MBs. The television show is set during the Korean War, so the M38 was the only Jeep shown that was actually used during this war. This Jeep was redesigned for the war as a version of the civilian CJ-3A.

The changes made to this military-grade Jeep included a waterproof electrical system and a reinforced frame and suspension. Another feature of the M38 is that the windshield could be folded down so that soldiers could fire their weapons straight ahead. Over 60,000 M38’s were manufactured for the war, and production ended in 1952. There was also an M38A1 Jeep featured in two episodes.

Twister – Jeep J-10

The J-10 used in the movie Twister is a “honcho” model, which means that it has a stylish paint job and a more aggressive look. This helps when chasing tornados. The J-10 was used to position “Dorothy” so that they could study a tornado’s behavior. These trucks were built up until 1988 and featured strong Dana axles, but, ultimately, while it did get the job done, the tornado smashed it to pieces. It was a great way to show how down-to-earth Helen Hunt’s character was, though, and also show how tough she was—again, inspiring confidence in a character through simply having them drive a Jeep. In this case, a two-door pickup truck.

Tremors and Fast & Furious 9: Hobbs & Shaw – Jeep Gladiator

Tremors finds a Jeep Gladiator keeping the main characters safe from giant underground worms. These worms are tormenting the whole town, and without the Jeep Gladiator, they would have no chance as this little desert town is in the middle of nowhere. This was a 1963 Jeep Gladiator.

And now you can see a 2020 Jeep Gladiator starting to show up in movies now that it has been brought back into production. In Fast & Furious 9, of course, how else would you show these characters really know their stuff? A Jeep Gladiator is one of the most useful vehicles on the road, and Hollywood clearly understands this.

Just Down the Road from Hollywood

Come check out our extensive selection of new and used Jeeps at Orange Coast CJDRF. It’s not often you can take home a vehicle with such a long history. These are vehicles trusted in wartime, whether imagined or in actual wars, and there’s a reason why people turn to Jeeps when they simply have to get the job done. Luckily, you can take a test drive and see just how far Jeep engineering has advanced over the years. Whether you are looking for the most capable mid-size truck in the world, a track-ready Cherokee, or an off-road beast like the Wrangler Rubicon, you don’t have to be Kevin Bacon or Jessica Simpson to drive one home.