No, no and no ! A Land Rover is NOT a Jeep. Jeeps are the very first off roaders ever built on earth. Their duty is war. Jeep is just another military device. Concieved and built in a rush to carry around troops (not really careful about equipment, especially when it is time to escape from an ambush under heavy gunfire). Really bastards ! So the Jeep is as rustical as possible for these basic guys, very often even not driving licensed, and can be driven by almost any stupid guy learning how to drive in a minute.

The Jeep is a rust-prone vehicle since built during war, when good quality steel is rare and reserved for heavy weapons, and aluminium for aircrafts. But the Jeep is also a dangerous car, rolling over its roof easily (concrete example: you drive on an helmet left unattentioned (ok please take the head off before doing so) and then, done ! The car jump over its roof ! And, yes, because the Jeep has no roof but just a tarpaulin soft top, this exercise may lead the four drunk yankees to go back to their peaceful country in black plastic bags.)

Finally, the Jeep is a four wheel drive vehicle born in just a few days of conception. One of the result of such a rush is that the car was not designed to turn: the turning circle is BAD ! And that really convenient when facing a German tank in a small countryside road ! Another default is that the front bumper is low and fixed directly on the frame. Even in case of a small accident, the structure suffers and the car is fast turned into a henhouse. Now, to make it short, let us remind you that the hero, the big and famous General Paton died in a Jeep accident. And that's pretty sad when you know that this guy was a quite remarkable man (if my memories are correct).

 

 Above : nice example with all stuffs ready for next world war...

Below : 5 persons in a Jeep, record breaker refused by Guiness Book since one lying on the bonnet is not fairplay.

Jeep being North America made, their capacity to evolve is close to zero. Today, Jeep tradition continues with nice rusting vehicles, poor braking power, poor soundproofing and high consumption... But appart of this, Jeep is a good brand ! When the war finished, Jeep tryied to gain on the civilan market:

That's the Cherokee. Most prefered car for homewifes doing the daily business Home-Shop-School-Home.

Above: mower' version, here currenty finishing borders of garden lawn.

Above: tough off road exercise, notice the impressive original suspension clearance.

 

Above: that's the Wrangler, here as well in mowing exercise. Most prefered of young lazy tenagers on the beachs. Manage to climb sidewalk when in great shape.

Above: do compare with a typical Land Rover: this 1964 example is still hitting the road in Switzerland on a daily basis.

Because, on the contrary of Jeep, Land Rover has been designed for/by civilians. And only by then, amazed by strongness and off road ability, armies from many foreign countries all over the world wanted this perfect off roader ! That's more glorious to gain this function than to take advantage from a war. The today's Landie is called Defender. Ok, agree, it did not evolve as well during the last 50 years but it is for sure more because close to perfection from scratch than by lacking of innovation, like the Jeeps are. The Defender looks exactly the same than old 1948 Series with major evolution underneath: suspensions are now on a coiled-base, engines are modern, and... well, that's basically all for the evolutions chapter. Because confort, mainframe, equipment and body remains strictly similar to the models out of factory 50 years ago. Ok, that's a shame.

Morality: to make it short, please remember that not only "jeeps" are around. Please do not mix both. Because if you can make a Jeeper happy (even if he is telling the contrary) by mixing both brands, the contrary is not possible. Please be careful. It is a bit like saying that you prefer a siliconed-american pinup than a nice english lady, perhaps a bit old fashioned, but full of hidden talents ;)