Top Gear's Top 9: Jeep's greatest hits

In a list of greatest Jeeps it would certainly be remiss not to begin with the Willys MB – the four-wheel-drive World War Two icon that adopted a nickname and made it into a world-renowned brand. Almost 650,000 were built by both Willys and Ford.

The Willys-Overland CJ-2A was the first ever full production Jeep for civilian use, also known as the Universal Jeep. It looked very much like the military spec MB model but it featured bulging headlights and a seven-slot grille. It was built between 1945 and 1949.

Credited for basically starting the whole modern SUV thing, the Cherokee XJ was the first all-new Jeep design for over 20 years when it was launched, and remained in production from 1984 through to 2001. It used a unibody construction and inspired countless rivals.

Another Jeep that remained in production for decades, the Wagoneer SJ arrived in the US seven years before Land Rover introduced the Range Rover in the UK. It moved 4x4s beyond being merely utilitarian and also displayed some magnificent exterior wood panelling. 

Think Jeep and your mind usually springs straight to rough and tough off-road stuff, but in 2018 the Grand Cherokee of the time was given the 6.2-litre supercharged Hemi V8 from a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. The result? 697bhp and 645lb ft of torque.

It may look a little funny to our modern eyes with its square headlights and small stature, but the YJ was the first ever Jeep Wrangler and succeeded the CJ series in 1986. From launch you could have a 2.5-litre 4cyl or a monster 4.2-litre straight-six to go with the leaf spring suspension.

And this is where the Wrangler has got to today. Sticking with its proper off-roader roots is the brilliant Rubicon version – named after the 22-mile Rubicon Trail that cuts through the Sierra Nevada, on which every Rubicon model of Jeep is put through its paces.

We’ve been chatting lots about long production runs with Jeep, but the short-wheelbased CJ-5 (still based on the original military car) tops it all by remaining on sale from 1955 right through to 1983. It even managed to survive three different owners of the Jeep brand.

Americans – the Jeep Gladiator is probably not the truck you need, but it’s almost certainly the one you want, particularly if you’re a fan of off-roading and overlanding. Just makes you want to explore, doesn’t it? Shame it doesn’t come to the UK, but it probably wouldn’t fit.