The Rubicon trim almost didn't happen (nearly cancelled)

[BenDiesel]

This came across my feed today. talking with the original creators of the rubicon trim for the TJ

Also read: https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/154-0907-the-eep-wrangler-rubicon-story/

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[C.Sco]

Pretty cool video! I never heard the history before, but it turns out that it kinda happened the same way I always imagined it probably did - with lower level engineers saying "we have to make a Rubicon-ready Wrangler!" and upper management saying "no we don't" but ultimately caving in. It always seemed unlikely to me that the Rubicon was an idea born out of a directors' board meeting at Jeep.

 

[Steel City]

I just sold my 2003 Rubicon. Bought it new in July 2003. 190,000 miles. mechanicals were good but the body and floors were really rusted. Best vehicle I ever owned!

 

[danotje]

I haven’t watched the video, yet, but someone posted this article a while ago. Pretty interesting story:

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/154-0907-the-eep-wrangler-rubicon-story/

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Let's get @Old Jeeper in here, apparently he had some input during the development of the Rubicon.

 

[Old Jeeper]

Let's get @Old Jeeper in here, apparently he had some input during the development of the Rubicon.

I spent 2 hrs with them face to face and the fone time down the road.

Here is the Team (except the first sig at the top, he was not involved the engineering, that is Dan Mick of Dan Mick's HOT Tub in Moab if you have been thru it).

My Rubicon according to Jeep they called me up asked to meet with me. They told me my Jeep was the first one delivered to the public. 2nd week Aug 2002. It came on the same truck as the Jeep Rubicon 'Training" Jeep at the Training facility in Dallas Tx on Belt Line Road. My Jeep and the Training Jeep were exact duplicates of each other and the Training facility thought they had been sent 2 Jeeps...no just one.

The REST of the Story as Paul Harvey would say:

Jeep Training facility shipped it out but not to my Dealer. My dealer tracked it down to the Training and they called to come get it. Well they shipped elsewhere, another dealer in Dallas???? In spite of the Window Sticker having my name on it.

My dealer called me and said we found it at another dealer we going to go get it tomorrow ...the HELL YOU ARE, I am going to get it. So I stop off at my dealer and the paperwork and pay for it (NOT only do I have first Jeep Rubi, but I have 0% financing).

Then I head out the other dealer ( my wife is taking me) and I get there and the usual car sales guy says "can I help you?" YES I am here to pick up that Red Jeep Rubicon sitting right there:

Ohhh GREAT Mr Jones, how was the trip from Houston...Houston, Not me, I live in Dallas and that is MY JEEP Here the paperwork. Ohhh I think you need to see the GM>

I walk into GMs office and he kicks back and says I have that Jeep sold already>. YEP, it's mine! Will I give you a $1000 over what you paid for it and sell to Mr Jones who is flying in from Houston? NOPE, I have paperwork and I own it!

Ok, let's make a deal, $3k over MSRP? NOPE!

$5k over MSRP? NO WAY!

$8k over MSRP? Sorry Charlie, I am driving out of here with that Jeep and ohhh what is the deal going here?

Mr Jones has a family member at Chrysler Jeep and Mr Jones wants Jeep #1 and the family member tracked it down and I have it sold to Mr Jones for $10,000 over MSRP.

LOL, interesting, sorry give me the keys and am of here?

GM say WHY, you can make $8k? Well I am a Hard core life long Jeeper and I own a company and I am a consulting IT Engineer and I don't NEED your $8k, I just need my Jeep!

The last name is the Head of Jeep Wrangler manufacturing and right below that is the "1st Jeep Rubicon in the Trail Ride EJS 2003"

 

[Chrisbayridge1]

I spent 2 hrs with them face to face and the fone time down the road.

Here is the Team (except the first sig at the top, he was not involved the engineering, that is Dan Mick of Dan Mick's HOT Tub in Moab if you have been thru it).

My Rubicon according to Jeep they called me up asked to meet with me. They told me my Jeep was the first one delivered to the public. 2nd week Aug 2002. It came on the same truck as the Jeep Rubicon 'Training" Jeep at the Training facility in Dallas Tx on Belt Line Road. My Jeep and the Training Jeep were exact duplicates of each other and the Training facility thought they had been sent 2 Jeeps...no just one.

The REST of the Story as Paul Harvey would say:

Jeep Training facility shipped it out but not to my Dealer. My dealer tracked it down to the Training and they called to come get it. Well they shipped elsewhere, another dealer in Dallas???? In spite of the Window Sticker having my name on it.

My dealer called me and said we found it at another dealer we going to go get it tomorrow ...the HELL YOU ARE, I am going to get it. So I stop off at my dealer and the paperwork and pay for it (NOT only do I have first Jeep Rubi, but I have 0% financing).

Then I head out the other dealer ( my wife is taking me) and I get there and the usual car sales guy says "can I help you?" YES I am here to pick up that Red Jeep Rubicon sitting right there:

Ohhh GREAT Mr Jones, how was the trip from Houston...Houston, Not me, I live in Dallas and that is MY JEEP Here the paperwork. Ohhh I think you need to see the GM>

I walk into GMs office and he kicks back and says I have that Jeep sold already>. YEP, it's mine! Will I give you a $1000 over what you paid for it and sell to Mr Jones who is flying in from Houston? NOPE, I have paperwork and I own it!

Ok, let's make a deal, $3k over MSRP? NOPE!

$5k over MSRP? NO WAY!

$8k over MSRP? Sorry Charlie, I am driving out of here with that Jeep and ohhh what is the deal going here?

Mr Jones has a family member at Chrysler Jeep and Mr Jones wants Jeep #1 and the family member tracked it down and I have it sold to Mr Jones for $10,000 over MSRP.

LOL, interesting, sorry give me the keys and am of here?

GM say WHY, you can make $8k? Well I am a Hard core life long Jeeper and I own a company and I am a consulting IT Engineer and I don't NEED your $8k, I just need my Jeep!

The last name is the Head of Jeep Wrangler manufacturing and right below that is the "1st Jeep Rubicon in the Trail Ride EJS 2003"

Awesome story! That's a significant piece of Jeep history right there!

 

[Old Jeeper]

UPDATE: Someone asked was I just in the right place at the right time.

Well, I was on an IT consulting gig to Chrysler at the time and when I built my contract I put in there the right to buy a 2003 Jeep, which was not out yet.

Chrysler said fine and I got employee cost and they said we will give you a code number and take it to any Jeep dealer and they place the order for whatever you want.

So Jeep called and here is your code # and your order as of tomorrow at 10 am. Well. I had meetings so I went to my dealer at 9 am and the guy logged in and ordering came up (maybe because they were the Biggest Jeep dealer in Dallas-Ft Worth).

So. I go to place my order and I want a Red Sahara and NOPE no can do, Sahara does not come in Red!

OK, and I have done this before, let's order a Red Jeep and build a Red Sahara. Now we are going down thru the options and he comes to the "Rubicon". What's a Rubicon, he says don't know but it has Lockers and 4:10 gears, and 2:1 transfer case does that mean anything to you?

HELL YEA, ORDER IT! He does and as we are sitting there talking my confirmation comes back on order and it's not even 10 a.. Then before I leave which is just past 10 am I get a VIN, WOW!

That is how I happened to stumble into my Jeep Rubicon. purely by accident.

 

[COJeeper]

UPDATE: Someone asked was I just in the right place at the right time.

Well, I was on an IT consulting gig to Chrysler at the time and when I built my contract I put in there the right to buy a 2003 Jeep, which was not out yet.

Chrysler said fine and I got employee cost and they said we will give you a code number and take it to any Jeep dealer and they place the order for whatever you want.

So Jeep called and here is your code # and your order as of tomorrow at 10 am. Well. I had meetings so I went to my dealer at 9 am and the guy logged in and ordering came up (maybe because they were the Biggest Jeep dealer in Dallas-Ft Worth).

So. I go to place my order and I want a Red Sahara and NOPE no can do, Sahara does not come in Red!

OK, and I have done this before, let's order a Red Jeep and build a Red Sahara. Now we are going down thru the options and he comes to the "Rubicon". What's a Rubicon, he says don't know but it has Lockers and 4:10 gears, and 2:1 transfer case does that mean anything to you?

HELL YEA, ORDER IT! He does and as we are sitting there talking my confirmation comes back on order and it's not even 10 a.. Then before I leave which is just past 10 am I get a VIN, WOW!

That is how I happened to stumble into my Jeep Rubicon. purely by accident.

This whole thing is an AWESOME story!!! Thank you for sharing!!

 

[COJeeper]

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!!!!!! That guy, who said he was the one who designed the Rubicon, said he has a Will-EEs at home?!?! I thought it is officially a willis?

 

[Ratbert]

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!!!!!! That guy, who said he was the one who designed the Rubicon, said he has a Will-EEs at home?!?! I thought it is officially a willis?

I've seen lots of old-timers claim it both ways.

It still drives me nuts when people talk about their "4 X E" instead of their "4 by E".

 

[COJeeper]

I've seen lots of old-timers claim it both ways.

It still drives me nuts when people talk about their "4 X E" instead of their "4 by E".

Freaking amateurs...

 

[6.2Blazer]

My story is not as cool as the one above, but I worked in the automotive industry during this time and did a lot of work with Jeep (Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, or whatever they were called). They drove a prototype Rubicon down to our facility for evaluation prior to the Rubicon being officially announced as an upcoming model. Being an avid off-road I thought is was the neatest thing ever. There was no camoflage or anything because it just looked like a typical TJ except it had the Rubicon tires and wheels on it (which nobody knew what they were at the time), so just looked like aftermarket wheels and mud tires. This test rig also had a winch on it, though it was clear that was not part of the design intent but they installed it just to have a winch when testing.
The Chrysler proving grounds has some really neat off-road testing areas on it. It's been 15+ years since I've been there but had multiple hills with poured concrete surfaces simulating rocks and trenches, and had winch points all along the side. They also had sand hills, mud pits, and they had just built an actual trail out through the woods specifically for testing the Rubicon. Remember they taking us on a tour of the new trail in their WJ (Grand Cherokee back when it had solid axles front and rear) support rig. It had a small lift, mud tires, and a winch on it.
A lot of the engineers I met were also avid off-roaders with pictures of modified Jeeps all over the wall.

 

[In Gear]

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!!!!!! That guy, who said he was the one who designed the Rubicon, said he has a Will-EEs at home?!?! I thought it is officially a willis?

I've seen lots of old-timers claim it both ways.

It still drives me nuts when people talk about their "4 X E" instead of their "4 by E".

I was informed about pronouncing it with the 'i' sound 30+ years ago, but even after reading some history about John Willys, who pronounced his name as "Willis", I was surprised to learn that even some of the factory workers referred to it as "Willees" back in their day. So, it would seem there is a proper way to pronounce it and a slang way. It all reminds me of the chuckle the English must have when they hear us Americans brutalized the English language. LOL!

Anyways, I briefly poked fun at this on my small YouTube channel and shared some Willys history in a reply to a comment on my "...What You Talkin Bout Willys AEV.." video posted here. So, if you can laugh about it, you may enjoy a nod to the "Diff'rent Strokes" series at about 4:45 m:ss in:

However, today, I pretty much now just take the opinion if it's your Jeep you can call it whatever you want. ...Still, those who know, well, they know.

Enjoy!

 

[Mgdstar]

I grow up in Toledo when the Jeep plant was still on Berdan Avenue. Never heard anyone say Willis, always Willees Overland. I just happen to go to high school back in the 70’s with a relative of a Jeep engineer that help developed part of the Jeep four wheel drive system, think it was the transfer case. Not sure if he had the original patent or just stock ownership in Willees Overland, but the family and all the kids were very very well to do from the inheritance.

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