Jeep is a brand with more than a little history behind it, but even leaving aside the fact that it was name-checked as a war-winner by someone who really should know (General Dwight D Eisenhower), there are deep pockets of Jeep history into which to dig.
Sierra Nevada mountains
One of those is the Rubicon Trail. As any off-roading enthusiast worth their snow chains knows, this is a gruelling, car-breaking off-road trail that winds up and down the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California, near Lake Tahoe. It's the literal Rubicon that every Jeep off-roader must cross to be accredited as 'Trail Rated.'
And this year is the 70th anniversary of Jeep using the Rubicon. Way back in 1953, the company began to use the trail as a testing ground and using it as a way of publicising the abilities of its vehicles.
So this summer, that 70th birthday is going to be marked by 450 Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators (that's the pickup version of the Wrangler, not sold in Europe) setting off up the trail to, as Jeep puts it, celebrate by: "living the off-road adventure of dreams and, in the process, proving that their stock Jeep vehicles can tackle the impossible, drive off the trail and get them back home."
Tangible proof
"For more than 80 years, the Jeep brand community has defined the Jeep brand and, for 70 of those years, the Rubicon Trail has been heralded by the community as one of the toughest off-road trails in the world, which combined with its beauty has put the Rubicon Trail on every Jeep 4x4 customer's bucket list," said Jim Morrison, senior vice president and head of Jeep brand North America. "Conquering the Rubicon Trail is tangible proof that these Jeep vehicles can literally go anywhere and do anything. As you can see in the video, Jeep 4xe vehicles demonstrate how we continue to push the envelope as we develop our next generation of electrified Jeep 4xe vehicles that can take 4x4 capability to the next level and conquer the seemingly impossible."
The trail itself is 22 miles (35km) long, which doesn't sound all that tough until you remember that it contains some of the toughest, most arduous terrain on the planet. Elevations on the trail range from approximately 5,400 feet to more than 7,000 feet (approximately 1,646 meters to more than 2,134 meters).
"In 1953, when Mark Smith organised the first Jeep Jamboree with 55 Willys and voyaged across the Sierra Nevada Mountains by way of the Rubicon Trail, off-road recreation was born," said Pearse Umlauf, president and CEO of Jeep Jamboree. "The following year, Willys Motors - then a manufacturer of Jeep vehicles - became involved with the adventure, and Jeep Jamborees have been an off-road tradition ever since and continue to grow. Most recently, we've seen a huge surge of interest, especially after the COVID pandemic, with a tremendous demand from people who want to experience their Jeep vehicles in open-air freedom."
Brand builder
Rubicon has also become a brand name for Jeep ever since it was first used in 2002 on a special-edition Wrangler. At the time, that Wrangler Rubicon was a serious off-roader, equipped with options mostly unheard of at the time and not available on any production Jeep SUV, including Dana 44 axles, front and rear lockers, disconnecting sway bar, rock rails, oversized 31-inch mud-terrain tyres and wheel flares.
Since then, the Rubicon models have gone a little more mainstream, but they're still the ultimate in off-roading Jeeps and still the ones that you'd turn to first to tackle the real, rocky Rubicon itself.