The unique Jeep XJ001 in 1969 was one of several derivations from the basic CJ model.
For all the many Jeep CJ spin-offs that have appeared over the years, the basic CJ and its concurrent military counterparts stayed remarkably the same. But that’s not to say that Willys, Kaiser Jeep, and most recently, American Motors haven’t tinkered with the basic concept.
For example, Willys tried grafting a downsloped hood onto a CJ-3B in 1953, with the aim of improving forward visibility. The idea never made production, but a surviving photo from Willys Engineering suggests that it probably would have improved aerodynamics as well, even though the industry wouldn’t be concerned with such things for decades.
Some 15 years later, Kaiser Jeep created XJ001, a styling exercise on the 81-inch-wheelbase CJ-5 Universal chassis. Boasting a sporty and very modern fiberglass body with an open back, door-less sides, and sculptured, car-like contours, it was designed in 1969, just before the AMC takeover.
A company press release described it as "an experimental test platform for innovations in the growing recreational field." But according to AMC historian John A. Conde, Jeep’s new owners "didn’t know what to do with it, not having the finances to tool up for such a radical departure from the Jeep CJ.
"Fate solved the problem . . . On the way back from the Texas State Fair several years later, the truck carrying the model flipped over, caught fire, and the Jeep XJ001 was lost forever."
"IDEA" JEEP VEHICLE - In 1970, Jeep Corporation stylists created the XJ001, a fresh design concept in four-wheel-drive vehicles. Built on a Jeep Universal CJ-5 Chassis, the one-of-a-kind prototype had an 81-inch wheelbase, extra-wide tread and plastic body. This model several years later was accidentally destroyed when a van in which it was being transported turned over and burned.