The Jeep DJ (also known as the Dispatcher) is a

two-wheel drive Two-wheel-drive (2WD) denotes Motor vehicle, vehicles with a Powertrain, drivetrain that allows two wheels to be driven, and receive Engine power, power and torque from the engine, simultaneously. Four-wheeled vehicles For four-wheeled vehicles ( ...

variant of the

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

CJ series. Production started in 1955 by

Willys Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs ...

, which was renamed

Kaiser Jeep Kaiser Jeep was the result of the 1953 merger of Kaiser Motors, an independent passenger car maker based in Willow Run, Michigan, with the Toledo, Ohio-based Willys-Overland Company. Willys-Overland had been at one point before World War II th ...

in 1963. In 1970,

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...

(AMC) purchased Kaiser's money-losing Jeep operations and established

AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer H1, Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. For a relatively brie ...

, a

wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...

that built the DJ through 1984.

DJ-3A

The DJ-3A was introduced in 1955 for the 1956 model year. It was an inexpensive design because it used Jeep's existing tooling and technology. It used the body style of the older CJ-3A, along with the L-134 engine. Unlike the CJ-3A, it came with either a

column shift A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

or floor shift three-speed Borg-Warner T-96 manual transmission. It was offered with many different body options including a soft top, metal top, or a full van body. The marketing focused on it being "perfect for economical deliveries" and "for carefree business and pleasure transportation." One model was a postal delivery vehicle with the driver's position on the right side for mailbox delivery. In early 1959, Willys introduced the Jeep Gala to the export markets and users desiring the nimble size and open bodywork, but no need for four wheel-drive. This model gained popularity as a "fun car" at

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

s in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and islands in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

area. It was finished in pink, green, or blue and trimmed with matching white striped fabric, as well as with

fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

on its top. In fall 1959, a similar model called the Jeep Surrey was introduced in the US market. The primary target market were resort hotels and vacation centers. It also served as a low-cost rental vehicle for their guests. The Surrey came with a standard striped fabric top, as well as a matching fabric cover for what was advertised as a "

Continental tire Continental AG, commonly known as Continental or colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company specializing in tires, brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain and chassis compo ...

mount." File:1964 Willys Jeep DJ-3A Surrey Gala in Blue.jpg, 1964 DJ-3A Surrey File:1964 Jeep Surrey Gala at Union Park DSM IA.jpg, 1964 DJ-3A Surrey File:1964 Jeep DJ-3A Surrey.jpg, 1964 DJ-3A Surrey File:1964 Jeep DJ-3A Surrey Gala.jpg, 1964 DJ-3A Surrey

DJ-5 and DJ-6

The DJ-3A was replaced by the

right hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...

DJ-5 Dispatcher 100 in 1965. It was based on the CJ-5 and used the

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

and Dauntless engines. A longer

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

DJ-6 model was built from 1965 to 1973 alongside the CJ-6.

DJ-5A through DJ-5M

1983 Jeep DJ working delivering mail in 2011 side

The DJ-5A was introduced in 1967, beginning the lettering system indicating changes within the series. The DJ-5A (Kaiser Co.) used a standard CJ front end, with a four-cylinder

Chevrolet Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

engine and two-speed

Powerglide The Powerglide is a two-speed automatic transmission designed by General Motors. It was available primarily on Chevrolet from January 1950 through 1973, although some Pontiac models also used this automatic transmission after the fire at the Hyd ...

automatic transmission, with a T-handle shifter located on the floor next to the driver's seat. The main body was a single unit, resembling the earlier Jeep when equipped with the metal Extreme Cold Weather Enclosure hard top. The models used by the United States Post Office had right-hand drive (without power steering), and were built in a lighter, less durable design than the standard Jeep. These changes included the use of C-channel frame rails (as opposed to the box rails of the CJ-5) and, while the hood was the same dimensions as (and interchangeable with) the CJ, it did not have the reinforced design of the original. The standard configuration had only a driver's seat and a letter tray installed. This decreased curb weight, combined with different leaf springs than other models, allowed carrying more cargo weight behind the driver. The metal side doors were also designed to slide open and closed, and could be locked open while driving. They were supported by ball bearings, which ran in a channel just under the rain gutter, and a plastic retainer ran in a small channel along the body. A worn, damaged or lost retainer would allow the door to swing outward, fail to engage the rubber stop on the rear bumper, and slide completely off of the channel (and the vehicle). A single, hinged rear door gave access from the floor to the bottom of the hard top, and was the width of the open area between the wheel wells. There were no cutouts in the body for the rear wheels, which made tire changes more difficult, as even when the frame was jacked well off the ground, the axle did not fall enough for the tire to clear the body. The DJ-5A used standard 15-inch passenger car tires, with no provision for carrying a spare. While the front bumper was of the standard CJ design (though thinner and lighter than the original), the rear bumper was a unique design, a single stamped part that ran the full width of the vehicle. At each end was a rubber stopper for the sliding doors. The 10-gallon fuel tank was under the rear body, just ahead of the bumper. In 1971, a unique five-slot grille without turn signals that was used only on postal Jeeps was introduced. The 1971 model actually has the grille extend past the front of the hood edge. This allowed more room for the AMC Straight-6 engine and radiator. Like the DJ-5A, while resembling the CJ series, these were built as a completely enclosed,

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-wheel ...

vehicle, with sliding side doors (which could be opened while driving), and a swinging rear door. Most models only had the driver's seat and a mail tray where the second seat would normally be located. One improvement over earlier Jeeps was mounting the rear springs outside of the frame rails, thus providing greater stability for the vehicle with its top-heavy enclosed cargo area, especially at highway speeds. Most models were also equipped with a

limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...

and a heavy-duty steering gearbox. Other improvements include a vent in the roof and cut-outs around the rear tires. AM General used a variety of powerplants during production. DJ production was ended in 1984 with the DJ-5M, which used the

AMC straight-4 engine The AMC straight-4 engine is a 2.5 L inline-four engine developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) that was used in a variety of AMC, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles from 1984 to 2002. Note: Although the GM Iron Duke was a predecessor I4 ...

. File:JeepDJ5 1.jpg, Jeep DJ-5 in USPS livery File:JeepMailTruck.jpg, DJ-5 in USPS livery File:1983_Jeep_DJ_working_delivering_mail_in_2011_front.jpg, DJ-5 in post USPS use with elongated grille File:1983_Jeep_DJ_working_delivering_mail_in_2011_rear.jpg, DJ-5 in post USPS with large swinging rear door File:JeepDJ5 closeup2.jpg, Close up of DJ-5 grille, with unique 5 slot design

DJ-5E Electruck

American Motors experimented with

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

s and starting in 1974 mass-produced the DJ-5E, a rear-wheel drive electric delivery van, also known as the Electruck. Similar in appearance and in most of its dimensions, the DJ-5E was powered by a set of two 27-volt lead-acid batteries with a 54-volt compound wound DC motor with electronic regulation made by

Gould Electronics Gould Electronics Inc. was a manufacturer of electronics and batteries that branched into other fields before being partially absorbed in 1988 by Nippon Mining (now JX Holdings) and closed by them in 2014. History Gould was founded in 1928 ...

. The U.S. Postal Service purchased 352 vehicles for the use in cities with serious air pollution. The Electruck was capable of cruising at with a range of with 20% of its battery power still remaining in reserve.

Model numbers

*DJ-3A (1955–65): Willys Go Devil straight-4 L-head engine, three-speed manual *DJ-5 (1965–67): Willys Hurricane straight-4 F-head engine, three-speed manual *DJ-5A (1968–70): Chevy Nova

straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

, two-speed

automatic *DJ-5B (1970–72): AMC Straight-6 engine, BorgWarner T-35 three-speed automatic *DJ-5C (1973–74): AMC Straight-6 engine, T-35 or M-11 automatic *DJ-5D (1975–76): AMC Straight-6 engine, 727

TorqueFlite TorqueFlite (also seen as Torqueflite) is the trademarked name of Chrysler Corporation's automatic transmissions, starting with the three-speed unit introduced late in the 1956 model year as a successor to Chrysler's two-speed PowerFlite. In the ...

automatic *DJ-5E (1976): ''Electruck'' Electric *DJ-5F (1977–78): or AMC Straight-6 engine, 727 TorqueFlite automatic *DJ-5G (1979): AMC (Audi) straight-4, 904 TorqueFlite automatic or or AMC Straight-6 engine, 727 TorqueFlite automatic *DJ-5L (1982):

GM Iron Duke engine The Iron Duke engine (also called 151, 2500, Pontiac 2.5, and Tech IV) is a Straight-4 piston engine built by the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors from 1977 to 1993. Thereafter GM's 2.2 L OHV 4-cylinder replaced it across the enti ...

straight-4, Chrysler 904 transmission *DJ-5M (1983–84):

, Chrysler 904 transmission

References

External links

Jeep DJ - Postal Jeep Facebook communityPostal Jeep HomepageJeep Engine Specs
{{Jeep car timeline DJ Electric vehicles introduced in the 20th century Vehicles introduced in 1955 1950s cars 1960s cars 1970s cars 1980s cars Kaiser Motors Willys vehicles Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States United States Postal Service Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Production electric cars Electric car models