The late-seventies trend toward fuel economy and smaller vehicles prompted this "Concept Jeep II" prototype, which stylistically was very reminiscent of the Willys MB. Unless seen side-by-side with the CJ-5, it is hard to believe that the Jeep II is two feet shorter and nine inches lower. At that time, Renault had not yet purchased American Motors, and AMC couldn't afford the cost of developing an all-new Jeep to the production stage. They eventually discarded the idea of simply shrinking the CJ, and in the early eighties began the development of the Wrangler.

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