Ronald Reagan and Willys Jeep CJ-6

Above, President Reagan behind the wheel of his CJ-6.

There is one "iconic" Willys Jeep in American presidential history.

That is President Ronald Reagan's 1962 Willys Jeep CJ-6 that he drove at his Rancho del Cielo ranch near Santa Barbara.

It was given to him by his wife Nancy for Christmas in 1963.

Originally, the Jeep was green in color, but as a "going-away present", the California National Guard had it painted red at the end of his second term as California's governor.

About the CJ-6 (from JeepCollection.com):

One of the perennial requests from early Jeep owners was “more room!” In the CJ line, Jeep’s first response was the CJ-6 that debuted in August of 1955 as a 1956 model. The CJ-6 was nothing more than what it took to stretch the wheelbase of the newly introduced CJ-5 from 81 to 101 inches. Those 20 inches were added between the front seats and the rear wheel well. Depending on how you looked at it, you got 20 more inches in back for gear or cargo, or 20 more inches of legroom for rear seat passengers. A little bit of sheet metal, a longer rear driveshaft, a few more feet of wire, a little more exhaust pipe… easy-peasy! 

Like the CJ-5, the CJ-6 had military roots. The idea appeared first in the CJ-4MA prototype of 1951. This rig was being developed as a frontline ambulance and was an offshoot of a program to fit the CJ with the more powerful Jeep F-head engine. This development created several “missing link” prototypes that were hybrids between the flatfender and the roundfender Jeeps. The final result of these developments were the Willys MD, which the Army called the M-38A1, and the long wheelbase MDA, which was known as the M-170 frontline ambulance. The first MDs rolled off the line in April of ’52 and the MDA started production in October of ’53. Willys intended, or should we say desired, to debut both military and civilian versions of these Jeeps simultaneously. With production being diverted for the Korean War coupled with materials shortages and rationing, the civvy product went onto the back burner until the situation improved and the CJ-3B carried the F-head torch in the interim. 

Production of the CJ-6 started in August of 1956 but it can’t be said there was a sales explosion. About 2,300 were sold that first year and production hovered under 2,000 units, with a few upward blips that neared 3,000 units, until ’76 when it was no longer offered for domestic sales. The CJ-7 supplanted it at that point. Production continued for export into 1981, when the CJ-8 debuted, but there are some CJ-6s thought to have been sold here from ’76-81. Were they special orders of some kind? That would take a little research to determine.

Three years ago, Reagan's CJ-6 was put on display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.