Willys Plant Going the Way of the TJ

The old Willys plant, known as the longest running automotive plant will soon cease operations as the 2007 Jeep Wrangler is manufactured in a newer plant in Toledo.

A Toledo, Ohio, Jeep plant that produced about 11 million vehicles over 96 years closes this week when the last painted Wrangler body rolls off the line.

The Jeep Parkway factory is described as the nation’s longest-operating auto plant.

A third of it was torn down in 2002, and the rest of the plant will eventually follow.

Production of the 2007 Jeep Wrangler will begin next month at a new $900 million factory a few miles away.

Two of the smokestacks spell out “Overland” in brick, a reminder of a previous owner, Willys-Overland Motor Company.

Chrysler bought Jeep in 1987 and later merged with DaimlerBenz to form DaimlerChrysler.