2007

AEV opens a new 20,000 sq ft. facility in Detroit to warehouse and ship product as well as build conversion vehicles. A new website with online ordering capability is launched in February. Both developments should greatly enhance efficiency in the ordering and shipping of parts to customers! Work begins on the 2007 Wrangler HEMI Conversions as well as continued parts development for the new Wrangler.  The Montana facility remains in full swing, with even greater flexibility to do all the prototype, parts development, and show vehicle builds for the best Jeep conversions in the world.

2006

Dave teams up with longtime friend Michael Chetcuti to build both the Brute in kit form and the Highline Body Kit, which allows for big tires without the traditional suspension lift.  Michael's company is in the sheet metal stamping business and it's a natural fit.  Work begins in earnest to develop a foolproof Brute kit that anyone with basic skills can successfully build.

The team begins work on the all new 2007 Wrangler (JK) and develops an all-stamped steel bumper, corner guards, a heat reduction hood and two all new wheels including a DOT compliant beadlock.  Highline Body Kit production continues to go well.  AEV decides, for the first time, to have its own booth at SEMA - and walks away with its fourth Design Excellence Award for the Highline Body Kit.

TJ production ends.  AEV has delivered just under 200 HEMI conversions.

2005

AEV moves into a larger 6000 sq ft. facility and gets its second, third and fourth employees.  By mid-year more than 100 HEMI TJ's have been delivered since '04, going out at a rate of two per week.  AEV is chosen to be featured on a television series and is filmed for a month prior to SEMA.  The new Jeep Commander and a Wrangler Unlimited are built for an upcoming expedition to Iceland; the entire process is documented in HDTV.

2004

AEV delivers the first HEMI TJ's to customers.  Unlimited Conversions are rolling out the door and parts sales are going well.  AEV introduces the Heat Reduction Hood. Wheel sales have been so good they surpass rocker guards as number one in the AEV product line.

The WK Grand Cherokee is introduced and Dave works with Kevin Dill at Superlift to develop an all new IFS Suspension.  Kevin pulls off a near miracle by delivering a kit in only two weeks for the SEMA show.  Jordan begins working with ESP, specifically on how to modify it to accommodate lifted vehicles.

2003

Jeep is so enamored with the Brute, they ship it to Detroit to see if it is feasible to produce.  The original red Brute is actually moved down the Plymouth Prowler assembly line for fitting, and ASC is charged with building the Brute.  Everything looks good for a 2004 Brute model...until one executive at DaimlerChrysler objects that the Brute is too similar to Jeep's new "Scrambler" concept, scheduled at the time to come out alongside the Unlimited (eventually, the Scrambler is scrapped altogether). The executive in question is later fired, but the damage is done and it is determined that there will not be enough time to recoup the setup costs for Brute by the time the TJ is scheduled to end production in 2006.

Meanwhile, AEV is producing many more conversion vehicles and business is going well with the aftermarket parts. AEV's first wheel, the 16" Bridger, is introduced towards the end of the year.  Dave finally buys a house and moves out of the shop.

The guys start work on putting DaimlerChrysler's new 5.7L V8 into Wranglers.  While not traditionally an engine shop, Dave is determined that AEV will do the most factory-looking, factory reliable V8 swap anyone has ever seen. After a solid month of work, the 570 Wrangler debuts at the SEMA show in 2003. That first 570 actually operates at about 99%--to get the final 1% Jordan must take another six months to teach himself electronics. In the end he is able to build a computer that can properly operate the 570's AC and cruise control.

2002

In the summer of 2002 Dave returns to an old idea he had about a Jeep Wrangler-based pickup. When the original AEV frame jig was built for the LWB models in '97, it was made long enough to accommodate a 24" stretch for this very reason.  In August, work on the "Brute" is started (the name comes from the word "ute," which is what a small pickup is called in the rest of the world) in order to get two vehicles ready for the SEMA show in November.  Dave, Jordan and Jerry Flanagan (AEV's only employee) work an unbelievable number of hours designing all the parts. With just five days left before SEMA, the parts begin rolling in along with one of the first 2003 Rubicons, which is cut in half with only 11 miles on it.  Dave Yegge from Jeep takes vacation time to come out and help finish it up.  Although the second vehicle is a painted cab/chassis, plans are scrapped to show it at SEMA so the crew can focus on finishing the first Brute. The night before SEMA, the vehicle is finished around 11:00 pm, loaded onto a trailer and driven to Las Vegas where Dave, Dave, and Jordan arrive just 20 minutes before deadline. The guys are still in the clothes they have been wearing for five days, and Dave Harriton has a red respirator mark on his face because he had painted the hardtop only an hour and a half before departing.  The Brute goes on to be the hit of the SEMA show.  DaimlerChrysler's Dave Harrington (different spelling) says the Brute is their most successful show car since the Viper.  AEV wins its third Design Excellence Award.

2001

Jordan Harriton, Dave's younger brother, moves out to Montana to go to school and ends up becoming an integral part of AEV.  Dave decides that making and selling aftermarket parts for Jeeps can benefit AEV two-fold: one, to give AEV Conversion vehicles better parts than are currently available;  and two, to bolster sales and help cash flow through the sale of parts directly to the public.  Dave begins with TJ rocker guards and instantly raises the bar by developing a body-mounted rocker guard with an integrated nerf tube welded on the side.  This design goes on to become an industry standard, with many clones available today.  AEV later sells the design to ARB when the TJ goes out of production in 2006.  While creating the ill-fated XJ bumper (itself a work of art, but too hard to produce given the company's resources at the time), Dave discovers the world of 3D CAD and immediately purchases a seat for AEV.  Jordan becomes proficient in working with the system.

2000

Longtime friend Chris Wood from ARB, an Australia-based 4-wheeling accessory manufacturer, and Jeep Development Engineer Dave Yegge both have their personal TJ's converted to 104's.  Dave Yegge's vehicle goes on to spur and help develop the Unlimited LWB beginning in 2002.  Production continues in the 2500 sq ft. shop on the south end of Missoula. AEV's Prowler Yellow Grand Cherokee is built in an attempt to diversify AEV's conversion business.

1999

Dave moves into a new 2500 sq/ft house! Uh...actually...AEV moves into a new 2500 sq/ft shop where Dave decides to live to keep overhead low. Never mind the constant fiberglass fumes, grinding dust, and the lack of a kitchen or shower...

The LWB 112 production is in...well, production, certainly not mass production but the operation is paying the bills and demand far exceeds AEV's ability to produce.

Chrysler asks if AEV would be willing to do something with a Cherokee (XJ) for an image vehicle.  Dave comes up with the Africana Concept.  AEV actually builds two vehicles, one for AEV and one for Jeep, for the 1999 SEMA show.  AEV wins its second Daimler/Chrysler Design Excellence Award for the Africana.  Dave meets two individuals that will play a big part in AEV's future: Dave Yegge, one of Jeep's Vehicle Development Engineers for the Wrangler, and Michael Chetcuti, CEO of a large sheetmetal stamping company.

Mike Turner decides he's had enough of the Jeep business and moves on to pursue other interests.  Dave purchases Mike's share of the company by signing over the Africana to Mike and introduces the LWB 104, a ten-inch stretch.  Dave and Mike are still great friends to this day.

1998

AEV brings two 112's to Camp Jeep in Colorado for display. Well received by participants, but also by Jeep, event organizers allow the vehicles to be parked right at the entrance.

Later in the year, Chris Wood from ARB offers AEV a feature vehicle space at the ARB booth at the annual SEMA show (the massive aftermarket expo for the Specialty Equipment Market Association held in Las Vegas). The two spring $250 for the space and work relentlessly to finish the first production 112 and get it to SEMA on time. Both Dave and Mike are completely overwhelmed by the SEMA show itself, but also by the interest in the vehicle. At one point they talk to a guy in a green shirt who turns out to be an engineer for Jeep...and think little of the encounter until an hour later, when they find themselves surrounded by green shirts. As it turns out, Jeep is so impressed that they grant AEV its first (of what would become many) Design Excellence Award. Not bad. The guys return to Missoula with a prestigious award, a finished vehicle, and plenty of orders. Unfortunately, they are also down to $500 in the account, not nearly enough to build the customer cars. Vehicles #2 and #3 are sold to continue operations.

1997

As a required capstone class in the business program at the University of Montana, Dave enters the business plan competition with a proposal to build long-wheelbase wranglers as a conversion company.  Mike Turner, one of Dave’s longtime kayaking buddies, is also in the class and decides to work on the plan with Dave and several other students, including Larry Krystowiak (NBA player and now coach).  After winning the competition at the Universtity of Montana, the team presents at several other schools, including the University of Oregon and the University of Nebraska. Dave's plan begins drawing attention from venture capitalists. After graduating, Dave and Mike present the plan to Hal Frasier, president of First Security Bank of Missoula, who grants them the loan. All of a sudden, the guys are in business!

Calling the fledgling operation American Expedition Vehicles (AEV), they start out by having Dave’s longtime friend and world class kayaker Corran Addison fly out and show the two how to work with Bondo, plywood, and long sanding blocks to build a plug for what will eventually be the 112” hardtop molds.  Working hard and living in a small one bay shop on the north side of Missoula, Dave and Mike persist through the difficult first prototype builds and are eventually rewarded with orders based on the prototype.

1993

Dave moves to Missoula, Montana to enter a business program at the University of Montana. While in school he becomes friends with Dave Golden of Weldone Welding, who agrees to do the welding on the stretched YJ for $500 if Dave does all the prep work and disassembly.  It takes a year, but eventually the YJ is 22" longer (the same overall length of a Scrambler, just in case Dave couldn't figure out how to fabricate a top.)  While in school, Dave is kayaking at a very high level and becoming more and more involved with the whitewater kayak industry.

1992

Dave enters a mechanical engineering program at the University of the Pacific in California. Decides the Jeep is too small and rides rough. Decides to stretch it "someday".

1991

AEV's founder Dave Harriton buys his first Jeep, a canyon blue 4.0L YJ with few options.