"battered old automobile," 1924 (early variants include jaloupy, jaloppi, gillopy), of unknown origin; perhaps from Jalapa, Mexico, where many U.S. used cars supposedly were sent (see jalapeno).
Entries linking to jalopy
jalapeno n.
type of pepper, by 1957, literally "of Jalapa," from Mexican Spanish Jalapa, place in Mexico, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) Xalapan meaning "sand by the water," from xalli "sand" + atl "water" + -pan "place."