What is a Jeep?

[The Interpreter]

A very interesting article, with insights to Fiat's planned future for Jeep:

...Image-wise, Jeep is the strongest of Chrysler's four brands and needs the least fixing. Product-wise, the automaker wants to replace everything but the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee with vehicles engineered by Fiat to take advantage of cost savings through economies of scale....

Chrysler's new management is tinkering with what constitutes a Jeep as it seeks to leverage Fiat's strength in small cars and fuel-efficient engines and tap into the Italian automaker's strong network of dealers in Europe and Latin America....

http://detnews.com/article/20100130/AUT ... s-for-Jeep

What say ye?

[cgarison]

Might as well make this move because the new Grand Cherokee is a Mercedes M-Class that was re-skinned for Daimler's American unit. And the current Wrangler is a Jeep in concept, but an abomination to purists. If you want a real Jeep, then purchase an Icon. http://blogs.insideline.com/straightlin ... -jeep.html

As for me, I will acquire my next Jeep via scouring the junkyard for a wreck of a Jeep with a valid VIN - Preferably a CJ5 but not something newer than a CJ7. Then I will purchase all new parts from various suppliers and setup the vehicle with a 351C-4V and appropriate manual transmission from something like an older F250. The transfercase will be nothing but an Atlas II and the axles will be Dana 44s on both ends of the vehicle with ARB airlockers in each. Where the build get interesting is that I plan to use a suspension similar to that of the Jeep TJ and have coil springs at every corner coupled with disc brakes. The price of the components should not exceed the price of the Icon, but I am certain that on the trail, the 351C will be able to idle this vehicle across rough terrain compared to the Icon needing to be revved a bit to get the RPMs into the sweet spot of the torque curve. And from experience, revving a motor on less than perfect surfaces (albeit dirt, mud, or snow/ice) is a scary proposition which is why I sold the 4 Cylinder Wrangler and replaced it with a car that had a V8. I did not think that my faithful steed of a Cherokee would meet her end at hand of a speeding Escalade at an intersection in Philly, but it happened and I have been Jeepless for 4 years, 3 months, 22 days, 18 hours. I don't get into much more detail than that.

And the above paragraph is all bull hockey because by the end of the year, I will be married and the only hot rods that I will build will be tweaked out computers or light mods to the GranMa (like P71 Springs and Shocks this summer.) Other than that, the car that I build up will probably be a highly tweaked grocery getter for my lady using something like a Subie wagon as the base. Unless I get a really good deal on a used Towncar/Grand Marquis hearse that can have the casket crap torn out and a nice mill under the hood and a factory Ford 1 ton (free floating) rear axle to hold all the power I can put to it.



Better stick to the non-WRX/STI Subie wagon. A V6 Toyota CUV scares my baby more than you would ever imagine. After the recalls, it now scares me too.

Edit: Make that a "ticket getter grocery getter" if a Subie is the car of choice.

[The Interpreter]

Jeep's next new owner may be left with the mess to fix. Would that it be Fuji Heavy. Then again, the latter is 16 percent owned by Toyota, a fact in which I, and many others, find no comfort...and that was before Toyota was moving forward, with or without driver input. Toyota strived to overcome GM, and so it seems to have, in recalls, in styling, in customer service, in how it treats its dealers, etc.

A strange day it is...then again, it always was...

[cgarison]

I know (with verifacation from SOA in Cherry Hill) that I was the only person to walk into a Subie dealership last fall and crawl under the new 2010 Outback to make sure that it would not have bits and pieces to drag off when taking it on something more than un-sealed roads in the country. Amy was thoroughly embarrased, but at least I know the car is not poorly engineered like the majority of products destined for off-road use.

I will admit that the new Outback Subies are much tougher than the the non-Trail Rated Jeeps and despite their 16% ownership by Toyota, would make a good replacement for the RAV4 that bugs my gal to drive.

[The Interpreter]

Among other things mentioned in that article is that Fiat intends to bring in vehicles manufactured in Europe and market them as Jeeps.

First, Budweiser, now this...

I can just imagine how that is going to go over...

The vehicle brand often attributed to helping win World War II is going to have at least some models coming from....Italy?

[genlock]

Among other things mentioned in that article is that Fiat intends to bring in vehicles manufactured in Europe and market them as Jeeps.

First, Budweiser, now this...

I can just imagine how that is going to go over...

The vehicle brand often attributed to helping win World War II is going to have at least some models coming from....Italy?

And before that, Germany.


Lets hope the Japanese never get their mitts on Boeing.

[Bob Campbell]

Isn't a Jeep the goofy little character in Popeye cartoons?

[cgarison]

The big debate is when did the "Jeep" go away. Some say it was with the transition from Willys to Kaiser. Others will say it occured when AMC took over the brand. Many loyalist point at the split between American Motors and A M General. I personally say that it was in the mid 60s when the motor of choice in a Jeep was a Buick V6 and the period from 1975-2005 was the best renaissance a nameplate has seen in many, many years. The Cherokee/Commanche (XJ,MJ), Grand Cherokee (ZJ, WJ) and CJ/Wrangler (YJ/TJ) were some of the best off road vehicles in the history of the automobile. Once the TJ was replaced with the bloated TK, the Jeep was once again gone.

So long old friend. I will see you again.

[The Interpreter]

OH, my!

If you love Jeep, you may not want to look at or read this:



http://www.egmcartech.com/2010/01/18/ch ... ep-models/

[cgarison]

Well, the Jeep Phoenix (I thought GM owned that name) is the proposed urban Jeep model and it has been on the drawing boards in Italy for about 6 months. It is a Fiat Panda which has been modified for soft roading and is quite popular in Europe and South America.



As you will be able to see, the jump to the "Phoenix" from the Panda II is very easy to make and American buyers already jumped for the Jeep Compass and Patriot.




The Jeep Renegade concept in the photo in the prior post was actually the first sign that Detroit was in trouble as the recycled design bits from many Jeeps in the past to make that for the 2008 show circuit.