![]() ![]() Our test vehicle was equipped with a 5-speed manual, the trans of choice if you do a lot of off-roading. The Chevy engine is peppier, and Chevy and Ford V-6s are quieter than the in-line Chrysler 6. Cherokee’s chief rivals, Blazer and Explorer, feature rounded edges that slip through the turbulence Cherokee bounces around in it.Ĭherokee features a 4-liter, 190-horsepower, inline 6-cylinder engine compared with a 4.3-liter, 190-h.p., V-6 at Chevy, a 4-liter, 160-h.p., V-6 at Ford. ![]() On the open highway you’ll get buffeted when the breeze slaps against those square slab sides. We test drove a 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport, and age has obviously caught up with it-a box in a world of balloons, square lines instead of rounded ones. In the 1993 model year, Chrysler brought out the Grand Cherokee, a larger, more stylish member of the Jeep family, but chose to keep the older, smaller Cherokee as a price leader-a wise move, especially considering a Grand Cherokee can set you back $30,000 or more. But some say Cherokee has been around a bit too long in its present form. Not fooling with Cherokee sheet metal is one reason the vehicle has been so profitable for Chrysler. Time not only heals all wounds, it allows an automaker to amortize its costs. ![]() ![]() Iacocca is gone, but the Jeep Cherokee is still around and will continue in its present form until the 1997 model year. Jeep, together with Iacocca’s other stroke of genius, the mini-van, allowed the once struggling Chrysler to fill its coffers to overflowing. With Jeep he had an instant rival to Chevrolet Blazer and Ford Bronco (which would become the Bronco II and, finally, the Explorer). It was one of then Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca’s finest moments-entry to the sport-utility market without having to spend the time or money to design, develop and build one from scratch. Gremlin, you may recall, was designed on the back of an airline burp bag by AMC’s chief stylist Richard Teague, which caused some to joke that the amiable Teague could have put the bag to better use.ĪMC was the minority member of what then was called the Big Four, which was abbreviated to the Big Three when Chrysler purchased the tiny automaker in 1987 to acquire the Jeep line of sport-utility vehicles. American Motors Corp., or AMC as it was known, usually was good for a laugh, as evidenced by the fact that this is the outfit that brought out the Gremlin and Pacer, a pair of styling oddities. ![]()
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