Jeep gets back in uniform

Decades after the last Jeep saw military service, Chrysler unveils a Wrangler that's ready to enlist.

Modern primitive
2007 Wrangler Unlimited: Adding two doors has made the Wrangler accessible to families.
Modern primitive
Just last year, the Wrangler got another major makeover. The new Wrangler, the JK, was all-new from either one of its two tops down. Once again, the goal was to make the Wrangler a livable vehicle for day-to-day use while not diminishing its off-road capabilities. A previously unthinkable four-door Wrangler was also introduced.

The newest Wrangler remains clearly an off-road machine that some customers choose to drive on-road. The 2007 Wrangler Unlimited - the four-door version - earned a score of 17 out of a possible 100 in Consumer Reports' on-road handling tests. While much better than the 5 earned by the old Wrangler, it's still the lowest score for any currently available car the magazine has tested.

The new Wrangler has standard electronic stability control and room for five adult occupants. But the doors still come off, the windshield still folds down and the headlights are round. As ever, there is not a single part, other than paint and decals, that does not serve a definite purpose. Nothing is for show.

On a recent visit to the Toledo, Ohio, Jeep factory - Jeeps have always been built in Toledo - workers and robots could be seen putting together almost 700 Wranglers a day to meet demand. Every one, the factory manager said, was being built to meet an existing customer order.

Despite recent introductions of more street-worthy Jeep crossovers like the Compass and Patriot, the Wrangler remains remarkably popular.


J8

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CJ-2

CJ-5

Hummer

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.