Jeep Wrangler: Off Into The Field

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 05:39

The Jeep Wrangler has been climbing through the terrain for over 60 years. A successor will come next spring. With diesel engine and four doors.

By Stefan Grundhoff

The Wrangler is a legend. In six decades, a dark green army vehicle called the Willys MA became a trendy off-roader. The new is optically completely the same. A new front with a rounded face, fog lights integrated into the bumper and a dash of high-tech - that's the 2007 Jeep Wrangler. The new Jeep Wrangler celebrated its premiere at the Detroit Motor Show in early 2006 - and it will follow suit early next year Europe.

2.8 liter diesel

At second glance, however, the new Wrangler cannot be recognized. The requirements of the European market were met with a diesel generator. The 2.8 liter common rail diesel from VM is closely related to the engine of the Jeep Cherokee and should also produce around 160 hp and almost 400 Nm of torque. The four-liter six-cylinder petrol engine remains in the program and is coupled with an automatic. In the field, the Jeep Wrangler has always been one of the best of its kind. But thanks to a revised all-wheel drive and more ground clearance, there should be even more.

The Wrangler had to show what it can do on the martial all-wheel-drive track, the Rubicon Trail. The spartan equipment should also be a thing of the past. Even if the doors can still be unhooked - the new Klettermaxe offers its occupants at least electric windows, ESP and central locking with remote control.

New roof

There are two roof structures. The still fiddly flat roof should be enough for optimists. But a big step seems to be the Wrangler's new, multi-piece hardtop. Unlike its predecessor, the plastic roof does not have to be dismantled as a whole, it consists of three parts. In Europe, the Jeep Wrangler was previously only available with a short wheelbase. In North America there has long been an extended “Unlimited version” with a longer wheelbase. The new Wrangler Unlimited is also coming to Europe - as the first also as a four-door model. There is then space for up to three people in the rear. Finally there are also three-point seat belts and headrests at the rear.

The rocky history of the Jeep Wrangler begins in World War II. A lobster was not yet in sight, so in 1940 the US Army wanted an all-terrain reconnaissance vehicle that could stand up to its human comrades even in tough off-road conditions.

Because time was pressing, the Army wrote to over 130 companies. They wanted an egg-laying woolly milk pig: at least three seats, a folding windshield, a powerful four-wheel drive motor, a top speed of 50 mph and a device for a machine gun were just a few of the items on the endless wish list. Ultimately, the Willys-Overland company was able to assert itself against its competitors Bantam and Ford with its design "Willys MA". After the production model ?? Willys MB ?? had proven its worth in its operations in war zones, the jeep soon also conquered the civilian market.