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Jeep's 75th Anniversary Wrangler Salute rolls down the line

UPDATE: The commemorative 75th Anniversary Jeep Wrangler rolled down the assembly line in Toledo, Ohio today. With its roll bar, doors, and rear seat removed, it really does pay fitting tribute to the classic Willy military models of the past. The 419 area code stenciled on the bumper and date on the hood look period appropriate. Well done, Jeep. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the Jeep Wrangler was born, but the automaker claims the legendary off-roader as we know it today was officially created in 1941. On July 15th of that year, the US Government awarded Willys-Overland with a contract to build the Willys MB, which quickly got the nickname "jeep". To commemorate its 75th anniversary, Jeep has created a WWII-themed Wrangler that pays homage to the Willys MB. The gorgeous concept most likely won't see the road, which is a shame as the rugged one-off yanks at the heartstrings of truck enthusiasts and historians alike. Based on of the current Wrangler Sport, the olive-drab Wrangler 75th Salute concept imitates the original Willys MB to the tee. The concept has no B-pillars, no doors, no roll bars and honors the "function over form" styling of the original military vehicle. The concept rides on 16-inch steel wheels that are wrapped in 32-inch non-directional tires and features vintage-looking hood latches, steel front and rear bumpers with tow hooks, and low back canvas seats. The Salute concept will be built on the same assembly line in Toledo, OH that has produced the Wrangler for decades. In addition to putting out an image of the concept, Jeep also touched on the rich history of the original Willys MB, which you can read below. Related Video: In July 1940, the U.S. military informed automakers that it was looking for a "light reconnaissance vehicle" to replace the Army's motorcycle and modified Ford Model-T vehicles. The Army invited 135 manufacturers to bid on production and developed a lengthy specification list for the vehicle, including a 600-lb. load capacity, wheelbase less than 75 inches, height less than 36 inches, smooth-running engine from 3 to 50 miles per hour, rectangular-shaped body, four-wheel drive with a two-speed transfer case, fold-down windshield, three bucket seats, blackout and driving lights and a gross vehicle weight below 1,300 lbs.

Jeep Cherokee faces on-sale delay

A report in The Wall Street Journal looks at some of the obstacles to the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that go beyond its mootable yet "very contemporary" looks, almost all of them based on Fiat's financial position. Starting with that sheetmetal, in defense of it SRT president Ralph Gilles and Jeep design head Mark Allen said they wanted to "make sure the design still looks modern five years from now."
The WSJ piece doesn't cite longevity as a factor, instead saying that its features originated in a design for an Alfa Romeo, the transformation into a Jeep design meant allowing Chrysler get it to market more quickly and save "hundreds of millions of dollars" in engineering.
The need for Fiat to save money while it weathers the European situation has cut budgets for development, engineering and the pace of retooling the Toledo, Ohio plant to build the Cherokee. In a familiar case of snowballing at work, among the effects will be pushing back the Cherokee's volume sales date and delaying updates to some of Chrysler's other products.

Australian Jeep marketing stunt goes awry [w/video]

Jeep fans in Australia are none too happy with the off-road brand following a contest that saw ten new Cherokees sold for just $10,000 Australian (about $9,400), roughly a quarter of the vehicle's price Down Under.
The contest, called the "World's Most Remote Dealership," gave Aussies the chance to snag an ultra-affordable Cherokee Longitude (analogous to the US-spec Latitude trim), provided they could get to a secret dealership in the remote wilderness of western New South Wales, near the border with the state of South Australia.
In order to get the exact location of the dealership, though, potential customers needed to download an app, which would release a phone number 9:00 AM AEST on Thursday (7:00 PM EDT, Wednesday night). The first ten people who could call in and prove they could afford to finance $10,000 and get to the remote dealership, were given the location of the remote dealership.