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Jeep Hot Hatch Rally Fighter


Automan2164
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Hopefully Jeep is paying attention to what I have been hinting at for years (*Cough cough - Come back of Eagle AWD), but it looks like some guys over at Yahoo autos have been thinking the same. They teamed up with someone and made some concept drawings.
 
 Jeep-Hatchback.jpg
 
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/jeep-hatchback-concept-production-hopes-rally-dreams-171143311.html
 
Rob

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Hopefully Jeep is paying attention to what I have been hinting at for years (*Cough cough - Come back of Eagle AWD), but it looks like some guys over at Yahoo autos have been thinking the same. They teamed up with someone and made some concept drawings.

 

 Jeep-Hatchback.jpg

 

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/jeep-hatchback-concept-production-hopes-rally-dreams-171143311.html

 

Rob

The come-back of a car based jeep is the Patriot/Compass. Although the real execution was more crude IMHO you have an updated Compass Rallye pictured there. Besides if you are referring to the Eagle Talon that was a re-badged Mitsubishi and not a Jeep at all but an Eagle. If you mean the AMC Eagle they were not Jeeps, either, but AMC's just as a Matador is not a Jeep. 

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I don't think Jeep will ever build a car. Sure, some Jeeps these days my utilize car technology but I don't see them building an actual car. I think the Renegade is as close as Jeep will get to a car.

The MK platform (Patriot/Compass) is a joint venture with Mitsubishi that underpins cars such as the Dodge Caliber and Mitsubishi GS. The new Cherokee is built on a Fiat/Alfa platform that it shares with the Dodge Dart. And as with the MJ they build 2wd versions and 4wd versions of them. IMHO what is a 2wd XJ but a station wagon? A stock one, especially the early years, is really no higher than a PT Cruiser or HHR so what differentiates it from a station wagon? Besides one of Jeep's first vehicles as a 2wd sports car-ish convertible called the VJ which rolled out on 1948

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A Jeep rally car seems like a strange concept to me, if only because that's not what Jeep does. There's nothing wrong with expanding a product line, though.

In some ways, it would make a lot of sense for Jeep to come out with one. Fiat is parent company to Lancia, a brand with huge rallying history. Currently, however, the Lancia lineup consists of

Delta, build on the previous generation of the platform under the Dodge Dart (and current Cherokee)

Thema, a rebadged Chrysler 300

Voyager, a rebadged Grand Caravan

Flavia, a rebadged Chrysler 200

 

Nothing in the Fiat group is really suited to any kind of racing (outside of Ferrari and the motorsports stuff they acquired from Chrysler) with the exception of the Alfa Romeo 4c, which would make a pretty poor rally car up against the current WRC lineup. What could possibly happen would be a Dodge Dart hatchback variant (there is a Fiat branded one being sold in China and possibly European markets now). Lancia could probably to that what Ford has done with the Focus. The issue I see with that is that any kickback for a US brand would likely be another Dart model. Something else that could possibly be done there is a completely new vehicle on that platform, somewhere between the Dart hatch and Cherokee. The Punto (as the Hansen concept used) is too small to make a serious WRC competitor.

 

The issue though is that I don't really see Fiat badging it as a Jeep. If anything, it would stick as a Fiat, possibly a Lancia (but unlikely seeing as they're trying to be a luxury brand). If they built a USDM version, I can't really see it being anything other than a Dodge. As has been stated and as awesome as it would be, Jeep doesn't really do that sort of thing. Or at least the old Jeep doesn't. We don't really know what the new Jeep does yet. Maybe they might resurrect the Eagle brand, but that's also unlikely.

 

I would like to see a few more manufacturers (and something American that isn't a Ford) in the WRC.

 

But a decent American sports car (that isn't a muscle car!!) would be nice.

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Eh, we like our muscle cars. I assume you are referring to the Stingray and Viper as muscle cars. I would rather have a lower-cost muscle car that can out sports car mosts sports cars then a sports car, especially one defined by the classic sports car parameters such as a vintage Miata,TR8, Sprite,or Midget, with good handling but the performance of a turd. You can get a CTS-V for a bargain price for its performance and go hunting much more expensive European and Asian imports with a very high success rate. Muscle car? Yeah, probably. But you also don't sound like a weed eater or a weed eater with a fart can... :brows:

 

This is the father of that drawing concept:

Image Not Found

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IMO that doesn't look too bad, although it doesn't look too fast... Kinda like a Jeep version of the Scion XB.

 

I like me some good muscle as well, and one of the few new cars I really would want right now is the CTS-V wagon, but they're all just a little excessive. Most of them I like, but I don't ever really see myself owning one. I would consider the 'Vette and Viper as GT cars, but that's just me and my racing addiction. That's where they race, in the GT classes, against expensive, high-power cars.

By sports car, I'm thinking something fun and inexpensive while practical for daily use, light and nimble, doesn't suck fuel, etc. As awesome as having a Corvette would be, you can't really legally use it to it's potential on the streets. Something many people have said that I agree with, driving slow cars fast is more fun than driving fast cars slow. When I say sports car, I'm thinking something competitive with the Toyubaruion GT86/BRZ/FRS. The Pontiac Solstice / Saturn Sky was along those lines, but both were axed along with their brands, and very few Solstice Coupes were built. The GXP put out 260hp/260lb-ft, like the Cobalt SS, and that's more than adequate in a light car. Chrysler axed the poorly executed Crossfire, and Ford never brought anything to the table.

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That's kinda what I meant by "poorly executed". It was mostly Mercedes, but they screwed something up because it wasn't selling. That's not to say it wasn't a decent ride. It also outsold the Solstice, so  :dunno:

And I new there was a reason that Compass didn't look too fast  :yes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would much rather see Jeep give us another pickup... like an affordable AEV Brute Double Cab, any one of the concepts from the last few years - like the Mighty FC, Nukizer, J12 or Gladiator.  Even a factory done Wrangler Unlimited pickup, instead of having to drop thousands on top of a Wrangler purchase to convert one.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Jeep issue a smaller, lighter option to the bloated Wrangler.  Something that pays tribute to Jeep history.  Something like AMC's 1977 Jeep II concept.  Does this look recognizable?

 

 

Give me that, not a re-badged Fiat!

 

Not that I have anything against hot hatches, either.  My DD is an '06 MINI Cooper. 

(And I think MINI's 4x4 is stupid, too... they should've adopted AWD for sporting performance and leave the SUV's to somoeone else.)

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:doh:  :ack:  :shake:  :nuts:

It's got as much potential as a stock Sami... and it sits about the same height as the original GPW.

If they gotta have their Fiat content, throw a VM diesel in it so we can get good mpg.

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Heck a CJ2a isn't much bigger than some of the new side-by-side ATV's

Aint that the truth. This past weekend I helped a friend move his CJ2A project across the county and was amazed at how small it was. I have no doubt that some of those side-by-sides are actually bigger than the 2A.

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