A Tale of Two Jeeps: 2017 Grand Cherokee Summit 4×4 and 2017 Compass Limited 4×4 – Review and Test Drive
2017 Jeep Compass Limited 4×4
The Jeep brand goes back to the Willys-Overland MB Jeep of the Second World War and the name “Jeep” itself was slang for an army vehicle even before that.
After the war, Toledo, Ohio-based Willys-Overland introduced a civilian version, the Jeep CJ for “civilian Jeep,” and, as the first sport utility vehicle, history was made. When Willys merged with Kaiser, then CEO Henry J. Kaiser saw the value of the Jeep brand and phased out his passenger car lines in its favor. What was then the Kaiser Jeep company was acquired by American Motors Corporation in 1970, and rechristened Jeep Corporation. Today, following Chrysler’s acquisition of AMC and its merger with Fiat to form Fiat Chrysler, Jeep continues to innovate from its Toledo headquarters.
Recently, two current Jeeps, the Grand Cherokee and the Compass, arrived at The Green Car Driver headquarters on successive weeks.
2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4×4
The idea of a Grand Cherokee goes back to American Motors in 1983 but it was Chrysler’s first Jeep product when it was introduced in 1992. Meanwhile, the Compass was introduced as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2002 and as a production vehicle in 2007.
Today the Grand Cherokee is in its fourth generation, which debuted in 2011, while the Compass is in its second and is all-new for 2017.
Click here to continue to Page 2 – Driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee
