Jeep Stretches to Grander Proportions to Add a Third Row of SeatsOver its many years of existence, the
Jeep Grand Cherokee has done a yeoman's duty of raising both the profile and
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The demand for third-row seating has impeded the venerable SUV's popularity in the highly competitive mid-size SUV market, and the Commander is Jeep's answer. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)
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bottom line of DaimlerChrysler's off-road division. As of late, though, the demand for third-row seating has impeded the venerable SUV's popularity in the highly competitive mid-size SUV market. Rather than shoehorn third row capacity into the cramped environs of the Grand Cherokee, DaimlerChrysler chose to build a new 7-passenger sport utility based on an enlarged version of the Grand Cherokee platform. In putting the project together, they chose to honour the lineage and history of the long running but now defunct Jeep Wagoneer, a vehicle, which as a kid growing up in the '60s, I admired for its cowboy image and four-wheel drive capability.
As if
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| The Commander has character and distinction among a world of vanilla SUVs. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
seeing someone you remember reflected in the eyes of their offspring, anyone vaguely familiar with the venerable Wagoneer will espy its shape mirrored in today's
Commander. However, this isn't the full retro-treatment, such as applied to the Chevy HHR and
Ford Mustang, but retro enough to evoke nostalgia while not alienating those too junior to recall the Wagoneer. Due to its industrial-strength styling traits, younger SUV fans may see the Commander as more of a Hummer clone than yesteryear's Wagoneer. I give the stylists credit for successfully blending the two themes without over emphasizing either, the results of which give the Commander character and distinction among a world of vanilla SUVs.
