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Detroit Auto Show: Jeep Trailhawk Concept
Trailchickadee was apparently taken
Now, we're not saying Jeep designed the butch Jeep Trailhawk concept truck, which it will unveil at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, to counteract the impression that the division has gone soft recently.
As a counterpunch to the goofy, little Compass tall-car-thingy now sitting on dealer lots? Certainly, Chrysler is not saying that, either. We're just saying that's exactly what it looks like.
From where we sit, a wicked-looking, off-road-capable truck with a wicked name like "Trailhawk" is the perfect antidote for that hideous Dodge Caliber-based crossover thing. And if we learned how to draw, we would probably do as Jeep designers did and give this truck the mother of all T-tops because, well, why wouldn't we?
Designers say the darndest things
Primary exterior designer, Nick Vardis, did not say, "We took a Grand Cherokee body and beat its roof mercilessly with a gigantic meat tenderizer until it got real flat and wide and mean and all the essence of suburban mom-mobile oozed out the sides. Then we threw it on a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited frame and called it 'cool.'" But we think he should have.
Head honcho of Chrysler Group Design, Trevor Creed, did say, "It has the same approach and departure angles as a Wrangler." But he shouldn't have. While playing up the "Trail Rated" capability of the concept, Creed might have gotten carried away. According to Jeep's own specifications, neither the approach nor departure angle is nearly as off-road-worthy as the Wrangler. In fact, the Trailhawk's entire front clip would be torn off before even the Grand Cherokee sustained a scuff.
But OK, this is a show car, not a production vehicle. And auto show vehicles must ride on insanely large wheels wearing tires with insanely short sidewalls. And the Trailhawk is no exception. Its massive wheel flares hunker down over 22-inch wheels sporting 305/45 tires. Not exactly Trail Rated, those. Whatever. We understand what Jeep was going for: a great-looking off-roader. And we like it.
Designer Vardis notes that due to its long 116-inch wheelbase (the same as the Wrangler Unlimited on which it's based) "the dash-to-front axle dimension is dramatically long, giving the vehicle a sense of forward motion...." We wish the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 looked this fast and purposeful. Actually, we wish the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 looked exactly like the Trailhawk in general. With the Wrangler frame come Wrangler transfer case and solid front and rear axles and, in theory, Wrangler-like on-road handling.
Better T-top than an '80s Firebird
Because the Trailhawk is built on the Wrangler ladder frame instead of using a Grand Cherokee-like unibody structure, the body really only needs enough structure to hold itself up. The stiffness derives mostly from the ladder frame. This allows the upper portion of the body to be essentially open, with only one longitudinal piece running from the windshield to the transverse structural element mounted behind the rear doors.
There is no B-pillar. Remove the two large pieces of glass from over the driver and passenger seats, power down the side windows, remove the tailgate glass as well as the glass panel above the cargo area and you have an almost totally open vehicle. Think of it as a Wrangler with a sassy-looking roll cage. Instead of a hatchback, the Trailhawk uses a pickup-truck-style, bottom-hinged tailgate.
Sensibly, the Trailhawk uses the same 3.0-liter common-rail-diesel V6 engine as is available in production Grand Cherokees. This Mercedes-Benz-sourced engine makes a relatively modest 215 horsepower but cranks out a whopping 376 pound-feet of twisty, turny torque action. For those who are counting, that's one more pound-foot than the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. The oil-burner is bolted to the same five-speed automatic as in the Grand Cherokee.
Utilitarian chic
The interior is utilitarian chic, carefully designed to look as if function were the only concern. Two large satin-finish metal cylinders house the main gauges. Five smaller cylinders are set into the dash, four are air-conditioning vents, one is a secondary gauge. The center looks like a black second-generation iPod. The center console is an open trough that runs all the way from the dash to the back of the passenger cabin. As we said, utilitarian chic.
Even the Trailhawk's paint scheme fits that moniker. The upper part of the body is a pearly-finish silver. The wheel flares and the lower portion of the body are painted with a slightly darker version of the same silver with a matte-finish. It gives the Trailhawk a quasi-industrial, almost militaristic vibe.
The cargo area incorporates a removable iPod-compatible boom box as well as a first-aid kit, with which you could repair yourself after a particularly rough outing to Walgreens.
Liberty or death?
The answer is probably the latter. Contrary to earlier reports, the Trailhawk does not preview the look of the next Jeep Liberty, which will be much more to current Jeep aesthetics. The Jeep Trailhawk concept is more design exercise than preview. Will future Jeeps incorporate some of the styling features, such as the fierce-looking front? Probably. But they won't look as cool. Neither will all future Jeeps be Compass-like freak shows though. So there's that.
As a counterpunch to the goofy, little Compass tall-car-thingy now sitting on dealer lots? Certainly, Chrysler is not saying that, either. We're just saying that's exactly what it looks like.
From where we sit, a wicked-looking, off-road-capable truck with a wicked name like "Trailhawk" is the perfect antidote for that hideous Dodge Caliber-based crossover thing. And if we learned how to draw, we would probably do as Jeep designers did and give this truck the mother of all T-tops because, well, why wouldn't we?
Designers say the darndest things
Primary exterior designer, Nick Vardis, did not say, "We took a Grand Cherokee body and beat its roof mercilessly with a gigantic meat tenderizer until it got real flat and wide and mean and all the essence of suburban mom-mobile oozed out the sides. Then we threw it on a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited frame and called it 'cool.'" But we think he should have.
Head honcho of Chrysler Group Design, Trevor Creed, did say, "It has the same approach and departure angles as a Wrangler." But he shouldn't have. While playing up the "Trail Rated" capability of the concept, Creed might have gotten carried away. According to Jeep's own specifications, neither the approach nor departure angle is nearly as off-road-worthy as the Wrangler. In fact, the Trailhawk's entire front clip would be torn off before even the Grand Cherokee sustained a scuff.
But OK, this is a show car, not a production vehicle. And auto show vehicles must ride on insanely large wheels wearing tires with insanely short sidewalls. And the Trailhawk is no exception. Its massive wheel flares hunker down over 22-inch wheels sporting 305/45 tires. Not exactly Trail Rated, those. Whatever. We understand what Jeep was going for: a great-looking off-roader. And we like it.
Designer Vardis notes that due to its long 116-inch wheelbase (the same as the Wrangler Unlimited on which it's based) "the dash-to-front axle dimension is dramatically long, giving the vehicle a sense of forward motion...." We wish the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 looked this fast and purposeful. Actually, we wish the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 looked exactly like the Trailhawk in general. With the Wrangler frame come Wrangler transfer case and solid front and rear axles and, in theory, Wrangler-like on-road handling.
Better T-top than an '80s Firebird
Because the Trailhawk is built on the Wrangler ladder frame instead of using a Grand Cherokee-like unibody structure, the body really only needs enough structure to hold itself up. The stiffness derives mostly from the ladder frame. This allows the upper portion of the body to be essentially open, with only one longitudinal piece running from the windshield to the transverse structural element mounted behind the rear doors.
There is no B-pillar. Remove the two large pieces of glass from over the driver and passenger seats, power down the side windows, remove the tailgate glass as well as the glass panel above the cargo area and you have an almost totally open vehicle. Think of it as a Wrangler with a sassy-looking roll cage. Instead of a hatchback, the Trailhawk uses a pickup-truck-style, bottom-hinged tailgate.
Sensibly, the Trailhawk uses the same 3.0-liter common-rail-diesel V6 engine as is available in production Grand Cherokees. This Mercedes-Benz-sourced engine makes a relatively modest 215 horsepower but cranks out a whopping 376 pound-feet of twisty, turny torque action. For those who are counting, that's one more pound-foot than the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. The oil-burner is bolted to the same five-speed automatic as in the Grand Cherokee.
Utilitarian chic
The interior is utilitarian chic, carefully designed to look as if function were the only concern. Two large satin-finish metal cylinders house the main gauges. Five smaller cylinders are set into the dash, four are air-conditioning vents, one is a secondary gauge. The center looks like a black second-generation iPod. The center console is an open trough that runs all the way from the dash to the back of the passenger cabin. As we said, utilitarian chic.
Even the Trailhawk's paint scheme fits that moniker. The upper part of the body is a pearly-finish silver. The wheel flares and the lower portion of the body are painted with a slightly darker version of the same silver with a matte-finish. It gives the Trailhawk a quasi-industrial, almost militaristic vibe.
The cargo area incorporates a removable iPod-compatible boom box as well as a first-aid kit, with which you could repair yourself after a particularly rough outing to Walgreens.
Liberty or death?
The answer is probably the latter. Contrary to earlier reports, the Trailhawk does not preview the look of the next Jeep Liberty, which will be much more to current Jeep aesthetics. The Jeep Trailhawk concept is more design exercise than preview. Will future Jeeps incorporate some of the styling features, such as the fierce-looking front? Probably. But they won't look as cool. Neither will all future Jeeps be Compass-like freak shows though. So there's that.
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