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WWII Jeep 'found in crate' set to cross Greenwich auction block

Fans of old military vehicles might want to pay extra close attention to the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance coming up this weekend. Crossing the Bonhams auction block on Sunday are a pair of seemingly flawless World War II Jeeps, which are both expected to fetch serious dollars.
Lot Number 305 at the auction is a 1945 Ford GPW Jeep that has been fully restored, which is expected to command between $35,000 and $45,000. Shortly after the Ford GPW, a potentially more interesting 1944 Willys MB (shown above) will be auctioned off, but Hemmings raises some red flags about this Jeep. First, it is claiming to have been "discovered in its original crate about 30 years ago," but there is no proof or documentation of any sort. Also, it is claiming to be all original, but it was given a paint job "shortly after it was discovered." Even with these questionable descriptions, this Willys could reach between $20,000 and $30,000. Head over to Bonhams' site and Hemmings for more information on both WW2-era Jeeps.

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.

NHTSA closes book on Jeep 'trailer hitch' recall after all

After much debating and hand-wringing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now says it has "no reservations" with Chrysler's plan to recall certain Jeep Liberty and Grand Cherokee models over concerns that their fuel tanks, which are located behind the rear axle, could rupture or leak in the event of a rear impact. The longstanding argument between the two entities saw Chrysler openly defy the Feds after a request to recall 2.7 million units back in June.
Chrysler's "voluntary campaign" will instead see it recall 1.56-million 1993-2004 model year Grand Cherokee SUVs, along with 2002-2007 Liberty models. Affected vehicles will get a trailer hitch installed free of charge, which Chrysler says will provide an additional degree of protection for the fuel tanks in the event of a crash. Jeeps with Mopar-branded hitches or hitches that were installed at the factory aren't affected by this recall.
Chrysler's argument throughout this battle has been that the Jeeps in question are no more susceptible to fires than comparable vehicles from the same time period, a position that NHTSA has seemingly arrived at as well. "Those vehicles performed at a rate similar to their peers. That is the keystone analysis as to whether something poses an unreasonable risk to safety," said outgoing NHTSA boss David Strickland during an interview with the The Associated Press.