2011 Jeep Wrangler on 2040-cars

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Jeepster name may be used for Fiat-based baby Jeep

In 1948, Willys-Overland, the forbearers of Jeep, built a vehicle called the Jeepster. It was a funky little thing, designed as a mix of the more rugged Jeeps that came before with what was then a modern car, which arguably makes it the world's first crossover. The name was later revived from 1966 to 1972, which means for Jeep enthusiasts, it has some history.
Now, the modern Jeep brand may revive the Jeepster name for a new product, likely based on Fiat bones, that will slot in at the bottom of the brand's range underneath the soon-to-depart Compass and Patriot. The report comes from Australia's Drive, which cites a dealer source that has seen the vehicle.
That same dealer confirmed there is a link between the Jeepster and the rumored Fiat 500X, and that the former will be available in both front and all-wheel-drive variants. The source also claims both gas and diesel engines will be available, although as this is an Aussie site, we shouldn't take that to mean we'll get a diesel Jeepster in the US.

Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of FCA

The CEO of Hyundai Motor Group plans to launch a takeover bid for Fiat Chrysler ahead of the planned retirement of FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne next spring, Asia Times reports, citing unnamed sources close the situation. CEO Chung Mong-koo will wait for an expected decline in the Italian-American automaker's shares to make his move. Hyundai isn't commenting on the rumors, unsurprisingly, but would presumably stand to benefit by gaining Chrysler's dealer network and the lucrative Jeep brand and probably Ram, too. An FCA spokeswoman in Auburn Hills told Autoblog the company had no comment. But like any story about a possible takeover, this one gets complicated with inside players — and President Trump's posturing on international trade issues. FCA has been the subject of takeover interest before, including by Hyundai, but Marchionne has denied a merger was likely, instead saying his company was in talks with the Korean automaker about a technical partnership. In 2015, Marchionne lobbied General Motors hard, but unsuccessfully, for a tie-up; he was also spurned by Volkswagen. Marchionne had repeatedly stressed the need for car companies to merge to decrease overcapacity and better afford the massive investments needed for things like autonomous and electric vehicles. In the case of Hyundai's reported interest, there is a cast of characters. One is Paul Singer, principal of the hedge fund Elliott Management, an activist shareholder with a $1 billion stake in Hyundai and a major owner of equities in Fiat's home turf of Italy. Then there is FCA Chairman John Elkann, who reportedly disagrees with Marchionne on a successor as CEO of Fiat Chrysler but has little interest in running the company himself and would prefer a merger. Compounding things is what the Trump administration would think of a further blending of Fiat Chrysler's international DNA, though a deal with a Korean automaker is thought to be more palatable to the president and members of Congress than by a Chinese conglomerate like Great Wall Motor, which has confirmed its interest in taking over all or parts of FCA. The full Asia Times piece is here. Related Video: News Source: Asia TimesImage Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Chrysler Fiat Hyundai Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA merger takeover

2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Alaska Cannonball | Oregon is on fire

Our man Jonathon Ramsey is driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on a 14-week, 14,000 mile journey across North America. Check out his first, second, and third installments.Port Orford, Ore. – On arrival at Battle Rock, just off the southern coast of Oregon, I had completed the (other) Trans-America Trail. It's a worthy Bucket List endeavor even before you get to the bits that challenge a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. The first tests came in western Oklahoma, tiptoeing through and around swampy farmland. Once I got to Colorado, the difficulty scale increased with each day's driving. By the time I hit wildfires and constant detours in Oregon, I was ready for the trail to end. Here are a few more notes from the last half: When I filled up in Columbia, North Carolina just before getting to Oregon Inlet, the odometer showed 12,294 miles. When I filled up in Port Orford before heading north to Seattle, the odo read 18,008, for nearly 6,000 miles in three weeks. GPSKevin says his trail covers 5,184 miles, but detours are an unavoidable part of the experience. Utah wins my vote for the widest variety of beauty. Crossing into southeastern Utah from Colorado, the landscape is full of desert farms and endless visibility to mountains at the ends of the Earth in Monticello. It's plush high plains greenery on the way up and down Geyser Pass, then the rocky red pioneer-killing cauldron of The Spanish Valley and Moab. Scrub-filled rock formations stretch to Salina, then back up to verdant forests in both halves of Fishlake National Forest. A final rocky stretch west of Sevier, Utah fell into a rolling golden land past Black Rock, another trip into sparer mountains, then the final comedown to Baker, Nevada. Moab gets all the Jeep love, but there's plenty of fun all over the state. In Ely, Nevada I met a Harley rider headed east out of Oregon who told me, "It's all on fire. Whole state. On fire." The haze began not long after leaving Ely. By the time I departed Battle Mountain, Nevada hills showed their own scorched-earth scars, and science-fiction gray skies hid entire mountain chains. Detours were already longer and lengthier in the West because of closed roads, locked gates, and "No Tresspassing" signs. Now fire-centric detours and turnarounds joined the routine. The last day on the trail in Oregon, a 114-mile route from Glendale, through the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest to Port Orford, was the hardest.