The fabulous, charismatic Jeep brand was supposed to have been one of the big attractions when Daimler-Benz took over Chrysler in 1998. But after a week spent driving the redesigned 2008 Jeep Liberty through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I couldn’t find anything admirable about it.

Maybe the Germans felt the same way and were filled with despair. If the Americans couldn’t build a wonderful new Jeep, what hope was there for this German-American conglomeration?