There's a lot of little stuff going on in the world of Jeep these days - here's just a taste...
To begin with, here's another photo of the all-new Jeep concept vehicle, the Jeep Willys. The concept Willys has a 1.6-liter, I-4 supercharged engine with 160 horsepower, a 4-speed automatic transmission and full-time four-wheel drive. Currently, there are no plans for a production model Willys, although as history shows, some elements of the Willys will probably show up in future Jeeps.
Edmunds.com has recently honored the 2001 Jeep Wrangler with its "Most Wanted Specialty SUV". For a complete list of awards won by 2001 Chrysler vehicles, click here.
With all of rumors swirling around about the future of the Jeep product line, it's interesting to hear a high-level denial like the one being reported on Yahoo! Finance. Here's a portion of the article:
The head of General Motors Corp.'s North American automotive operations denied rumors Wednesday the auto maker was interested in buying the Jeep brand from DaimlerChrysler AG.
Some analysts had suggested the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler AG could be forced to sell off assets to reverse a slide that created losses of $1.75 billion in the second half of last year. According to a published report, a rumor in European markets on Wednesday suggested GM would be interested in buying Jeep, which some analysts had valued at $5 billion.
``We're not planning on buying Jeep,'' said Ronald Zarrella, GM's North American president, during media previews for the Chicago Auto Show.
Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish said the rumor was ``absolutely not true.''
Finally, we're proud to break the news on new Jeep toys! Best-Lock Construction Toys has announced a full line of children's toys based on current and past Jeep models. Here's a snippet from the press release:
Rugged. Roadworthy. Tough. Hardy. There's only one Jeep®. And in this case, the Jeep vehicle is eight inches tall.
Best-Lock Construction Toys debuted a new line of construction block sets modeled in the shape of Jeep Wranglers, Cherokees and vintage Willys. The Jeep replicas are built to scale and are accurate down to the tiniest detail.
``For the first time, young boys and girls can 'build' the same Jeep that Mom and Dad drive,'' said Stephen Minsk, Best-Lock Construction Toys worldwide vice president of sales and marketing. ``We are proud to be associated with a timeless brand like Jeep that has such a reputation for strength and ruggedness the world over.''
The toys, which are sold for $9.99, $19.99, and $29.99, will be sold at major retailers nationwide. The block sets will come in 16 different Jeep models, and in different colors and styles such as pink, yellow, camouflage and safari.
Similar to Best-Lock's popular military and construction lines of blocks, the Jeep toys will have pieces that are interchangeable with a child's existing block sets, even with other brands. In addition, the Jeep toys are in scale with its figures, unlike some other brands.
