I call the Compass "Jeep Lite" - an economy wagon, available with front-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive, cosmetically endowed with Jeep's traditional seven-slot grille and Jeep badges, but little else that would make a real Jeep lover, one of those people who find spiritual renewal in driving over rocks and fording streams, want to buy.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. It's all a matter of perspective, which gets us back to the business of giving necessity a kind face.

DaimlerChrysler's Jeep group is in business to make money more than it is to make classic rough-riding models, such as the Jeep Wrangler.

But rising fuel prices, the trenchant nastiness of the anti-SUV crowd and the preference of American consumers for form over function have all combined to hurt sales of traditional Jeeps.