Renegade sure to be a hit in South Africa

1920s Willys-Overlander

 JEEP launched the “baby Jeep”, officially called the Renegade, at the recent Geneva Motor Show. And no, above old car is not it. That will be veteran car lover Dave Fall (left) and restorer Fred Bitter, (one of the very rare 1938-born, Rhodesian-made mechanical engineers that can fix anything from a ship to a  bicycle).
Bitter restored this 1920s Willys-Overlander from the wheel spokes up to the licence disk, and the four-liter engine now runs like clockwork.
Stopping with those old milk bottle tops for brakes is another matter altogether and as for parking, well, find a level spot, for the total loss oil system drains into the sump, from where a willing leather seal will let it all drip out.

This is the Jeep Renegade

Jeep's new Renegade is precisley not like the old Willys-Overlander which the company had built in Toledo, Ohio in the 1920s, but it is almost as long as the Willys Jeep built 20 years later for World War Two.

The Renegade rides a 277 cm wheelbase, which is only 1,5 cm longer than that of the original Willys General Purpose vehicle (G P ... jee-pee... Jeep, get it?), which was of course made short enough to park in a Dakota during the Second World War in the 1940s. 

But the Renegades bodywork is larger than that of a Kia Soul or Nissan Juke, both automotive icons in their own right with which the new Renegade will compete in the subcompact crossover niche.

In South Africa, other competitors include the GWM M4 at one end, the Toyota RAV4 on the other end and the Renault Duster in the middle.

The Renegade looks on paper to have the beating of them all in the rough, with a choice of two separate 4x4 systems.

Jeeps Active Drive take power to the front wheels and only engages the rear drive shaft when wheel slip is detected. Like most of these 4x4 systems, all the power can be sent to any wheel as needed. Jeep’s Active Drive Low system low range, with a 20:1 ratio rock crawl mode.

Both systems include Jeep’s traditional Selec-Terrain feature, which lets a driver choose from five different modes (Auto, Snow, Sand, or Mud, plus an additional Rock mode on a Trail Rated Trailhawk model).

The Renegade comes with either of two engines — either the same 1,4 turbo as is used in the Fiat 500 or a 2,4 litre that should be good for towing a teardrop caravan (see page 11) without getting too thirsty. Each engine will be offered with a six-speed manual gearbox or the new nine-speed automatic transmission first launched in the Renegade’s 2014 Jeep Cherokee.

You won't find this logo hidden on the new Renegade.
It is the original Overland, a 4-lthat made less
power than the new Renegade's 1,4 turbo petrol.

Car and Driver reports that Jeep’s design team hid Easter eggs all over the Renegade. If you read our debut story, you’ll know about the topographic map of Moab hiding in the stowage bin beneath the centre stack, but the exterior design team tells us there are a number of other hidden gems throughout the vehicle.

We were able to spot silhouettes of Willys Jeeps printed on the wheels and the grille-and-headlights emblem stamped on the inside of the tailgate and in the tail lights, but Jeep won’t reveal the rest. “Part of the fun of owning the vehicle is discovering them,” we’re told.

According to Car and Driver, hiding logos is becoming a trend in new Fiat Chrysler vehicles — the new 200 has the skyline of Detroit hidden in its interior, and the Viper’s cabin features circuit maps of Laguna Seca and other historic tracks — and we’re told it will continue.

Jeep said it expects to sell more Renegades in Europe than in the U.S., where it predicts sales of up to 150 000 Renegades a year, starting in May. All of them will be built in a Fiat factory in Italy. Exports to other markets must still be confirmed, but with South Africans liking their small 4x4 vehicles, it is sure to come to our shores too, despite the small size of our market.