The 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk will be hitting dealerships this fall. Before then, it’ll be helping Earthlings attack the aliens trying to invade this planet in Independence Day: Resurgence.
We beat them in the 1996 movie Independence Day, but we didn’t completely defeat them. On June 24, we’ll get the chance to finish what the predatory aliens started 20 years ago. It won’t be easy and the terrain that they’ll create with all of the havoc they’ll wreak will be just as rough. The Grand Cherokee Trailhawk will take it on with its Kevlar-reinforced 18-inch Goodyear Adventure off-road tires, 10.8 inches of maximum ground clearance, and 36.1-degree peak approach angle.
Although we can guess, we don’t know exactly how Independence Day: Resurgence will end. However, we do know that we’ll get a chance to drive the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk up in Michigan later this month at FCA’s What’s New Media Event. We’ll be happy to spoil the ending of that for you.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
