Real. It’s what Jeeps, such as the Wrangler, are. Real SUVs that allow you to put the top (and windshield) down and experience the real world around you. You can feel the wind blowing through your hair and the sun warming your skin, smell the flowers and the trees that flank the trail you’re going down. Fittingly, the head of Jeep design since 2009, Mark Allen, kept things real in an interview with Automotive News.
For instance, he told the publication that when he started with Jeep back in 1994 that the Wrangler was something the company built and sold in the summer months. Boy, has that schedule changed. So have the available body styles of the Wrangler. According to Allen, the Wrangler probably would’ve died without the four-door Unlimited version.
Jeep itself was a relative afterthought. Allen said, “Jeeps were maintained; they [Chrysler executives] weren’t really pushing it. They would get somebody that was working on whatever and put them in Jeep for a little while, and then move them out. We weren’t branded the way we are now under Fiat.”
Allen went on to say that the CJ-5, his favorite Jeep design, was the first vehicle from the company that really involved the input of designers. In his opinion, flat-fender Jeeps weren’t so much styled as they were put together to perform functions, such as holding up the headlights and keeping mud off of passengers.
That lack of intent is also a part of the Jeep brand’s history as a whole. Allen said, “It was never set up to be a car company. It was never set up to be a brand. They just put things together and somehow it worked. Look at the M715 truck. I love that thing to death. It’s not sexy. It’s not cool. It’s dorky. But I just think it looks so rugged and tough. Had we gotten involved in the styling department, we would have ruined it!”
Jeep’s designers have a much more active role in the company these days, giving models such as the Renegade jerrycan “X” elements and other Jeeps little Jeep-themed design touches. Given the way Jeeps have been selling, it doesn’t look as if Allen and his crew have messed anything up.
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.
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