The 1984 Jeep Cherokee was rightly called a
‘masterpiece’ by Robert Cumberford, the ancient Zen Master of car design
commentary. The work of American Motors’ good ole boy Richard A Teague with
help from partners at Renault, it was a brilliant combination of American and
European influences: tough, but elegant. Thirty years on, no-one is going to
call its 2013 successor, another combination of US and Euro influences, a chef
d’oeuvre of any sort.
2014
Cherokee built on Fiat Group’s modular Compact U.S. Wide (CUS-wide) platform,
as is the Dodge Dart
A lot of rubbish is spoken about brands,
but that’s not to say they are meaningless. Certainly, if you have lots of
brand values, don’t throw them away. Jeep had them in spades: ruggedized
Americana with the semantics of unstoppability and a heady top-note of military
butch. Plus no fear of hard edges. The 2014 Cherokee looks Korean. All the
carefully evolved meanings of ‘Jeep’, an asset of fantastic value, have been
blended into an inoffensive globular Omni car.
I passed photos around a busy Soho design
studio. Comments included: ‘It’s got an idiotic face’; ‘I have a Kia already’
and ‘Whatever were they thinking of?’ Passions were muted. Feelings were not
much stirred. People soon returned to work. I sensed an opportunity had been
missed.
The Cherokee is a blameless compilation
album of easy-viewing current clichés. These include the ‘expressive’ lower
intake, the Squidged lights (artlessly emphasizing an oriental aspect),
faired-in trapezoidal exhausts and the rising hip-line which slavishly evokes
the Evoque. All this has been smoothed into an internationalist compromise, as
flawed and boring as any treaty. All identity has been lost in an apology, a
refection perhaps of America’s own more generalized loss of faith.
Cabin
introduces new tech, like a touchscreen central display and a reconfigurable
LED instrument cluster to complement the more premium look and feel
In great designs the internal meanings are
clearly expressed externally. Pitiably, the Cherokee’s bland features mask an
interesting specification: form has not followed function, but trailed a long,
depressing way behind. There is an unavoidable truth: a design not inspired by
the passions will not excite them.
In
great designs the internal meanings are clearly expressed externally
