The Jeep Cherokee is a unibody compact SUV. It shared the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a body-on-frame chassis, it set the stage for the modern SUV. Its innovative appearance and sales popularity spawned important imitators as other automakers began to notice that this model began replacing regular cars. It was built in Toledo, Ohio, in Beijing, China, in Ferreyra, Argentina and Valencia, Venezuela. The XJ platform provided the mechanical basis for the MJ-series Jeep Comanche pickup. The XJ was selected by Robert Cumberford of Automobile magazine as one of the 20... greatest cars of all time, calling it "possibly the best SUV shape of all time, it is the paradigmatic model to which other designers have since aspired". Designs of the XJ Cherokee date back to 1978 when a team of American Motors and Renault engineers drew several sketches. A few clay models were based on the existing SJ Cherokee. Early sketches of the XJ Cherokee had a European influence, and most of the styling cues were done by AMC engineers under the direction of Richard A. Teague, Vice President of Design. This was a "masterpiece" design and paradigmatic model.
more