The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a Mid-size SUV produced by the Jeep division of Chrysler. While some other SUVs were manufactured with body on frame construction, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has always used a unibody chassis. The Grand Cherokee's origins date back to 1983 when American Motors engineers were designing a successor to the smaller Jeep Cherokee . Three outside designers—Larry Shinoda, Adam Clenet, and Giorgetto Giugiaro—were under contract with AMC to create and build a clay model of the Cherokee replacement, then known as the "XJC" project. However, the basic design for the... Cherokee's replacement was well under way by AMC's in-house designers and the 1989 Jeep Concept 1 show car foretold the basic design. The Grand Cherokee was the first Chrysler-badged Jeep product. Development work for the new model continued and Chrysler employees were eager for a late-1980s release date; however, CEO Lee Iacocca was pushing for redesigned Chrysler minivans, thus delaying the Grand Cherokee's release until late 1992 as an Explorer competitor.
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