Drive.com.au is reporting Chrysler's well-known plans to repackage the five-door Fiat 500X as a Jeep will revive the "Jeepster" moniker to create a new bottom-rung SUV for Jeep's lineup.
It may surprise you to learn that the name is not a nod to the 1971 single, but rather is a title Jeep has traditionally bestowed upon "car-like" vehicles.
After World War II, Jeep had to diversify its offerings from military-only vehicles to remain relevant. So they built the Wrangler's predecessor the "CJ", along with a pickup and a spartan station wagon. In 1948, Jeep tried something they hoped would have even greater mass appeal: a passenger car dubbed the Willys-Overland "Jeepster." Reception was somewhat tepid and production ceased in 1950.
The name resurfaced in 1966 with the Kaiser C-101 Jeepster Commando, a vehicle similar in concept to the previous Jeepster, and again in 1999 with a bubbliciously-90's car concept revealed at the Detroit Auto Show. With that history in mind, the choice to trot out the old nameplate once more on the latest "Jeep/car" makes a bit more sense.
So purists can relax, we've been here before.
The Aussies are speculating the new soft-roader will be available with both AWD and FWD options, as well as a range of gasoline and diesel engines. Though here in the US I reckon we'll be deprived of the latter.
Spy shots don't reveal much beyond the fact that it looks like a Fiat 500 but I expect a bit more cladding and a vertically-slatted front grille, the which I speculated in the elegant render above. I wouldn't be surprised if a giant canvas sunroof was offered as well, to add a bit of outdoorsy panache.
According to reports, the car is scheduled to be revealed at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, and production is intended to commence late next year.
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