RE:Chrysler AWD systems-long rant

[MSV96@aol.com]

In a note date 1/29/97 George S Achorn III writes:

<snip>as all Jeeps must be built to do the Rubicon Trail. That is a quote
from Bob Lutz himself.<snip>
Nice to see that the Jeep heritage is being kept alive-as a one time
Comanchee (w/ 2.5 I4) pick-up owner and "classic" Cherokee fancier it is nice
to hear.
<snip>Jeep other than gas mileage, and they compare it to a Grand Cherokee V6
or V8 and not a Cherokee 4cyl.<snip>
Ahh, that must be the same 2.5 I4 I had...got 17 hwy and far less around town
(worse than an F150 super-cab with 4.9 I6 that I later owned BTW)...no milage
champ-BUT a great little motor for a truck. The V8 OTOH is the ONLY engine to
blow on me during a new car test drive (Dakota super-cab w/magnum V8, head
gasket or cracked head-white smoke so dense cars behind me had to stop due to
lack of visibility...at 70 miles old!!!).
<snip>Just because Chrysler is not Audi does not mean that they deserve to be
trashed.<snip>
You are correct...because they are not Audi is indeed no reason to trach
them. I was worried what would happen to Jeep once they were bought out by
Chrysler, and my worries were for the most part unfounded. However, one of my
lifelong friends is outdoors editor for an Idaho newspaper and he owns (and
really uses!!!) a classic Cherokee. There are many Cherokee and Grand
Cherokee owners up there he knows that really use these for what they are
intended. The reliability reputation of the "Grand" is far worse up there
than the "classic" (Jeep design vs. Chrysler's). Add to this the illegal
reselling of used cars bought back under CA. lemon law, minivan door latches,
minivan 4cyl woes, I could go on but you get my point. I personaly will never
own a Chrysler product, in spite of the fact that they may be the most
innovative car company in the US today, not because they are not Audi, but
because they have turned me off for many other reasons-not the least of which
was that magnum V8 blowing up on a test drive!!! I have some specific car
hatrids too which have only some basis on reality-screwed by Toyota in 1985,
I will never own Japanese cars of any type again. Hondas followed very
closely by Chrysler mommievans are THE MOST in-the-way cars on the road in
this area and always seem to be in the left lane below the speed limit, and
doing stupid things, since these cars are bought as appliances like a blender
or some such thing. The list goes on and all car companies have their
quirks-but-I do love Audi quattro's as we all do on this list (I'd hope!) and
have respect for the entire automotive engineering field today-Chrysler has
done some great things in recent years but I still will not own one.

Mike Veglia
85 4kq