Jeep Cherokee Chief 1980 Heir to the Quality for the Young You
In 1974, using the SJ platform of the Wagoneer, Jeep introduced the Jeep Cherokee. While Wagoneer focused on the family, Jeep Cherokee was marketed as sporty and youthful. The Cherokee was introduced as direct competition, to sway customers to keep buying jeep instead of Chevrolet K5 or Ford Bronchos. In 1980 the federal government had laid down guidelines that made many automakers scrambling to bring in more fuel-efficient models. And so the Jeep Cherokee too had to follow. The company decided to downsize to a compact crossover, from its full-size SUV. This generation of models of Cherokee to follow the government regulations featured a unibody lightweight design that improved the fuel economy. Jeep made their model smaller and lighter which caught the fancy of the youth. Essentially, Cherokee created a new class. Jeep Cherokee Chief 1980 boasted of keeping the tradition of quality and could be depended on for rough roads while being smaller and lighter. Where Jeep CJ-5 left, the Cher...