Don’t pay too much attention to our claim elsewhere on this site that the original Willys is a better off-roader than the Wrangler! If the Wrangler has a fault, could it be that it’s just too refined to feel like a credible hard-core mudplugger? Hey, we’re only making the point because we like a bit of rough from time to time - and rough the Wrangler ain’t. Jeep’s engineers have done a marvellous job in keeping the iconic styling – inside and out – while at the same time turning the Wrangler into a completely feasible family estate with comfortable seats and plenty of legroom front and rear, not to mention the stunning MyGIG “infotainment” system with its Harman/Kardon touch screen audio and hands-free communication system with satellite navigation and voice recognition. Who needs to be fiddling with audio buttons when the car’s up to its axles in mud and slime?

There’s still a lot of old Wrangler feel on the inside, particularly in a car fitted with the Freedom hard-top where the lack of rooflining combined with the rollover bar with its inbuilt speakers recalls classic TJ styling themes. There are also big differences, though. Talking from the point of view of someone who’s covered thousands of motorway miles in clothtop YJ and TJ Wranglers, the modern Wrangler is a delight to cruise on the highway, thanks to the more car-like seating and driving position, and even the drone of the turbodiesel ceased to intrude once we’d got used to it. But it was off-road that the Wrangler impressed most, riding comfortably on rough trails and exhibiting so much axle articulation that we really had to search to find somewhere for it to lift a wheel, and even then the traction control just kept it rolling on.
Of course we bellied it on a rock – who wouldn’t? I’m afraid we rather go by that old off-roading axiom that if you haven’t got it stuck somewhere you just haven’t been trying hard enough. In this case, however, it was simply inevitable. We’d just eased the Wrangler down a steep and badly rutted track, which it had handled with great aplomb thanks to the effective engine braking provided by the VM oil-burner, and had to squeeze it well over to one side of the trail to aim it accurately over the clump of rocks at the bottom of the hollow where Wayne had pointed out a passable route. The long-wheelbase Unlimited was just too long and heavy to stay up on the side of the angled track, however, and just as we eased it over towards the rocks gravity took charge and slid the tail end sideways, pulling the Jeep out of line and into trouble. Okay, maybe if we’d dropped the tyre pressures a bar or so beforehand she’d have found enough traction on the slippery surface to stick to her line a little longer, all the more annoying to think about in retrospect since we had Ruby III on hand with her on-board compressor to fatten the rubber up again afterwards. Still, claims from some critics that the Wrangler doesn’t have enough ground clearance need to be taken with a pinch of salt – it’s got ten inches and a clean undertray, which is more than many of the pretentious luxury SUV crowding the city streets can boast. Anything with a long wheelbase is going to be prone to snagging – so bring on the sweet-revving 3.8-litre standard-wheelbase Rubicon with its Tru-lok diffs, crawler low range gearing and demountable sway bar…who says the Willys is the better off-roader? Suffice it to say that the quick thrash around the Langdale Quest site left us with the distinct feeling that the Wrangler, with its trademark seven-slot grille, exposed door hinges, round headlamps, fold-down screen, removable doors and stick-shift 4x4 system - and in spite of its refinement and technical sophistication – still embodies the gutsy off-road spirit of its ‘40s granddady, thereby ensuring our seal of approval..