It’s hard to believe, but we’re on the downhill slide to 2001 being 20 years ago. It’s easier to accept when you think of all of the things that have changed since then. In January of 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as President of the United States for the first time. The iPhone didn’t exist. Neither did Twitter. The 2001 model year also marked the end of the Jeep Cherokee – in a way.
When the off-roader was overhauled and redesigned from a boxy ute to a curvier trail cruiser for the 2002 model year, it was renamed the Liberty for the North American market. It lived on with the Cherokee badge on its new sheetmetal in other markets, though. Take the UK, for instance. The Cherokee is what Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame knew our Liberty as. And the Cherokee is what he drove for the program Men and Motors back in the day, as shown in the video below.
In his review of the then-new Cherokee, Hammond deems it a Jeep born in a time when soft-roaders were the new automotive trend. Although better in ways than its predecessor, the Cherokee is remarkably different from its non-Jeep rivals in terms of road feel.
People in Hammond’s part of the world received the KJ Cherokee in two trim levels: the monochromatic Limited and the more basic and rugged-looking Sport. Hammond takes the latter through a Jeep-designed off-road course.
That’s when another difference between now and 2001 becomes apparent. After years of watching him on Top Gear, we’ve become accustomed to seeing Hammond fling million-dollar exotics around race tracks calmly, many times without a helmet. Back in ’01, Hammond took the Liberty Cherokee into the rough with his nerves on edge and his eyes on his trail spotter as he crawled rocks.
However, that only goes to show one thing that’s remained the same after all this time: It’s always a good idea to go wheeling with an extra set of eyes keeping your rig from getting beat up by Mother Nature.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
