The characteristics that make a car good are quite different to those that make it interesting. We’ve known this for years, but the theory is less prominent nowadays, because today’s cars are decent to excellent on almost every front. However, the Jeep Wrangler, my car for the next few months, is a glorious exception. It takes you right back into an era of old-school variability, laughing at sober perfectionism, and makes your life all the better for that.
It has already been a couple of weeks since this Wrangler – a sensible-spec Sahara, rather than an even more aggressive and offroady Rubicon – arrived in the car park. Since then, I’ve spent quite a few hours trying to identify why exactly I’m enjoying it so much.
The ride comfort is pretty poor. The cabin access isn’t great. The rear load compartment is nothing special and exposed to the gaze of passers-by. At speed, the steering needs your best concentration or you will wander all over the place. There’s lost motion at the straightahead. And with the solitary option of a £965 Firecracker Red paint job, it costs £62,090, so it’s no bargain, even if it undercuts a similarly equipped (which is to say wellequipped) Land Rover Defender by at least £10,000. That’s more of a comment on the Defender.