Return of Rebel?

Chrysler Fiat trademarks name "Rebel."

Will it be a cool car?

How long until someone calls the name Rebel "racist?"

After years of decline under that german auto-maker and the investment firm (what were THEY thinking they knew about the business?) the Jeep product lines are being upgraded by innovative redesign and culling of models that can best be described as lacking. By returning to their roots with the 2011 Grand Cherokee, a refreshing wheels-up redesign that brought back the expected and desired appointments to replace the cheesy interiors, it was clear that a new direction was in the works. The design really rocks. [Disclaimer: my 2011 Overland is the fifth Grand Cherokee I have owned so you might say I'm a Jeep guy]

The recently introduced Renegade looks like it will fit well in the line. The Wrangler of course is solid and most representative of the lineage. The Compass is a downscaled Cherokee and I suspect the target market is younger females who feel the Grand Cherokee too much vehicle and also want to buy in the 20K - 30K range. [Another disclaimer: my SO owned 4 Laredos, and after the '02 died got a Compass at my urging. She's still speaking to me but let's say is underwhelmed in comparison to the Laredos she so loved]. The Patriot is, well, curious, and I predict will be phased out IMNSHO.

Having said all this, I'm tempted to think the Rebel will be a new, kick-ass Jeep model worthy of the name. But it seems the Jeep line would be too crowded with a Wrangler-like positioning cannibalizing sales, so I believe it will be a daring Dodge design -- some muscle reminiscent of the late 60's and early 70's like the Challenger -- but a way-cool modern rendition.

God damn Chrysler, man. JUST BE ORIGINAL!! I'm tired of all these rehashes and reanimations and zombification of names long dead. Do something new for once.

Rant over, a Rebel would be a good name for a Jeep product. I won't say I think it will be, but I can see what chickenman is getting at. You know how a Raptor is like a F-150 on steroids? I can see a Rebel being like a buff and toughed up version of a Wrangler or something.

An old Yiddish expression: Neither houses nor cars should be blue. And that goes double for Jeeps! :-)

Quote: Face

God damn Chrysler, man. JUST BE ORIGINAL!! I'm tired of all these rehashes and reanimations and zombification of names long dead. Do something new for once.

Rant over, a Rebel would be a good name for a Jeep product. I won't say I think it will be, but I can see what chickenman is getting at. You know how a Raptor is like a F-150 on steroids? I can see a Rebel being like a buff and toughed up version of a Wrangler or something.

I kind of like it as a cool-sounding name that will indeed drive some people crazy. We used to name cars. Thunderbird, Cougar, Tempest, Polara, and as we see now Rebel.

What do you have today? Q, Q4, 545, 500 (two manufacturers!)

The geniuses at the manufacturers have two reasons for this. One is they do not want any chance of someone thinking "negative" on a name. Never mind that they may think positive, better to not take the chance. Second is they want you to think about the manufacturer. So a Challenger owner likes his Challenger, not his "Dodge."

Give a Rebel yell when you drive it off the lot!

Quote: Face

I can see a Rebel being like a buff and toughed up version of a Wrangler or something.

Jeep tends to do co-branding to develop sub-models. When I went to the dealer to purchase my current model, there on the showroom floor was a Wrangler Call of Duty (R) Black Ops model, machine screw head-studded exterior, a real attitude, a bad machine. Were I thirty years younger I'd have bought that bad boy on the spot. My '97 GC was the Orvis Limited edition - even you'd like that one, Face :)

That's partly why my lean is toward a Dodge model. The Overland is the reincarnation of the Willys-Overland who produced the Jeep style in the late 40's - early 50's. Some of my fondest memories date to when I was a young boy riding in the back of my Dad's buddy's Willys, right on the steel rear fender, bouncing through the back country to go and pick cranberries. The earth has turned over many, many times since then but the memory is as fresh as last weekend. And I can't remember what I had for dinner last night :-(

Quote: AZDuffman

they do not want any chance of someone thinking "negative" on a name.

Reminiscent of the gaff that was the NOVA.

You've struck a nerve here, AZ, really stimulating to take a nostalgic trip occasionally!

Quote: AZDuffman

I kind of like it as a cool-sounding name that will indeed drive some people crazy. We used to name cars. Thunderbird, Cougar, Tempest, Polara, and as we see now Rebel.

What do you have today? Q, Q4, 545, 500 (two manufacturers!)

We've had this conversation, and I get it. The alpha-numeric naming is strictly a European thing, whereas all (?) American cars have names. I'm all for names. I love names. But make a damn name! Stop reviving and living off the past.

Cruze, Fusion, Aveo, Raptor, Leaf, FJ Cruiser... all of these are names that came in the last ten years, and these I just remembered in a quick 2 minutes of thinking. Say any one of these words, and the car immediately pops into my head. Say Raptor and I can see its wide haunches and aggressive, trophy truck-esqe stance. Say Leaf and I can see the tiny dishwasher shape and futuristic styling present in all electro cars. Say Fusion and I can see the rounded nose similar to an Aston Martin. Every one a new name, every one does what it's supposed to.

Why is that so hard? They can Dart all they want; it's just a freaking Neon, I don't care what they say. And it always will be. But if they called it... I dunno... a damn Osprey or something, then it would fit right in next to the Cruze's and the Fusion's and all would be well.

"The new Dodge Osprey. Fly the open road." See? It ain't rocket surgery.

(Trademark pending, all rights reserved) ;)

I like the Osprey suggestion, but didn't the 32nd Amendment to the US Constitution grant the rights to all bird names, extant and future, to Ford in perpetuity?

Quote: chickenman

Reminiscent of the gaff that was the NOVA.

You've struck a nerve here, AZ, really stimulating to take a nostalgic trip occasionally!

The Nova thing is an urban business school legend. The Nova sold well in Mexico, and was for years a favorite of Mexican-Americans. As GM Execs said, "We are not that stupid!"

Later the next generation of GM Execs brought out the Aztek, so yes, they are that stupid. Still doesn't mean it is an urban legend.

Enjoy the trip!