The Jeep Cherokee is a case study in how long a solid design can remain viable,even when some of its elements have become dated.
When it was introduced back in 1984, the four-door Cherokee was tres
chic, scooping up all kinds of "of-the-year" awards and helping
to launch America on its amazing romance with sport-utility vehicles. Cherokees
began sprouting in suburban driveways like mushrooms, and for awhile the
Cherokee Limited--black with gold pin-striping--was the height of automotive
fashion.
But today the Cherokee seems a little old and blocky, an impression
that's mitigated by a modest interior update for 1997.
For all that, we're still inclined to think of the Cherokee as one of
the better SUV buys going, particularly with the 190-horsepower six-cylinder
engine. It's brisk on the street--with a five-speed manual transmission,
it's one of the very few sport-utilities capable of reaching 60 mph in
less than eight seconds--and it's thoroughly capable when the pavement
ends.
No surprise there. It is, after all, a Jeep. However, a look at the
window sticker for our tester, a '97 Cherokee Sport four-door, made us