When it comes to major metamorphoses within one model line, the 2001 Jeep Cherokee should not be missing. The round, happy-looking model replaced an iconic and very square Cherokee. Of course, that could not appeal to everyone, and daaaanr the facelift of 2005 could not change anything at all.
It’s not surprising that the Cherokee after 2001 was so different from the one before it. The new Cherokee was actually not a Cherokee at all, but was called ‘Liberty’ in its homeland US. Nevertheless, this model was indeed a successor to the legendary Cherokee XJ.
The new model was still a high-profile SUV with off-road capability, but that’s where the similarities ended. Everything about the new car, model code KJ, was completed. Rounded headlights, matching curves on the hood, rounded wheel arches and even rounded side windows made the new Cherokee look a lot less ruthless than its predecessor.
During the facelift of 2005, the amount of curves did not change, but the car got a firmly renewed nose. He kept his apparently frog-eyed look, but continued down under the headlights. The bumper, which previously took a firm bite out of the grille frame, is a bit more modest from 2005. That’s why the turn signals also moved to a different location, higher and more on the wheel arch extensions than in the actual bumper. Special attention should also be paid to the Renegade edition of this Cherokee. It got a straight hood and a correspondingly higher grille and therefore looked a lot tighter than the standard Liberty/Cherokee.
Jeep Cherokee Renegade. Note the higher grille and straight hood.
The rear came off without major changes in 2005. We would like to draw attention to the way in which Jeep mounted a large, European license plate on the butt. With the American Liberty, that plate was in the bumper to the left of that wheel, but with us the car got a spare wheel cover with number plate lighting. Creative, because that way a wide European plate could be mounted.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl