Rough and tough rodeo rider

In its element - in the bush.

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Hugely popular in the US of A, Jeep has never really threatened Seffriken favourites such as the Toyota, Isuzu, Nissan and Mitsubishi rough riders, but there has been a recent upkick in Jeep sales which bodes well for these capable off-roaders.

In February this year a record 100 Wranglers were sold locally, but then BANG! went that record in March when sales hit the 125 mark. And to put it into perspective: South Africa's most popular cross-over, the Nissan Qashqai sells on average 170 units per month.

They just look wrong! (The drivers, that is)

Partly to blame for the Wrangler's slow sales up to now has been the fact that they have been driven mainly by shirtless city slickers who wear caps the wrong way round and dark glasses at night.

Wranglers were seen mainly parked at boulevard cafes and cocktail joints, usually with a surfboard or a kayak strapped to the roof or otherwise running to the sound of loud thumping "music".

Wranglers were seen mainly parked where they are clearly not in their element - going where other vehicles might not dare to go.

This was enough to put anybody off the brand, let alone the real faw-ba-faw okes who snidely dismissed Jeep in general and Wrangler in particular, as "typical American all show, no go pretenders."

Right and wrong. Yes, there is a lot of showboating with Wrangler and they are pig iron uncomfortable and unsophisticated, but make no mistake - when it comes to rock climbing and sand and mud crawling these military makeovers are right up there with some of the best off-road toughies.

It's got the power, but it's a tad thirsty

Jeep has no less than 20 models on the local market, seven of them Wrangler variants that range from the entry-level Jeep Wrangler Sahara at R324 900 right up to the Jeep Unlimited CRD Sahara that will set you back R394 900.

It may waddle, but it makes the grade.

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I recently spent a week in the company of a screaming canary yellow Unlimited Rubicon which has impressive low-down power (146 kW and 315 Nm) a four-speed auto box, plus low range and a hefty thirst of more than 14 litres per 100km.

Typical of Wranglers our test vehicle came with flexible roofing which offers the choice of removable hard top and soft top - both of which are a mission to put up or remove.

Quite Spartan

The cabin is pretty agri-military, with lots of bare metal, a straight up steering which only has telescopic adjustment, thinly padded seats, fairly narrow windows all round and atrocious rear views, thanks to protruding head rests and a huge spare wheel stuck onto the back door.

Finding a comfortable driving position is not easy for shorties and to press the accelerator down on to the metal requires a sort of side-ways, right-leaning tango.

The high ride, non-scratch plastic body parts, big off-road tyres and low-range pay off out in the wilds.

Progress is fairly game up to about 120km/h but after that it takes time to build up speed.

The kick-down is slow to respond and when it does kick-in there is not much instant go in any case. Little wonder, because this model is about the slowest of the Wranglers with a 0-100km/h time of nearly 13 seconds.

Built for the bush

Up front the ride is fairly comfortable, but rear-seat passengers tend to feel a little queasy, thanks to a Wrangler's strange waddling progress, particularly when the going is a little bumpy.

It's growing in popularity in this country, but though the Wrangler is still not a natural first choice off-roader, it is tough enough to earn respect.

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Luggage space is at most adequate for four travelling with bags and cases. The Wrangler also has no seat cover to hide bags, suit cases and bottles of wine from evil intending eyes.

But all of this is forgiven when you turn off the tar and head for the bush. Then the high ride, non-scratch plastic body parts, big off-road tyres and low-range quickly make you forget about squeaking body parts, old-fashioned aircon and el cheapo audio system.

Standard kit includes two airbags, ABS, central locking, power steering, power windows and cruise control.

Although clearly growing in popularity in this country, the Wrangler is still not a natural first choice off-roader, but it is tough enough to earn respect and macho enough to draw envious looks wherever it goes.

It also has the bragging rights of being awarded the title of the "4x4 of the decade" by the influential Four Wheeler Magazine in the United States.