The name Jeep conjures up visions of rugged vehicles tackling mountain passes and forest trails. The promise of adventure in strange places, such as, famously, the Rubicon Trail in California, one of the most inhospitable places on earth with rock-strewn ravines and near vertical drops. The modern Jeep Cherokee was designed to take such terrain in its stride. A go anywhere, do anything kind of vehicle.

Big and masculine looking, its 7-slot grille and rounded headlights bring a modern look to the traditional Jeep face. It’s all a far cry from the Jeep my Dad drove in my youth. Reg No ZE 2918. Yellow and maroon coloured. A ‘no frills’ vehicle. But it stood apart even in those times! His pride and joy. It never let him down.

Every Christmas our Jeep was used to ferry home our Christmas tree, selected and purchased from an authorised local forester, which was then firmly secured on the roof. And when visiting family friends, the older children would hitch a lift on the big running board, clinging on to the sides and whooping for joy as we travelled the short distance from their house to the farm gate, close to the shores of the Blessington Lake.

Most big 4x4s nowadays never see more than a grassy verge and are more likely to be found in the concrete jungles that make up our cities and large towns, used for towing horseboxes or boats, school runs, trips to the supermarket and the occasional run to the countryside for a bit of 4x4ing. Vehicles this size are regarded as intimidating by some drivers, but there’s a reassuring feeling about driving such a big vehicle - especially if you have young children - as it almost becomes your personal bodyguard!

The Jeep is also popular with farmers who see it as a willing workhorse, capable of being driven ‘cross country’ to tend to their flocks, often through muck or swollen rivers or more likely for towing trailers.

This very latest 2.8-litre CRD 4WD Sport Jeep came with 5-speed automatic transmission. It proved a remarkably quiet drive for a big diesel of this size. You could almost hear yourself think!

Climbing in and out is made easy thanks to the big mansized grip on the A-Pillars.

Driving it proved quite a doddle out on the road and over some rough territory. It manoeuvres and handles well. Except when it came to parking in designated town parking spaces. Parking assist would have been useful as there’s so much vehicle out there to negotiate into a smallish slot.

Otherwise, the Cherokee is just at home on the tarmac as it is off-road, capable of keeping up with the flow of traffic even on the motorway, providing you take the usual SUV precautions on bends.

The Selec-Trac 4WD system allows the driver to switch from high range rear-wheel drive to 4WD at speeds of up to 55mph. This part-time feature means you can easily shift into 4x4 mode when driving off road or on snow or ice, and return to 2WD for easier conditions. 2WD is also a lot easier on your fuel consumption!

The 2.8-litre CRD proved quite thirsty, returning about 27mpg for the combined fuel cycle. The trip screen lets you know how many kms to go to empty. The warning light came on at 35kms to empty. It’s also capable doing the 0-62mph in 12.6 seconds if you want to treat such a big vehicle in this way.

Things I appreciated about the Jeep Cherokee were the way it handled, the overall comfort of the interior and the seats, the big chunky steering wheel, the loud reassuring click of the indicator, the mansized foot rest, the big chunky flaps with mirrors and lights, the white background to the instruments, and the little clusters of circles on the black of the panel. Cup holders too are mug sized in keeping with the strength of the vehicle.

Features include ABS, 4-wheel disc anti-lock; air conditioning, CD/radio/cassette and six speakers, steering wheel mounted audio controls, central locking with remote control, four airbags, front fog lamps, heated rear window, rear tail gate and flip up glass, roof rack side rails and tinted glass, exterior mounted spare wheel, cargo area cover and tie down hooks in the luggage area. An electric sunroof is an optional extra as are leather faced seats.

A long way indeed from the original US Army General Purpose Vehicle, and I couldn't help but also think that the Indian tribe of this car’s name whose warriors had to depend on single horse power transport would have stood a much better chance of keeping their territory if they’d had Cherokee Jeeps with which to circle the wagons and chase off the horse soldiers of the US Cavalry!