Jeep Chic Shifts into High

By Martha Smilgis

Inspired by exotic wind-blown sandscapes and enchanted desert oases, the new Wrangler Sahara . . . features . . . khaki trailcloth seating, tastefully accented in tan, and matching khaki carpeting . . . a choice of khaki or coffee paint treatments, a khaki-color soft top the stylish way to get around for today's fashionable desert fox.

-- Ad for a new Jeep Wrangler

Come again? World War II Army generals would flip in their graves if they could see what has become of the trusty little truck commissioned for $740 apiece in 1941. Who could have foreseen that the military's drab workhorse, the general purpose vehicle -- jeep, for short -- would be reborn 40 years later in electric colors as Cherokees, Broncos, Renegades, Blazers and Samurais and used to cart fashion victims and C.P.A.s up the ramps of suburban parking structures?

But such is the case. From the Snowbelt to the Sunbelt, an army of would-be Tarzans and Sheenas, cowboys and cowgirls are riding high in the saddle in their brawny and boxy four-wheelers. Once the choice of rough-riding macho men who used them for off-road hunting and fishing expeditions, jeeps are now favored by suburban squires, teenagers, retirees and women of all ages. Most are using the vehicles to explore the well-paved and not-so-wide-open spaces of the nation's cities and suburbs. "They're easy to spot in a parking lot," notes Phoebe Latimer, 27, an Albuquerque Wrangler owner, "because they sit above everything else."

In the past three years alone, the profile of the average jeep owner has undergone a substantial overhaul. According to Chrysler, the premier producer of American jeeps and owner of the Jeep trademark since it bought American Motors Corp. last August, 52% of Jeep purchasers today live in urban or suburban areas, as opposed to 39% in 1984; 60% hold managerial or professional jobs, against 49% three years ago; 60% are college graduates, up from 45%; and they have a median income of $57,000, up from $42,000. "It's a very upscale, young buyer, basically within that spectrum called baby boomers," says Joseph Cappy, group vice president.

The other big change in demographics is the jump in women purchasers. According to estimates by Christopher Cedergren, a California auto analyst, five years ago the number of female buyers was negligible; now they are 24% of the market. Their attraction to the rugged vehicles ranges from the romantic to the practical. "It probably serves as a psychological boost for me to not feel as citified as I am," explains Nora Kelly, 29, an attorney in a conservative Albuquerque law firm and owner of a lipstick-red Wrangler. "Even $ if you're wearing a suit, the jeep is ready to take you somewhere exciting." Jennifer Griffith, 24, of Springfield, N.J., bought her Ford Bronco two years ago in order to cart materials while working as a construction engineer, but she has found that it is equally well suited to her current position as a paralegal and part-time law student. "I can go out, dressed up, to anyplace fancy and not feel like I'm in a truck," she says.

In Hollywood, Jeeps have been chic for nearly a decade. Doug Didriksen, president of Walker Brothers Jeeps in West Los Angeles, traces the trend to 1978, when he began selling four-wheelers to entertainment figures. (Bob Newhart, Kenny Rogers, Sly Stallone, Donna Summer and Steven Spielberg have been his customers.) Says Didriksen: "I don't know that I've seen one trend that has been sustained as long as this. It started slowly and has never dipped."

American-made jeeps still predominate, but Japanese variations are making inroads with a 23.1% share of the market in 1986 that is projected to reach 31.9% by the end of this year. The Suzuki Samurai, the best-selling Japanese "toy jeep," has scored a 110% increase in sales over 1986. Its basic list price is under $7,000, considerably less than the $10,600-to-$25,000 range for American models. (A word of caution: the rear seat is just one of some 50 options.) Sales Manager Tony Pacheco of Cerritos Suzuki in Los Angeles County explains the popularity of the miniature vehicles. "In the 1960s everyone had a toy, like hot rods, but lower speed limits now prohibit those." Today's jeeps, like the earlier dragsters, can be souped up with a variety of gizmos, including "lift kits" (a set of springs that raises the chassis higher off the ground), running boards to help passengers climb into the elevated cabs, fog lights, protective body molding, and tubular steel grates to protect the grille from imaginary sagebrush.

Old-fashioned Jeep lovers sneer at the toys and their trappings. According to George McVey Sr., 48, headmaster of St. Christopher's School in Richmond and owner of two Jeep Cherokees, the Japanese versions just do not have the oomph needed to haul his 3,000-lb. boat: "The Isuzu Trooper just couldn't pull it." Nor are the teeny trucks well suited to long-distance drives. Atlanta Salesman Stewart Powell, 25, describes a "miserable" 200-mile journey in his Samurai: "It's like driving a go-cart. On the highway the engine is really loud, and you feel like you're surrounded by tin." Then again, there is a downside to virtually all jeeps: four-wheel drive means lower gas mileage.

Cynthia Cohan, 39, a Los Angeles lawyer and mother of two, tolerates her Cherokee's inconveniences in return for the advantages it gives her in negotiating war-torn freeway lanes. Its "macho presence," she says, keeps snippy sports cars from cutting her off. The desert-fox image holds little appeal for Cohan, who uses the vehicle as an updated substitute for the hopelessly unchic Country Squire station wagon. But she admits to her own jeep fantasy: "When the big earthquake comes," she says, "I'm going to drive up and over the rubble."

With reporting by Nancy Harbert/Albuquerque and B. Russell Leavitt/Detroit