I am currently taking a transportation design class and I was just assinged a project of designing (or redesigning) a vehicle of my choice, and I chose the Comanche. I don't want to butcher the original look like Fiat did with the Cherokee but I do have to modernize the shape a bit. I have already added aux lights, a hood vent for the engine heat, front tow hooks, rear d-rings, gas cans, a roll cage, long arm suspension, and a tailgate mounted spare wheel with a 3rd brake light over it like the JK. If anyone has any ideas on stuff that would make the Comanche Concept even better (or what to avoid) let me know!

 

Tail lights on the MJ completely suck.


Do something completely different.

I'd like to see it when you are done.

 

Extended cab.

 

Sounds like a sweet project! What are you designing it on?

I would take inspiration from new trucks.

What exactly is the criteria for the redesign? Like modernize and make something that would be good to bring to market or just something cool that you want to make?

 

body on frame

 

^^^Beat me to it! Exactly what I was thinking.

What about mounting the spare on a bull bar or roll cage type setup instead of the tailgate?

Also, is it possible that we can see the design you have already?

 

Diesel.

 

Turbo Diesel!

 

Noted! And I will definitely share the final version!

 

I saw this fabbed up extended cab MJ. How about something like this but not as long? More like a 4 seater extended cab. (I still need to keep it a mid-sized pickup that can compete with the Chevy Colorado).

I am in the sketching phase right now, basically playing with different body layouts and proportions. My final version will be a foam model but that wont be even started until next week. The top potential competitors (as of 2016) is the Chevy Colorado, 2017 Honda Ridgeline (I met the guy who designed it), GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma, and Nissan Frontier. It has to have a facelift (Not as appalling as the Cherokee looks now and not as puny as the Renegade Comache PR stunt) and more options in general. Just look at the Build and Price for the Chevy Colorado and take a look at the option list. It's super long. The Comanche will have to have the versatility and the ability to customize like the JK. So in short a modernization of the MJ without making it look like a friggin Fiat. I want to make the concept something that has a more realistic chance of being mass produced.

Definitely, a unibody is too weak for being a competitive mid-sized pickup.

It would be cool, almost like a Baja truck, but the only issue with that is it would limit rear visibility even more than if it was further back on the tailgate, and a bull bar placement would block the grill. Plus a lot of people like the tailgate placement like on the JK so it can appeal to that market. However aftermarket parts would allow owners to move the spare to the roll cage or on the side of the bed, etc. I still want the owner to be able to customize their Comanche like a JK owner would.

lol! I was thinking the same thing about a turbo diesel (I4 Turbo?)

 

i would base it off the new cherokee. just because it is what it is.

otherwise, it you might as well base it off the JK, and well, they're doing that already.

it would look cool, kinda like the subaru brat of today.

 

I thought about that, and I'll give it a shot, but I want this design to be bought by people who are [mostly] a part of jeep culture and not necessarily for non-enthusiasts, and definitally not the mall-crawler group. I was thinking of using the front end of the new Grand Cherokee because it is the most modern front end design that I'd say Jeep enthusiasts are somewhat comfortable with. Plus my design teacher agrees that Fiat ruined the Cherokee with it's new design. I'll post some pics of my ideations in a minute.

 

The 3 pages with 4 or more sketches is my ideations for body shapes, not necessarily ride height and wheel size. The page with a single design is the first drawing I did just to see what a Comanche would theoretically look like with all of the options installed and and to see how well the body would accept aftermarket customization. The page with the sketch of the grill is my design teachers idea of a design for the Comanche. The other 3 rendered designs are concepts done by various people and I can incorporate some aspects from each design that you guys like. I personally like the headlights of the orange Jeep design.

 

You drew those? Wow, you should be drawing Krass and Bernie.

 

Thank you! And if my designs look very Krass and Bernie then I have some improving to do lol! However, in car design, the rim size of the wheel is supposed to be exaggerated much more than it would look when the production version comes out. Here's an example of a concept jeep during the sketch process and after the coloration from rendering which shows that exaggeration of the wheel: