With 2015 Jeep Renegade, America's off-road truck thinks small —and Italian

Ever since the original Jeep got its discharge papers from the U.S. Army, the various owners of the Jeep brand have been trying to find new shapes and uses for the Jeep name beyond military life Before World War II ended, a designer for Jeep builder Willys-Overland came up with a sketch of a two-seat roadster that became the Jeepster.

Through the decades, other experiments have followed — Comanche, Commando, later Commander and Liberty. And today, Jeep's owner Fiat-Chrysler revealed it's first original attempt at a new Jeep, one built with U.S. engineering and Italian assembly for world consumption. Meet the 2015 Jeep Renegade.

Sized for the small SUV market — checking in a wee bit larger than the Nissan Juke — the Renegade uses an all-new chassis design meant to accommodate vehicles with four wheel drive. In the past, chassis like these have been the downfall of Jeep spinoffs, offering a compromised off-road performance while still carrying the weight and efficiency penalty that every trail-riding truck must.

Here, Fiat has done as it did with the successful new Cherokee, setting aside a "Trailhawk" model for those who want hard-core climbing in a cute package. How hard core? The Trailhawks can ford 19 inches of water (the Wrangler can handle 30 inches, slowly), roll with 8 inches of ground clearance and dig for traction with a special four-wheel-drive system featuring a 20:1 crawl ratio.

And isn't it cute? Unlike the Jeep Cherokee, Jeep designers stuck to the old playbook with the Renegade — avoiding alien slit lights for reviving Jeep's classic seven-bar grille and round headlamps, which flow into an upright body. Out back, there's a little too much effort in the rear taillamps, but the interior felt well sorted during a brief preview, with all the standard software and safety accoutrements like blind spot monitoring.