Everyone knows that the most capable vehicle in the ski area parking lot is a Jeep Wrangler, so naturally lots of skiers' choose to own a Jeep. Having a bit of fun with this association, Jeep has created a new print ad shown above that links skiing and Jeeping.
A silver lining has emerged from the black cloud of the devastating tornado that destroyed Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013. The story of Bryan Hutton and his 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon "Stomper" begins with them leaving their home on Ohio to visit family in Oklahoma.
They got caught in the tornado's path. Their Jeep was locked in the garage while the family hid in their storm cellar. Once they emerged after the tornado passed, they found nothing left of their neighborhood. The Jeep was buried in what was left of the house.
Hutton started checking other homes for survivors and soon realized that the Jeep could be very useful in rescuing people from the rubble - if it could start up and drive. He dug through the rubble and was able to get the driver’s door open just enough that he could reach in and push the clutch pedal in with his hand and then turn on the ignition. The Rubicon fired right up. He reached in and jerked the shifter into reverse. The Rubi begin to dig and claw its way backwards out of the debris and out of the garage. Once it cleared the debris he was able to get it stopped in the driveway.
He cleared the wood and other debris out of the Jeep and drove up and down the neighborhood on three flat tires, offering help in any way he could. He used the Jeep's Warn VR8000 winch numerous times to uncover people trapped under debris. He transported injured people to medical personnel. He delivered food, water, clothing, and other supplies to people.
BFGoodrich came up with an entertaining short film advertisement for their Radial All-Terrain T/A-KO tires entitled Playground Earth. They set up a series of five different extreme outdoor sports, and in place of a baton the teams passed a single set of tires from one vehicle to another to demonstrate how these versatile tires are designed to handle just about anything thrown at them.
Of note to Jeep owners is the fact that two of the five short films featured the Jeep Wrangler JK, one in short-wheelbase 2-door form and the other in long-wheelbase 4-door form. You can watch the videos on BFG's website, or as a series posted below:
The Troller T4 is a Brazilian-made offroad vehicle "inspired by" the Jeep TJ and JK Wrangler. It is a fiberglass-bodied, turbodiesel-powered, Dana-axled jeep that fills a giant void that Jeep themselves have left wide-open in the Brazilian market.
Before you dismiss this vehicle as nothing more than a cheap wanna-be like the notoriously crappy Chinese knockoffs, you should understand that the Brazilian market demands tough vehicles. The T4 is built with solid components, engineered for extreme offroad abuse, can be upgraded with offroad equipment such as lockers and lift kits, and has competed in the Dakar Rally. The Troller T4 may not be the real deal, but it's a worthy Jeep replacement nonetheless.
Ford of Brazil seemed to be sufficiently impressed with Troller that they purchased the company in 2007 and have continued development of the brand's offroad vehicles. As Fiat/Chrysler continue to expand the Jeep brand into foreign markets, it will be interesting to see what trademark conflicts may arise in Brazil and Africa where the T4 is manufactured and sold.
This first video shows the T4 in action off-road:
And this 2nd video is a Brazilian TV commercial for the Troller T4. It uses actual news helicopter footage from the massive December 2009 floods in São Paulo:
