Photos by DAN SCANLAN/The Times-Union

Jeep adds more than doors to veteran Wrangler

At first glance, this 2007 Jeep Wrangler looks just like almost every one that has come before it.

Then you realize its got two extra doors!

Since they first roamed the battlefields of Europe and Asia in the 1940s, every Jeep CJ or Wrangler had two doors. But reaction to the Wrangler-based 1997 Jeep Dakar concept and the 2004 Jeep Rescue concept, which both had four doors, showed there was a desire for four entrances. Now concept becomes reality as the two-door Wrangler is joined by a four-door with new styling, interior and engine.

The last Jeep we tested was the gnarly 2003 Wrangler Rubicon, and its WWII heritage was all there - round headlights flanking a seven-slot grille above a simple black bar bumper with tow hooks, the rounded hood secured to the squared fenders with clips. And all the glass, including the windshield, was flat.

Now the 2007 Wrangler comes along in two- and four-door shapes, still with round headlamps, trapezoidal fenders and exposed hinges everywhere. The seven-slot grille gets angled back a bit this time, while the front bumper is slicker, with integrated fog lights. The fenders go body color, while the window openings are larger. The door handles are chunkier, while the roof line is squarer. We liked the design of the new three-piece Freedom Top hardtop, with two removable panels up front and a rear roof section that can be unbolted to make a four-door convertible.

For the first time, the windshield is slightly curved, yet can be folded down. And 20 more inches of wheelbase means the new Wrangler Unlimited's looks take some getting used to, riding on five-spoke alloy wheels with Goodyear Wrangler 17-inch rubber. Thanks to its added length and Rescue Green paint job, the Unlimited got looks. One neighbor asked if it was the new HUMMER. Oops! Jeep owners stared as we drove by, and I thought it looked handsomely utilitarian, with decent panel fit and finish.

Inside, an all-new dashboard has a more integrated look, with hard khaki tan plastic accented with dark green and some body-color steel on the doors. The big tilt four-spoke steering wheel frames a hooded gauge package with silver-trimmed 100-mph speedometer and 7,000-rpm tach, with gas and temperature underneath. The bucket seats are done in a two-tone khaki tan cloth, comfortable and fairly supportive, but lumbar support would have been nice. The driver's seat gets height adjustment. But despite a 5-inch wider cockpit, my left elbow was too close to the hard plastic door panel, while the grab handle/armrest was too small to work.

The boxy center stack starts with a powerful Infinity seven-speaker (sub-woofer in back) AM-FM-Sirius Satellite Radio-CD stereo with iPod jack that was clean enough to be heard with windows and top open. Under that, vents, a three-dial a/c system and power window switches. Two 12-volt outlets and the traction control button live next to the four-speed automatic gear-shift. Twin cupholders are handy, as is the deep storage compartment under the low center armrest.

The wheelbase stretch means a real back seat for two or three adults, plus a huge 46.4 cubic feet of storage space behind the second-row seat - more, Jeep claims, than the Toyota FJ Cruiser, HUMMER H3, Nissan Xterra or any two-door Wrangler before. There is a new underfloor storage area that clamps shut when the side-hinged tailgate is closed.

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