General Motors continues redefining both GMC truck division and its venerable GMC Jimmy compact sport utility. At an appearance at the Midwest Automotive Media Association Lunch previewing the Chicago Auto Show last month, Richard Wagoner, President of GM's North American Operations touched upon brand management, and how the Pontiac-GMC division is moving aggressively to target GMC vehicles at an upscale audience. And the Jimmy name may be less prevalent, or vanish altogether, Wagoner hinted, although GMC certainly will continue manufacturing compact sport utilities in one form or another. The Jimmy name dates back to World War II when General Motors supplied off-road vehicles for military use. Since rugged, war-time vehicles don't carry the kind of cache luxury SUV marketers strive for, GMC may rename it with a flashier designation. One possibility, Envoy. GMC showcased an updated compact sport vehicle at the Chicago auto show last month with the preppie Envoy badge. General Motors made no secret about this showcase vehicle making its way to production sometime in the 1998 calendar year. However, it's still unclear what name GMC has in store. For now, GMC's compact 1997 Jimmy sport utility vehicle shares an automotive platform similar to Chevrolet's Blazer and Oldsmobile's Bravada. General Motors assembles all three in Moraine, Ohio or Linden New Jersey. It's the smallest sport utility vehicle in GMC's stable, which also includes the larger Yukon, and Suburban. Jimmy and Blazers come in two or four-door versions while Bravada is solely a four-door vehicle. Bravada is marketed fully loaded while Jimmy and Blazer provide opportunities to mix and match options. Several suspension packages are available, ranging from off-road to luxury-ride. A 4.3-liter Vortec V-6 engine with 190 horsepower comes standard. It's the only powertrain Jimmy offers. Interested in V-8 power? You'll have move up to GMC's larger (and pricier) Yukon, or check out Ford's Explorer which offers a 5.0-liter V-8. Our four door, 1997Jimmy started at $24,362. With options including power windows and door locks, cruise control, compact disc player, power sunroof and heady duty trailering package, the bottom line totaled $29,931 including a $515 destination charge and $1,400 in package savings. Base price of two-wheel (rear-drive), two-door Jimmys start at $20,639. Inside, headroom is very tight, especially for those six feet or taller. Our Jimmy included the optional power sunroof, new for 1997. But the sunroof robs the vehicle of front headroom, normally plentiful in this vehicle. A recently tested Oldsmobile Bravada with no sunroof possessed decent room between heads and ceiling. Passenger seat travelers must contend with limited legroom. Windshield wipers and cruise control activate from the turn signal stalk. Temperature and fan speeds monitor from dials. Preset stereo buttons are large and easy to find. Dual cup holders are permanently mounted in front of the floor-mounted, automatic transmission shifter. A driver air bag is standard but passenger-side air bags still are not offered; neither is traction control. Anti-lock brakes come standard as do air conditioning and intermittent wipers. Optional push-button, four-wheel drive makes shifting between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive easy. With plenty of snowfall during our test run, we found Jimmy handled superbly on slick roadways with four-wheel drive engaged. Automatic transmission is standard in four-door Jimmys. Manual transmission is found in select two-door models. Rear seating incorporates a 60/40 split, and seat backs fold down flat increasing cargo room. Thankfully, the spare tire in our four-door Jimmy stows in the vehicles underbelly, and cranks down when needed. Two-door Jimmy's mount the fifth wheel on the back hatch door. While this looks sporty, it tends to limit rear-view mirror perception. As with all sport utilities, a high seating position provides drivers with good road perspectives. Four-door Jimmy's now feature a one-piece rear hatchback door, opening upward, which makes loading items into the back less of a hassle. Two-door versions continue with the two-piece design where the back window flips up, and hatch gate swings down (once the spare tire bracket is swung away). Mileage estimates check in at 16 miles per gallon city, and 21 mpg highway. Our red, test drive Jimmy, with 4,300 odometer miles, registered 16 mpg in combined driving. The gas tank holds 18 gallons of unleaded fuel. Two- door versions hold 18 gallons of unleaded fuel. |