Platinum Member V Posted November 9, 2022 Platinum Member Share Posted November 9, 2022 Today I found out that Honda had an 8 year agreement with Chrysler to sell Jeeps in Japan. The arrangement appears to have been very successful with the RHD models and may have influenced the return of Jeep to the UK. Honda also slapped a badge on the Land Rover Discovery calling it the Honda Crossroad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member AlexK Posted November 9, 2022 Platinum Member Share Posted November 9, 2022 It would be interesting to find out where the Wranglers were converted to RHD. The XJ was engineered with RHD in mind, thanks largely to Renault, but the YJ wasn't. That meant that UK-bound Wranglers were converted from left- to right-hand-drive on arrival in Dover - using a team, if I remember rightly, that could trace their history back to the Howes days. Fun fact: in the 1970s and '80s, you could buy almost any Jeep in RHD in the UK. The Daihatsu importer, part of TKM Automotive, also traded under the name Jeep (UK) Ltd and merrily converted CJ5s, CJ7s, SJ Cherokees and even J10/20 pickups. RHD CJ7s often pop up, but I've never seen a converted SJ or J-truck in the flesh. The Jeep part of TKM eventually became Chrysler Jeep Imports (UK) Ltd. There's a similar, but slightly more complicated story with Jeep Australia. I'll have to see if I can dig out the details. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member jeepstertim Posted November 10, 2022 Platinum Member Share Posted November 10, 2022 Can't have done much for Honda's reliability figures!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member AlexK Posted November 10, 2022 Platinum Member Share Posted November 10, 2022 (edited) 16 hours ago, AlexK said: There's a similar, but slightly more complicated story with Jeep Australia. I'll have to see if I can dig out the details. This thread on Ausjeepoffroad is a long but fascinating read into what happened in Australia. Interesting mention of CKD kits. Edited November 10, 2022 by AlexK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Vernon Posted November 27, 2022 Platinum Member Share Posted November 27, 2022 My Father in Law worked for Dutton Foreshaw as well as Wadham Stringer (BL distributors) - I went to the Triumph Acclaim launch as his guest. Honda and BL had a very good relationship - The story goes that Honda struggled with getting maximum “space” in some of their vehicles and BL was far better at this than they were. There was also a story (my FiL swears it was true) that eight special Mini Coopers were built with every conceivable extra on them as a gift to senior bods at Honda Japan. When they were put on display before delivery it was pointed out that they were all Left Hand Drive - so a panic conversion took place just hours before the handover. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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