Big wheels, 50mpg & slab-like dash, Jeep Avenger is a perfect pint-sized 4×4 – especially if you get the petrol version

HERE’S the littlest Jeep with the littlest price tag.

It’s a plain petrol Avenger with a manual gearbox costing £23,859.

3

3

3

It’ll nudge 50mpg.

If you want an auto, you’ll need the self-charging e-Hybrid costing £25,509.

That creeps forwards and backwards as an EV and goes a bit further on a tank of fuel.

Then there’s the pure electric Avenger, the 2023 European Car of the Year.

That’s got more poke and will do 248 miles non-stop – but it costs £34,999.

Yep, £11k more than the straightforward petrol.

We were only supposed to get the battery car in the UK but Jeep had a rethink – after being strong-armed by The Sun.

We said drivers not ready to switch to electric should not have to miss out on such a cool little car.

We also said a cheaper, petrol Avenger would be far more popular and give Jeep much-needed visibility and momentum. Especially now that private EV sales have stalled.

We’re glad to be proved right. Avengers are starting to multiply around my way like a wet gremlin.

What I like about Avenger is that it feels like a proper pint-sized Jeep.

Properly winter proof

Of course it shares many parts with the Peugeot 2008 and Fiat 600 but it looks ready to roll its sleeves up and get stuck in.

It has big wheels, short overhangs and long-travel suspension, good for soaking up speed bumps and our cheese-grater roads.

It has a shield of scratch-resistant plastic to protect the paintwork and lights from car park scrapes.

I like the way it drives. I like being in it. I like the slab-like dash and the washable seats.

This tiddler is never going to be as heavy-duty as a Wrangler – not much is – but there’s a fourth version on the way that’ll be four-wheel drive.

The 4xe petrol hybrid has two e-motors, one on each axle, to make it properly winter proof.

 Most rivals couldn’t reach a Scout hut in a drizzle.